Downregulated Mucin 1 alleviates paclitaxel resistance in non‑small cell lung cancer cells

Abstract

Multidrug resistance of non-small cell lung cancer (nSclc) is a common clinical problem, which is one of the main reasons leading to the failure of chemotherapy. Therefore, how to overcome or prevent drug resistance has become a hot and difficult issue in clinical research. The present study was designed to investigate the expression patterns, functions and underlying mechanisms of Muc1 in regulating paclitaxel-resistant cell line a549/Pr in nSclc. rT-qPcr and western blot was performed to determine the mrna and protein level, respectively. ccK-8 was conducted to determine the cell viability of a549/Pr cells. Moreover, flow cytometry assay was applied to examine the apoptosis rate of a549/Pr. Herein, the Muc1 was over-expressed in clinic nSclc tissues and a549/Pr cells. Silence of Muc1 could obviously suppress the proliferation and promote apoptosis of a549/Pr cells in treatment of paclitaxel through up-regulating the expression of Bax and caspase-3, and down-regulating the expression of Bcl-2, suggesting that chemotherapy combined with the modulation of Muc1 might be characterized as a promising therapeutic approach to overcome paclitaxel-resistance in nSclc in the future.