Gene expression profiles of parental and chemotherapy-resistant colon cancer cell lines.. Homo sapiens

The aim of this study was to identify biomarkers of drug response and investigate mechanisms of drug resistance to the two chemotherapeutic drugs oxaliplatin and irinotecan (active metabolite SN-38) in colorectal cancer, using a cell-based model system of drug-sensitive parental colon cancer cell lines and sub-cell lines with acquired drug resistance. Overall design: Three human colon cancer cell lines (HCT116, HT29 and LoVo) were exposed in vitro to gradually increasing drug (oxaliplatin or SN-38) concentrations for about nine months, generating sub-cell lines with acquired resistance. Gene expression profiles of the parental and resistant cell lines cultured in drug-free medium for two to three weeks were obtained (each in triplicate) and compared to identify gene expression changes associated to chemotherapy resistance.