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Abstract. In P-gp-positive cell variants obtained from L1210 cells either by selection with vincristine (L1210/R) or by transfection with the human gene encoding P-gp (L1210/T), we have previously described cross-resistance to tunicamycin (TNM), a protein N-glycosylation inhibitor. Here we studied whether this cross-resistance also underlies P-gp-positive variants of human acute myeloid leukemia cells (AML) derived from SKM-1 and MOLM-13 cells (SKM-1/VCR, SKM-1/LEN, MOLM-13/ VCR) by selection with vincristine (VCR) and lenalidomide (LEN). While SKM-1/LEN cells were P-gp positive, no P-gp was detected in MOLM-13/LEN cells. P-gp-positive cells could be repeatedly passaged in medium containing TNM. In contrast, more than 90% of P-gp-negative cells were entering and progressing through cell death mechanisms after the third passage in medium containing TNM. Combined apoptosis/necrosis cell death was detected in L1210 cells after exposure to TNM. Passaging of P-gp-negative AML cells in medium containing TNM induced preferentially apoptosis. Damage to P-gp-negative cells induced with TNM was associated with arrest in the G1 phase of the cell cycle. P-gp-positive leukemia cells differed from P-gp-negative cells in the composition of plasma membrane glycoproteins, which we monitored with the aid of different lectins. The application of TNM to cells induced additional changes in membrane-linked glycosides.

Several transport systems play an important role in conferring multiple drug resistance, presumably due to their catalysis of the energy-dependent extrusion of a large number of structurally and functionally unrelated compounds out of the cells. In the present work, the gene named KNQ1 (encoding Kluyveromyces lactis membrane permease) was cloned by functional complementation of the cycloheximide-hypersensitivity phenotype of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant strain lacking a functional PDR5 gene. The isolated gene exhibited 48.9% identity with the S. cerevisiae ATR1 gene conferring resistance to aminotriazole and 4-nitroquinoline- N-oxide and encoded a protein of 553 amino acids. When present in multicopy, it efficiently complemented the phenotype associated with the Delta pdr5 or Delta pdr1Delta pdr3 mutations in S. cerevisiae. Overexpression of the KNQ1 gene in K. lactis wild-type strains led to resistance against several cytotoxic compounds, like 4-nitroquinoline- N-oxide, 3-aminotriazole, bifonazole and ketoconazole. The gene was assigned to K. lactis chromosome III and its expression was found to be responsive to oxidative stress induced by hydrogen peroxide. Based on the phenotype of homologous and heterologous transformants, we propose that the gene encodes a membrane-associated component of the machinery responsible for decreasing the concentration of several toxic compounds in the cytoplasm of yeast cells.

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