Enhanced autophagy reveals vulnerability of P-gp mediated epirubicin resistance in triple negative breast cancer cells

Epirubicin (EPI) is widely used for triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), but a substantial number of patients develop EPI resistance that is associated with poor outcome. The underlying mechanism for EPI resistance remains poorly understood. We have developed and characterized an EPI-resistant (EPI-R) cell line from parental MDA-MB-231 cells. These EPI-R cells reached stable growth in the medium containing 8 μg/ml of EPI. They overexpressed P-glycoprotein (P-gp) and contained numerous autophagic vacuoles. The suppression of P-gp overexpression and/or autophagy restored the sensitivity of these EPI-R cells to EPI. We further show that autophagy conferred resistance to EPI on MDA cells by blocking the nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB)-mediated pro-apoptotic signals. Together, these results reveal a synergistic role of P-gp, autophagy, and NF-κB pathways in the development of EPI resistance in TNBC cells. They also suggest that blocking the P-gp overexpression and autophagy may be an effective means of reducing EPI resistance.