Abstract:Objective To investigate the reverse effect of Physcion on multi-drug resistance of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) cell line K562 / ADM. Methods CCK8 and clone formation assay were used to detect cellular proliferation. Flow cytometry and Hoechst 33258 were performed to determine apoptosis. Expression of related genes was measured by qRT-PCR and Western blot. Migration assay was identified by cell invasiveness assay. Results Physcion increased the sensitivity of K562 / ADM cells to ADM significantly. Fold change of sensitivity induced by Physcion was 2.03 fold and 5.3 fold at concentration of 2 and 5 μmol/L, respectively. miRNA-146a in K562 / ADM cells decreased significantly when compared with K562 cells, and overexpression of miRNA-146a increased the sensitivity to ADM. Physcion-induced upregulated expression of miRNA-146a facilitated inhibition of CXCL12 / CXCR4 signaling pathway. Conclusions Physcion reverses the multi-drug resistance of K562/ADM cells through modulating miRNA-146a mediated CXCL12 / CXCR4 signaling pathway.