Investigation of the Effects of Blocking Potassium Channels With 4-Aminopyridine on Paclitaxel Activity in Breast Cancer Cell Lines.

Background: Paclitaxel (PTX) has been used as a chemotherapeutic agent for several malignancies, including breast cancer, and efforts to increase the efficiency of PTX are continuous. Previous studies have shown that the voltage-gated K channels are over-expressed in breast cancer cell lines; therefore, blocking this type of K channel reduces cell proliferation and viability.

Aims: In this study, FDA-approved 4-aminopyridine (4-AP), a voltage-gated potassium channel blocker, was used in combination with PTX to improve the anticancer activity of PTX in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cell lines.