Upregulating miR-146a by physcion reverses multidrug resistance in human chronic myelogenous leukemia K562/ADM cells.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of miR-146a in the drug resistance of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) cells (K562/ADM) and to investigate the reversal effect of physcion, a natural compound, on the multidrug-resistance in CML. Our results showed that miR-146a was significantly downregulated in drug-resistant K562 cells and the overexpression of miR-146a in K562/ADM cells could restore the sensitivity to adriamycin (ADM). In addition, our results showed that the downregulation of miR-146a was associated with increase in CXCR4 expression, which was a direct target of miR-146a. Moreover, our findings also provided experimental evidence that physcion could enhance the anti-proliferative effect of ADM in K562/ADM cells by upregulating miR-146a. In conclusion, this present study showed that miR-146a conferred ADM resistance in CML cells and physcion could improve the sensitivity of K562/ADM cells by enhancing apoptosis via upregulating miR-146a.