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The “Multi” of Drug Resistance Explained by Oscillating Drug Transporters, Drug–Membrane Physical Interactions and Spatial Dimensionality

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Abstract

Multi-drug resistance (MDR) can be explained by a drug handling-type activity. In this context it is also necessary to consider the multi-specificity between drugs and drug transporters in order to explain MDR. Accordingly, the efficiency of drug efflux in MDR has always been a conceptual problem in biochemistry. Indeed, how one protein can expel, from cells, hundreds of compounds with high specificity is still controversial today. To safeguard the notion of biochemical specificity, many studies have suggested alternative mechanisms to Pgp-mediated drug resistance, which do not involve the handling of drugs. However, none of these studies have definitively ruled out the possibility concept of drug handling. Thus, until now it was not possible to imagine MDR without drug-transporter affinity or specificity. However, drug-transporter affinity is not always needed to generate what appears to be a very efficient chemical reaction. Indeed, based on the fact that bi-dimensional diffusion properties (i.e. diffusion in the membrane) are paramount to explain drug pumping-mediated MDR, it is possible to suggest how specific mathematical properties of random motions can be used to construct a model of Pgp-MDR, providing that Pgp oscillates between open/drug-accepting and closed/drug-expelling conformations. This different viewpoint highlights the fact that the multi-specificity of drug transporters and the “vacuum cleaner” hypothesis may actually be two sides of the same coin, both explained by the diffusion properties of drugs in the membrane. After retrieving basic results, predictions will be highlighted. Finally, the coherence of this model in the context of cancer biology will be discussed further.

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Notes

  1. As explained in the paragraph “drug meeting transporters: a toy model”: \( N\,\sim \,\left( {DT/h^{2} } \right)/\ln \left( {DT/h^{2} } \right) \), which implies that \( \tilde{N}/N\,\sim \,\left( {\tilde{T}/T} \right) \times \left[ {\ln \left( {D\tilde{T}/h^{2} } \right)/\ln \left( {DT/h^{2} } \right)} \right] \). The first-order development of the latter relation provides the result expected.

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Acknowledgments

This study has been supported by the University of Nottingham (NRF4305).

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  1. School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, Sutton Bonington Campus, Sutton Bonington, University of Nottingham, Leicestershire, LE12 5RD, UK

    Cyril Rauch

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Rauch, C. The “Multi” of Drug Resistance Explained by Oscillating Drug Transporters, Drug–Membrane Physical Interactions and Spatial Dimensionality. Cell Biochem Biophys 61, 103–113 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12013-011-9166-8

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