Increased expression of sorcin is associated with multidrug resistance in leukemia cells via up-regulation of MDR1 expression through cAMP response element-binding protein

• We explored the role of sorcin in the development of MDR in leukemia cells.
• Sorcin expression was directly correlated to the expression of MDR1/P-gp.
• Sorcin induced the expression of MDR1/P-gp markedly through activation of CREB1.
• The findings may be helpful for understanding the mechanisms of MDR in cancer cells.

Sorcin, a 22 kDa Ca2+ binding protein, was first identified in a vincristine-resistant Chinese hamster lung cell line, and was later demonstrated to be involved in the development of multidrug-resistance (MDR) phenotypes in a variety of human cancer cell lines. However, the exact role of sorcin in MDR cells is yet to be fully elucidated. Here we explored the role of sorcin in the development of MDR in leukemia cells, and revealed that the expression level of sorcin was directly correlated to the expression of MDR1/P-glycoprotein (P-gp). In addition, it was shown that sorcin induced the expression of MDR1/P-gp through a cAMP response element (CRE) between −716 and −709 bp of the mdr1/p-gp gene. Furthermore, overexpression of sorcin increased the phosphorylation of CREB1 and the binding of CREB1 to the CRE sequence of mdr1/p-gp promoter, and induced the expression of MDR1/P-gp. These findings suggested that sorcin induces MDR1/P-gp expression markedly through activation of the CREB pathway and is associated with the MDR phenotype. The new findings may be helpful for understanding the mechanisms of MDR in human cancer cells, prompting its further investigation as a molecular target to overcome MDR.