Abstract

The multidrug resistant cell line DC-3F/ADII was obtained by stepwise selection for growth in actinomycin D (ActD). Compared with parental cells, it displays high resistance to ActD and vincristine and low resistance to colchicine and daunorubicin. These cells overexpress a form of P-glycoprotein (Pgp1) containing a double mutation, I837L and N839I, in transmembrane domain (TM) 9; when transfected into DC-3F, this mutation confers the DC-3F/ADII phenotype. We have shown previously that another cell line, DC-3F/ADX, also displays this phenotype and overexpresses a mutant form of Pgp1 containing a double mutation in TM6 (G338A, A339P). Hence, mutations in TM9 and TM6 are independently capable of conferring the same cross-resistance phenotype. The TM6 mutations inhibit the ability of cyclosporin A to reverse cross-resistance and to block labeling of the protein by [¹²⁵I]iodoarylazidoprazosin (IAAP), whereas the TM9 mutations do not show similar effects. A chimeric protein containing both pairs of mutations confers twice the level of resistance to ActD than expected from the sum of the individual mutations, but it cannot be labeled to detectable levels with [¹²⁵I]IAAP. Thus, TM9 represents a novel site that cooperates with TM6 to mediate drug resistance and [¹²⁵I]IAAP labeling.