Decreased Expression of the Amplified mdr1 Gene in Revertants of Multidrug-Resistant Human Myelogenous Leukemia K562 Occurs without Loss of Amplified DNA

Abstract

Amplification and increased expression of the mdr1 gene associated with multidrug resistance in human tumors were found in multidrug-resistant sublines of human myelogenous leukemia K562 selected with vincristine (K562/VCR) or adriamycin (K562/ADM). In two revertant cell lines of K562/ADM, amplification of the mdr1 gene was maintained at the same level as in K562/ADM, but expression of the 4.5-kilobase mdr1 mRNA was greatly decreased, indicating that amplified genes may be inactivated at the level of transcription without a corresponding loss of amplified DNA.