High affinity and covalent-binding microtubule stabilizing agents show activity in chemotherapy-resistant acute myeloid leukemia cells

•Drug efflux via membrane pumps is a resistant mechanism behind AML treatment failure.•Molecules with high affinity or covalent binding overcome pump efflux.•CTX-40 and zampanolide induce cell death in pump-overexpressing AML lines.•Both molecules synergize with daunorubicin without increasing hematopoietic toxicity.•CTX-40 and zampanolide keep their antileukemic activity in a primary sample.

Treatment failure in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is frequently due to the persistence of a cell population resistant to chemotherapy through different mechanisms, in which drug efflux via ATP-binding cassette (ABC) proteins, specifically P-glycoprotein, is one of the most recognized. However, disappointing results from clinical trials employing inhibitors for these transporters have demonstrated the need to adopt different strategies. We hypothesized that microtubule targeting compounds presenting high affinity or covalent binding could overcome the effect of ABC transporters. We therefore evaluated the activity of the high-affinity paclitaxel analog CTX-40 as well as the covalent binder zampanolide (ZMP) in AML cells. Both molecules were active in chemosensitive as well as in chemoresistant cell lines overexpressing P-glycoprotein. Moreover, ZMP or CTX-40 in combination with daunorubicin showed synergistic killing without increased in vitro hematopoietic toxicity. In a primary AML sample, we further demonstrated that ZMP and CTX-40 are active in progenitor and differentiated leukemia cell populations. In sum, our data indicate that high affinity and covalent-binding anti-microtubule agents are active in AML cells otherwise chemotherapy resistant.