The Wilms' tumor suppressor, WT1, inhibits 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate activation of the multidrug resistance-1 promoter.

Overexpression of P-glycoprotein, the product of the multidrug resistance-1 (MDR1) gene, is associated with treatment failure in some hematopoietic tumors. Although expression of P-glycoprotein in normal hematopoietic cells is tightly regulated during hematopoietic differentiation, its aberrant overexpression in hematopoietic malignancies occurs at the transcriptional level. We have demonstrated that 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) increases transcription of the MDR1 gene and activates the MDR1 promoter, and that promoter activation by TPA requires binding of the zinc finger transcription factor EGR1 to specific MDR1 promoter sequences (C. McCoy and M. M. Cornwell, Mol. Cell. Biol., 15: 6100-6108, 1995). We demonstrate here that the Wilms' tumor (WT) suppressor, WT1, a member of the EGR family, inhibits the response of the MDR1 promoter to TPA in K562 cells. Inhibition is likely a direct effect of WT1 binding to the MDR1 promoter because: (a) WT1 expression does not inhibit the increase in EGR1 after TPA treatment; (b) inhibition by WT1 requires the zinc finger domain; (c) WT1 binds to MDR1 promoter sequences that bind EGR1 and are responsive to TPA; and (d) there is an inverse correlation between WT1 protein expression and MDR1 expression and promoter activity. These results suggest that the MDR1 gene is a target for regulation by WT1 and suggest mechanisms by which MDR1 may be regulated by WT1 and EGR1 during normal and aberrant hematopoiesis.