Key Players of Cisplatin Resistance: Towards a Systems Pharmacology Approach

The major obstacle in the clinical use of the antitumor drug cisplatin is inherent and

acquired resistance. Typically, cisplatin resistance is not restricted to a single mechanism demanding

for a systems pharmacology approach to understand a whole cell’s reaction to the drug. In this

study, the cellular transcriptome of untreated and cisplatin-treated A549 non-small cell lung cancer

cells and their cisplatin-resistant sub-line A549rCDDP2000 was screened with a whole genome array

for relevant gene candidates. By combining statistical methods with available gene annotations

and without a previously defined hypothesis HRas, MAPK14 (p38), CCL2, DOK1 and PTK2B

were identified as genes possibly relevant for cisplatin resistance. These and related genes were

further validated on transcriptome (qRT-PCR) and proteome (Western blot) level to select candidates

contributing to resistance. HRas, p38, CCL2, DOK1, PTK2B and JNK3 were integrated into a model

of resistance-associated signalling alterations describing differential gene and protein expression

between cisplatin-sensitive and -resistant cells in reaction to cisplatin exposure.