Is it better to keep cultured Paclitaxel and Adriamycin resistant cells in the drugs in order to maintain resistance in the individual cells.
It depends what you are looking for. In some cases, the drug may induce a reversible epigenetic modification, meaning that cell response to the drug may be reesthablished after time when the drug is removed. Alternatively, cultering cells at a sub-IC50 dosage may select for mutations that render the cells insensitive. When these cells are treated with the drug after they have been growing for while without it, they should be resistant. It is always important to test if resistance is reversable or not, because this will tell you where to look for the mechanism.
Leon
Thanks for the observations. I am looking at the cell signalling and am fascinated by the fact that on mass they appear to act as a multicellular organism, even like a eusocial colony.
Resistance that is maintained is the most relevant for clinical management. It means that the patient will need a new treatment to keep the disease under control. If you find which treatment will work after resitance has developped or which schedule will delay resistance development is therefore also important
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