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To study this, we used established human acute myeloid leukemia cell lines and their doxorubicin-resistant derivatives. This study did not involve any human participants, animals, or primary patient-derived samples. Therefore, approval from the institutional review board for human-subject research and animal ethics was not required. The cell lines were obtained from the Institute of Hematology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Tianjin, China, and maintained at the Fujian Institute of Hematology, Fujian Medical University Union Hospital. The identity of the cells was confirmed by karyotype and morphological assessment before the experiments, and all cell cultures were tested for mycoplasma contamination. The chemicals, equipment, and software used in the protocol are listed in the Table of Materials.
1. Cell culture and confirmation of the resistant phenotype
Human HL60 and K562 acute myeloid leukemia cells and their doxorubicin-resistant derivatives, HL60/A and K562/A, were obtained from the Institute of Hematology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Tianjin, China. Cells were cultured in Roswell Park Memorial Institute 1640 medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum and 1% penicillin-streptomycin at 37 °C in a humidified incubator containing 5% carbon dioxide.
HL60/A cells were maintained in complete medium containing 1 µg/mL doxorubicin, and K562/A cells were maintained in complete medium containing 5 µg/mL doxorubicin to preserve the resistant phenotype. Doxorubicin was removed from the culture medium 1 month before experimental testing to avoid acute drug-selection effects during treatment assays.
Before the experiments, the resistant phenotype was reconfirmed by comparing doxorubicin half-maximal inhibitory concentration values between parental and resistant cells. Resistance stability after 1 month of drug-free culture was assessed by repeating the doxorubicin-sensitivity assay and examining basal P-glycoprotein and multidrug resistance-associated protein 1 expression. Cultures were used for experiments only when the resistant derivatives retained higher doxorubicin half-maximal inhibitory concentration values and higher transporter expression than their parental counterparts.
2. Drug preparation and treatment design
FTY720, doxorubicin, and SC79 were prepared as stock solutions according to the manufacturers' instructions. FTY720 and SC79 were dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide, and doxorubicin was prepared in the recommended solvent and protected from light during handling. Working solutions were freshly diluted in complete culture medium before treatment. The final dimethyl sulfoxide concentration was kept identical across treatment groups and did not exceed 0.1%.
Vehicle-control groups received the same final dimethyl sulfoxide concentration as the corresponding treatment groups. For combination-treatment experiments, 5 µM FTY720 was used as the sensitizing concentration. Doxorubicin was used at 4 µM for HL60/A cells and 8 µM for K562/A cells in apoptosis and intracellular doxorubicin accumulation assays, unless otherwise stated.
3. Cell viability assay and half-maximal inhibitory concentration calculation
Cells were seeded into 96-well plates at 1 × 104 cells per well in 100 µL complete medium. For FTY720 single-drug testing, HL60, K562, HL60/A, and K562/A cells were treated with 0, 3.125, 6.25, 12.5, 25, 50, and 100 µM FTY720 for 48 h. For doxorubicin-sensitivity testing, HL60/A and K562/A cells were treated with serial concentrations of doxorubicin in the presence or absence of 5 µM FTY720 for 48 h.
Cell viability was measured using the Cell Counting Kit-8 assay according to the manufacturer's instructions. After treatment, Cell Counting Kit-8 reagent was added to each well, and the plate was incubated at 37 °C for 2 h. Absorbance was measured at 450 nm using a microplate reader.
Relative cell viability was calculated as follows: relative cell viability = [(absorbance of treated wells - absorbance of blank wells) / (absorbance of vehicle-control wells - absorbance of blank wells)] × 100%
Half-maximal inhibitory concentration values were calculated using nonlinear regression with a four-parameter logistic dose-response model in GraphPad Prism, version 9.5. Each experiment included three independent biological replicates, with three technical wells per treatment condition.
4. Drug-combination analysis
The effects of FTY720 on doxorubicin sensitivity were evaluated by comparing doxorubicin dose-response relationships in the presence or absence of FTY720. HL60/A and K562/A cells were treated with serial concentrations of doxorubicin alone or doxorubicin combined with FTY720 for 48 h.
Cell viability was assessed using the Cell Counting Kit-8 assay, and half-maximal inhibitory concentration values were calculated using nonlinear regression with a four-parameter logistic dose-response model. Changes in doxorubicin sensitivity were interpreted based on shifts in dose-response curves and differences in half-maximal inhibitory concentration values between treatment groups.
Because the experiments were not designed as a complete fixed-ratio dose-matrix study, formal combination-index analysis was not performed. Therefore, the results were interpreted as evidence of altered doxorubicin sensitivity rather than definitive pharmacological synergy.
5. Apoptosis analysis by Annexin V and propidium iodide flow cytometry
HL60/A and K562/A cells were seeded into 6-well plates at 4 × 105 cells/mL and treated for 48 h with vehicle, FTY720 alone, doxorubicin alone, or doxorubicin combined with FTY720. For combination treatment, 5 µM FTY720 was combined with 4 µM doxorubicin in HL60/A cells or 8 µM doxorubicin in K562/A cells.
After treatment, cells were collected, including cells suspended in the culture medium, and washed twice with cold phosphate-buffered saline. Cells were resuspended in Annexin V binding buffer at the concentration recommended by the apoptosis detection kit manufacturer. Each sample was stained with 5 µL Annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate or Annexin V-allophycocyanin and 5 µL propidium iodide, followed by incubation for 15 min at room temperature in the dark.
Samples were analyzed immediately by flow cytometry. Unstained controls, single-stained controls, and fluorescence-minus-one controls were used to set compensation and quadrant gates. Debris was excluded using forward-scatter and side-scatter gating. Early apoptotic cells were defined as Annexin V-positive and propidium iodide-negative cells, and late apoptotic or dead cells were defined as Annexin V-positive and propidium iodide-positive cells. Total apoptosis was calculated as the sum of early and late apoptotic cell fractions. At least 10,000 viable single-cell events were acquired for each sample.
6. Intracellular doxorubicin accumulation assay
HL60/A and K562/A cells were seeded into 6-well plates at 4 × 105 cells/mL and cultured overnight. Cells were