Increased Drug Resistance in Acute lymphoblastic Leukemia Cells in Three-Dimensional High-Density Cell Cultures

Abstract

In this study, the development process of drug resistance in acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells (Jurkat, MOLT 3, and MOLT 4 cell lines) was examined in high-density cell cultures. It has been shown that in high- density cultures of acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells resistance to the action of chemotherapeutic drugs in- creases comparing to the cells cultured under low-density conditions. The results obtained after investigation of the mechanism underlying increased drug resistance in acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells in high-density cell cultures showed that an increase in drug resistance in high-density cultures of cells can be mediated by a change in their proliferative activity. These findings can be applied in developing a strategy to overcome drug resistance in acute lymphoblastic leukemia cells, which depends on the density of the cell culture.