Objective: The objective of this study is to alter the expression of p-glycoprotein (p-gp) pump proteins in HepG2 cells after treating with urea and β-mercaptoethanol (BME) (lead compounds). The most common cause for resistance to a broad range of anticancer drugs is influenced by overexpression of p-gp pumps that detect and eject anticancer drugs from the cancer cell. Altering the expression of these proteins will reduce the efflux action and enhance the drug retention eventually killing the

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... ncer cell. Materials and Methods: 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazolyl-2)-2, 5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was carried out to measure the cell viability (HepG2 cells) post-treatment with the lead compounds followed by flow cytometric analysis for protein expression studies. Results: MTT assay confirms that the viability of HepG2 cells reduces as the concentrations of the lead compounds are increased. Flow cytometric analysis confirms reduced p-gp expression in HepG2 cells post-treatment with urea and BME. Compare to BME, urea turns out to be a potential compound in altering the expression of p-gp. Conclusion: The present cell line study confirms that urea and BME are potential compounds which are able to reduce the p-gp expression inHepG2 cells.