Looking at Drug Resistance Mechanisms for Microtubule Interacting Drugs: Does TUBB3 Work?

Title: Looking at Drug Resistance Mechanisms for Microtubule Interacting Drugs: Does TUBB3 Work?

Volume: 7 Issue: 8

Author(s): Cristiano Ferlini, Giuseppina Raspaglio, Lucia Cicchillitti, Simona Mozzetti, Silvia Prislei, Silvia Bartollino and Giovanni Scambia

Affiliation:

Keywords: TUBB3, tubulin, drug resistance, taxanes, vinca alkaloids, ovarian cancer, lung cancer

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.

Cite this article as:

Ferlini Cristiano, Raspaglio Giuseppina, Cicchillitti Lucia, Mozzetti Simona, Prislei Silvia, Bartollino Silvia and Scambia Giovanni, Looking at Drug Resistance Mechanisms for Microtubule Interacting Drugs: Does TUBB3 Work?, Current Cancer Drug Targets 2007; 7 (8) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/156800907783220453