Specific β-Tubulin Isotypes Can Functionally Enhance or Diminish Epothilone B Sensitivity in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cells

Epothilones are a new class of microtubule stabilizing agents with promising preclinical and clinical activity. Their cellular target is β-tubulin and factors influencing intrinsic sensitivity to epothilones are not well understood. In this study, the functional significance of specific β-tubulin isotypes in intrinsic sensitivity to epothilone B was investigated using siRNA gene knockdown against βII-, βIII- or βIVb-tubulins in two independent non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines, NCI-H460 and Calu-6. Drug-treated clonogenic assays showed that sensitivity to epothilone B was not altered following knockdown of βII-tubulin in both NSCLC cell lines. In contrast, knockdown of βIII-tubulin significantly increased sensitivity to epothilone B. Interestingly, βIVb-tubulin knockdowns were significantly less sensitive to epothilone B, compared to mock- and control siRNA cells. Cell cycle analysis of βIII-tubulin knockdown cells showed a higher percentage of cell death with epothilone B concentrations as low as 0.5 nM. In contrast, βIVb-tubulin knockdown cells displayed a decrease in epothilone B-induced G2-M cell cycle accumulation compared to control siRNA cells. Importantly, βIII-tubulin knockdowns displayed a significant dose-dependent increase in the percentage of apoptotic cells upon treatment with epothilone B, as detected using caspase 3/7 activity and Annexin-V staining. Higher concentrations of epothilone B were required to induce apoptosis in the βIVb-tubulin knockdowns compared to control siRNA, highlighting a potential mechanism underlying decreased sensitivity to this agent. This study demonstrates that specific β-tubulin isotypes can influence sensitivity to epothilone B and may influence differential sensitivity to this promising new agent.