Crosstalk between epidermal growth factor receptor and P-glycoprotein in actinomycin D-resistant Chinese hamster lung cells.

Multidrug-resistant cells can manifest an increase in epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor number along with increased P-glycoprotein (Pgp) synthesis. An interrelationship of the two membrane proteins in actinomycin D-resistant Chinese hamster lung cells (DC-3F/AD X) in terms of the effect of EGF on Pgp phosphorylation was investigated. EGF was not a mitogen for the resistant cells, nor was it mitogenic for DC-3F, the parental drug-sensitive line. Brief treatment of DC-3F/AD X cells with EGF resulted in a 30-50% decrease in the level of Pgp phosphorylation, and treatment of the cells with okadaic acid, a specific inhibitor of protein phosphatases-1 and -2A (PP1 and 2A), increased Pgp phosphorylation. Okadaic acid also increased phosphorylation of Pgp in plasma membranes isolated from DC-3F/AD X cells by 30-40%. Protein phosphatase activity in extracts of cells grown in EGF-containing medium was greater by 30% than that of cells grown in standard medium, and okadaic acid inhibited the increases. The results suggested that EGF activated PP1 and PP2A in DC-3F/AD X cells and that Pgp was a substrate for the phosphatases. The properties of Pgp may be modulated by the signalling system transduced by ligand-activated EGF receptor.