Evaluation of Reconstituted High-Density Lipoprotein as a Drug Delivery System in Drug-Sensitive and Drug-Resistant Ovarian Cancer Cell Lines

The purpose of this study was to perform uptake and efflux studies of ORB in drug-sensitive (OV1063) and drug-resistant (SK-OV-3 and OVCAR-3) cells. Experiments were carried out by delivering ORB to the cells with and without rHDL to compare the amount of ORB taken up and expelled by the respective cells. Because serum contains lipoproteins, the experiments were also done in the absence of serum to show the specific effect of the rHDL vehicle. Because the efflux pumps responsible for multi-drug resistance are overexpressed and amplified in resistant cells, the efflux of ORB should be higher in these cells compared to the drug-sensitive cell line, OV1063. But, since our rHDL system is designed to reduce drug resistance by releasing the drug directly inside the cell bypassing the efflux pumps, the efflux of ORB should be less when it is delivered with rHDL.