Here, we investigated the role of zinc ribbon domaincontaining 1 (ZNRD1) in multidrug resistance (MDR) of leukemia cells and the possible underlying mechanisms. ZNRD1 was found overexpressed in the vincristineinduced MDR leukemia cell HL-60/vincristine moreso than its parental cell HL-60. Up-regulation of ZNRD1 expression could confer resistance of both P-glycoprotein (P-gp)-related and P-gp-nonrelated drugs on HL-60 cells and suppress Adriamycin-induced apoptosis accompanied by decreased accumulation and increased releasing amount of Adriamycin. ZNRD1 could significantly upregulate the expression of P-gp, Bcl-2, and the transcription of the MDR1 gene but not alter the expression of MDR-associated protein, glutathione S-transferase activity, or intracellular glutathione content in leukemia cells. In addition, inhibition of ZNRD1 expression by RNA interference or P-gp inhibitor could partially reverse ZNRD1-mediated MDR. The further study of the biological functions of ZNRD1 may be helpful for understanding the mechanisms of MDR of leukemia and developing possible strategies to treat leukemia. [Mol Cancer Ther 2005;4(12):1936 -42]