Two structurally different inhibitors of ser/thr phosphatases 1 and 2A, okadaic acid and calyculin A, time- and concentration-dependently stimulated and inhibited cell-specific function (hormone gene expression) in pituitary GH3 cells. The negative effect was associated with the appearance of apoptotic cell death. Nanomolar concentrations of both agents produced the characteristic morphological alterations and a DNA fragmentation ladder. Calyculin A treatment resulted in comparable changes with 10fold lower concentrations than okadaic acid. Observations with derivatives of okadaic acid with no or lower phosphatase inhibitory potency supported the conclusion that apoptosis induction is related to inhibition of ser/thr phosphatases, presumably types 1 and 2A. Membrane damage as measured by lactate dehydrogenase liberation into medium was significantly lower in apoptotic vs. necrotic cells. DNA fragmentation could be reduced by the addition of zinc but not by removal of extracellular calcium with EGTA. Apoptotic changes were reduced by the concomitant activation of protein kinase A by a membrane permeable cAMP analogue. Incubation of cells for 4 months in successively increased concentrations of okadaic acid resulted in a population that proliferated at the initially lethal concentration of 30 nM.

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Okadaic acid as well as other, structurally different, inhibitors of serine/threonine phosphatases 1 and 2A induce apoptosis in pituitary GH3 cells. Incubation with stepwise raised concentrations of okadaic acid resulted in the isolation of cells that were increasingly less sensitive to the cytotoxic effect of this agent. After about 18 months cells were selected that survived at 300 nM okadaic acid, which is about 30 times the initially lethal concentration. This study revealed that a major pharmacokinetic mechanism underlying cell survival was the development of a P-glycoprotein-mediated multidrug resistance (MDR) phenotype. The increase in mRNA levels of the mdr1b P-glycoprotein isoform correlated with the extent of drug resistance. Functional assays revealed that increasing drug resistance was paralleled by a decreased accumulation of rhodamine 123, a fluorescent dye which is a substrate of mdr1-mediated efflux activity. Resistance could be abolished by structurally different chemosensitizers of P-glycoprotein function like verapamil and reserpine but not by the leukotriene receptor antagonist MK571 which is a modulator of the multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP). Okadaic acid resistance included cross-resistance to other cytotoxic agents that are substrates of mdr1-type P-glycoproteins, like doxorubicin and actinomycin D, but not to non-substrates of mdr1, e.g. cytosine arabinoside. Thus, functional as well as biochemical features support the conclusion that okadaic acid is a substrate of the mdr1-mediated efflux activity in rat pituitary GH3 cells. Maintenance of resistance after withdrawal of okadaic acid as well as metaphase spreads of 100 nM okadaic acid-resistant cells suggested a stable MDR genotype without indications for the occurrence of extrachromosomal amplifications, e.g. double minute chromosomes.