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Expression of verapamil hypersensitivity in multidrug-resistant cells grown as multicellular spheroids

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Summary

It is known that certain multidrug-resistant cell lines are hypersensitive to verapamil and to some other membrane-active agents. We examined the expression of verapamil hypersensitivity in a multidrug-resistant, verapamil-hypersensitive CHO cell line by cells grown in the form of multicellular spheroids. We found that although vincristine resistance is expressed at high levels in multi-cellular spheroids, we could not detect verapamil hypersensitivity when cells were grown in this form. Using a dry autoradiographic method to study the entry of [3H]-verapamil into the spheroids, we demonstrated that the lack of hypersensitivity was not due to incomplete drug penetration. We therefore propose that when hypersensitive multidrug-resistant cells are grown as three-dimensional spheroids, cellular interactions may modify the expression of verapamil hypersensitivity.

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  1. Department of Biology, University of York, Heslington, York, U. K.

    Michael Anderson & J. Roger Warr

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  1. Michael Anderson
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  2. J. Roger Warr
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Anderson, M., Roger Warr, J. Expression of verapamil hypersensitivity in multidrug-resistant cells grown as multicellular spheroids. Cancer Chemother Pharmacol 26, 151–154 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02897263

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02897263

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