235 , P < 0.05), β3 (correlation coefficients were 0. 333 , P < 0.01 ) subunits. Discussion Chemotherapy resistance has been proven to be a very difficult issue in the treatment of ovarian cancer. The mechanisms of resistance and appropriate countermeasures targeting these mechanisms have become hotspots in ovarian cancer research. Previous Liproxstatin-1 price studies of the mechanism of resistance in ovarian cancer mainly focused on drug concentration in tumor cells, DNA damage repair mechanisms, glutathione-dependent detoxification enzyme system activity, and other aspects. In recent years, a number of studies on malignant tumor drug resistance have found

that tumor drug resistance is related to changes in adhesion molecule composition, the adhesion abilities of tumor cells, and the resultant cytoskeletal rearrangements and signal transduction pathway activation. Therefore, a new mechanism of tumor drug resistance—cell adhesion mediated drug resistance (CAM-DR) has been proposed [2–4]. The adhesion of tumor cells to the surrounding environment can improve cell survival and anti-apoptotic ability. Integrins are important cell surface adhesion molecules as they are

receptors for many extracellular matrix components. Integrin receptors can regulate cell growth, differentiation, and metastasis through selleck inhibitor transmembrane signal transduction. Tumor cell growth and metastasis are both closely related to drug resistance. Metastasized tumor cells are more likely to be drug resistant and resistant tumor cells have a stronger ability to metastasize or invade. The relationship between integrins and drug resistance

is gradually gaining Thiamet G recognition, but the research is still in early stages [7–9]. Damiano et al [10] found that the expression of integrin α4β1 in the drug-resistant strain, RPMI8226/S, of human multiple myeloma cell strain RPMI8226 was significantly higher than that in sensitive strains; furthermore, extracellular matrix-coated cells significantly increased the cells’ tolerance of the chemotherapeutic drugs melphalan and doxorubicin and reduced the rate of apoptosis. Similar findings have been observed for leukemia, glioma, breast cancer and small cell lung cancer. In preliminary studies, we have also demonstrated that the ovarian cancer cell line, RMG-I-h, with high expression of the integrins α5β1 and αvβ3, can ABT-263 cost increase drug resistance to 5-FU, carboplatin, and paclitaxel [11, 12]. Integrin glycosylation status has been shown to affect the strength of integrin-ligand binding and the formation of the glycosidic bond catalyzed by glycosyltransferase affecting the glycosylation status of integrins.