Biological Evaluation of Bishydroxymethyl-Substituted Cage Dimeric 1,4-Dihydropyridines as a Novel Class of P-Glycoprotein Modulating Agents in Cancer Cells

Abstract

A series of N-substituted cage dimeric 1,4-dihydropyridines 3a-e was evaluated as inhibitors of membrane efflux pump P-glycoprotein (P-gp) in multidrug resistant (mdr) cancer cells. Structure-activity relationships (SAR) and cytotoxic properties are discussed. Effective concentrations for overcoming mdr have been demonstrated in competition studies with the P-gp substrate epirubicin.