Looking at drug resistance mechanisms for microtubule interacting drugs: does TUBB3 work?

Curr Cancer Drug Targets. 2007 Dec;7(8):704-12. doi: 10.2174/156800907783220453.

Abstract

Vinca alkaloids and taxanes represent the mainstay of medical treatment of hematological and solid tumors. Unfortunately, a major clinical problem with these agents is drug resistance. Although a plethora of mechanisms of drug resistance have been described, only a few of them have been validated in clinical trials. Among these, the one involving the protein TUBB3 seems to represent a promising target for studying drug resistance. In fact, it seems that this protein is a factor promoting cell survival and represents an endogenous element of an inherent drug-resistance program built into cells to counteract the activity of microtubule-interacting drugs. Its pivotal role has been ascertained in clinical trials in lung, breast, and ovarian cancer, three diseases that can be successfully treated with microtubule-interacting drugs. Although TUBB3 is probably not a unique factor in drug resistance, the hope is that direct targeting of this protein will increase the response to microtubule-interacting drugs, thereby overcoming an important element in the growth of drug resistance.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Antineoplastic Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Drug Resistance, Neoplasm*
  • Humans
  • Microtubules / drug effects*
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
  • Tubulin / chemistry*
  • Tubulin / genetics
  • Tubulin / metabolism

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • TUBB3 protein, human
  • Tubulin