A zinc finger protein required for stationary phase viability in fission yeast

Yeast cells exit the cell cycle and enter a metabolically inert stationary phase when starved for nutrients essential for normal proliferation. We have cloned a novel gene named rsv1+ (required for stationary phase viability) that is essential for fission yeast cell viability in a stationary phase induced by glucose starvation. rsv1+ encodes a 47 kDa protein with two zinc finger motifs that are partially homologous with Aspergillus nidulans CreA, Saccharomyces cerevisiae Mig1 and mammalian EGR-1/NGFI-A. Cells deleted for rsv1+ are unable to survive glucose starvation. Transcription of rsv1+ is negatively regulated by the cAMP pathway and induced by glucose starvation. Cells with the constitutively activated cAMP pathway are known to lose viability when grown to confluence or when starved for glucose. These cells are poor in rsv1+ induction and their viability loss is largely suppressed by ectopic expression of rsv1+. Thus, poor induction of rsv1+ is at least partially responsible for the viability loss. Analysis also showed that cells need to receive starvation signals before entry into the stationary phase in order to maintain viability in a glucose-poor environment.

Long-term erythropoietin expression in rodents and non-human primates following intramuscular injection of a replication-defective adenoviral vector

Erythropoietin (Epo)-responsive anemia is a debilitating complication of chronic renal failure and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection that effects more than 150,000 Americans. Patients with Epo-responsive anemias are currently treated with repeated injections of recombinant human Epo. In the studies described in this report, we have examined the safety and efficacy of using a single intramuscular (i.m.) injection of replication-defective adenoviral vectors (RDAd) encoding Epo for the treatment of Epo-responsive anemias in both mice and non-human primates. Our results demonstrate that there is a threshold dose of virus (2.5-8 x 10(7) pfu/gram of body weight) which is required to obtain long-term Epo expression and polycythemia in both species. A single i.m. injection of mice with 10(9) pfu of an RDAd encoding murine Epo (AdmEpo) resulted in elevations in hematocrits from control values of 49 +/- 0.9% to treated values of 81 +/- 3%, which were stable for more than 1 year. Similarly, a single i.m. injection of a monkey with 4 x 10(11) pfu of an RDAd-encoding simian Epo (AdsEpo) resulted in elevations of hematocrits from control levels of 40% to treated levels of > or =70%, which were stable for 84 days. Intramuscular injection of monkeys with AdsEpo appeared to be safe in that we did not detect abnormalities in chest X-rays, serum chemistries, hematologic, or clotting profiles (apart from elevated hematocrits) or organ histologies during the 84-day time course of the experiment. Taken together, these results suggest the feasibility of using i.m. injection of RDAd for the treatment of Epo-responsive anemias in humans.

Restoration of the G1 checkpoint and the apoptotic pathway mediated by wild-type p53 sensitizes squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck to radiotherapy

BACKGROUND

A significant number of squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck (SCCHN) resist radiation treatment, the most common form of adjuvant therapy for this disease. The presence of a mutant form of the tumor suppressor gene p53 has been correlated with disruption of programmed cell death (apoptosis) and reduced cell cycle arrest, resulting in increased radiation resistance and survival.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We introduced by means of an adenoviral vector a functional p53 gene into a radiation-resistant SCCHN cell line that harbors mutant p53. Replacement of wild-type p53 restored the G1 block and apoptosis in these cells in vitro. Moreover, introduction of wild-type p53 sensitized SCCHN-induced mouse xenografts to radiotherapy in vivo.

CONCLUSION

The combination of p53 replacement gene therapy with conventional radiotherapy may treat SCCHN more effectively.

[Analysis of vitamin K1 in Cephalanoplos segetum (Bunge) Kitam by high performance liquid chromatography]

A modified method for the analysis of vitamin K1 in Cephalanoplos segetum (Bunge) Kitam, an edible wild herb, is proposed in this paper. The ground herb sample was extracted with CHCl3, followed by evaporation to dryness with nitrogen. The residue was dissolved with methanol, filtered through 0.5microm micropore membrane and then determined on a Novapak C18, 150mm x 3.9mm i.d., column with methanol/isopropanol (70:30) as mobile phase and UV-248nm as detector. Recovery was more than 95% with CV 1.23%. The method is simple and accurate without saponification, extraction and evaporation procedures as those used previously.

p53 mediated sensitization of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck to radiotherapy

Radiation resistant squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck cell line JSQ-3 carries a mutant form of tumor suppressor gene p53. Treatment of these cells with an adenoviral vector containing wild-type p53 (Av1p53) was able to inhibit their growth in vitro and in vivo while having no effect on normal cells. More significantly, introduction of wtp53 also reduced the radiation-resistance level of this cell line in vitro, in a viral dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, this radiosensitization also carried over to the in vivo situation where the response of JSQ-3 cell-induced mouse xenografts to radiotherapy was markedly enhanced after treatment with Av1p53. Complete, long-term regression of the tumors for up to 162 days was observed when a single dose of Av1p53 was administered in combination with ionizing radiation, demonstrating the effectiveness of this combination of gene therapy and conventional radiotherapy. This sensitization of tumors to radiation therapy by replacement of wtp53 could significantly decrease the rate of recurrence after radiation treatment. Since radiation is one of the most prevalent forms of adjunctive therapy for a variety of cancers, these results have great relevance in moving toward an improved cancer therapy.

Evidence supporting a signal transduction pathway leading to the radiation-resistant phenotype in human tumor cells

A signal transduction pathway, involving oncogenes and their normal counterparts the proto-oncogenes, analogous to that for cell growth and differentiation has been proposed to lead to the phenotype of cellular radioresistance (RR). In this report we provide evidence demonstrating the existence of such a pathway by using antisense oligonucleotides (ASO) to reverse the RR phenotype. Utilizing ASO directed against the raf-1 gene, a central component of this proposed pathway, we were able to reverse the RR phenotype of human tumor cell lines having elevated HER-2 expression or a mutant form of Ha-ras, two genes upstream of raf-1 in signal transduction. Additionally, anti-ras ASO were able to radiosensitize HER-2 overexpressing cells. These results, which verify the presence of a signaling pathway leading to cellular RR, also have possible clinical implications for the use of ASO as a means to sensitize radioresistant tumors to radiation therapy.

[Maintenance of the auriculocephalic sulcus in total auricle reconstruction]

The auriculocephalic sulcus is important for the position and shape of a reconstructed ear. With an additional cartilage graft, the sulcus has been created in 31 cases since 1985 and the results have been satisfactory. In the first stage of auricle reconstruction while assembling and implanting cartilage framework, a piece of cartilage was buried in the subcutis of the donor site. Three months later in the second stage, after the framework was elevated, the stored cartilage was taken out, carved and fixed between the auricular framework and the periosteum of the skull, which then was covered with a retroauricular fascial flap. The raw surface was covered with skin graft.

Reversal by cytidine of cyclopentenyl cytosine-induced toxicity in mice without compromise of antitumor activity

Among nine compounds surveyed, cytidine was found to be the most effective in reversing the antiproliferative effects of cyclopentenyl cytosine (CPEC) on human T-lymphoblasts (MOLT-4) in culture. Cytidine, at concentrations of 1-25 microM, enabled cells to maintain normal logarithmic growth when added up to 12 hr after exposure to a 200 nM concentration of the oncolytic nucleoside, CPEC. The most abundant CPEC metabolite, CPEC-5'-triphosphate, is a potent [K1 approximately 6 microM] inhibitor of CTP synthetase (EC 6.3.4.2). Accumulation of this inhibitor resulted in a depletion of CTP levels to 17% of their original cellular concentration. Exogenous cytidine reversed CPEC-induced cellular cytotoxicity by suppressing the formation of CPEC-5'-triphosphate by 70%, and by partially replenishing intracellular CTP to at least 60-70% of its original concentration. In vivo, cytidine (500 mg/kg) administered intraperitoneally 4 hr after each daily dose of CPEC (LD10-LD100) for 9 days reduced the toxicity and abolished the lethality of CPEC to non-tumored mice. Of greater practical importance is the finding that, under these experimental conditions, cytidine did not curtail the antineoplastic properties of CPEC in L1210 tumor-bearing mice. Moreover, the concentration range over which CPEC exhibited antineoplastic activity was extended with cytidine administration.

Improved synthesis of zebularine [1-(beta-D-ribofuranosyl)-dihydropyrimidin-2-one] nucleotides as inhibitors of human deoxycytidylate deaminase

The 2'-deoxy (2a) and 2'-ara-fluoro (3a) derivatives of zebularine [1-(beta-D-ribofuranosyl)-dihydropyrimidin-2-one, 1a] were phosphorylated in high yield to the 5'-nucleotides 2b and 3b, respectively, and characterized by HPLC, enzyme degradation, 1H, 13C and 31P NMR, and high resolution mass spectral analysis. Their inhibitory activity against partially purified MOLT-4 deoxycytidylate deaminase (dCMPD) in the presence of the allosteric effector deoxycytidine triphosphate (dCTP) and Mg+2 ion was examined. Compounds 2b and 3b inhibited dCMPD with Ki values of 2.1 x 10(-8) M and 1.2 x 10(-8) M, respectively. The parent nucleotide, zebularine monophosphate 1b was ineffective at concentrations > 100 mumol. The effect of the nucleosides, 1a-3a, as well as tetrahydrouridine (THU) and 2'-deoxy THU (dTHU), on the cellular production of DNA precursors was examined in human MOLT-4 peripheral lymphoblasts. It was shown that 1a, 2a and 3a all elevated intracellular dCTP and TTP levels in whole cells with the most powerful effect elicited by 1a. The 2'-fluoro derivative 3a was chemically phosphorylated much more cleanly and higher yield than 2a, without the formation of diphosphorylated by-products. This compound was found to be infinitely less sensitive to acid-catalyzed degradation than 2a. Since the substitution of fluorine for hydrogen had a slight potentiating effect on the dCMPD inhibitory activity while stabilizing the compound toward acid-catalyzed and enzymatic depyrimidination, compound 3b emerges as a very attractive tool for the pharmacological modulation of pyrimidine deaminase activity.

Comparison of biochemical parameters of benzamide riboside, a new inhibitor of IMP dehydrogenase, with tiazofurin and selenazofurin

The biochemical and cytotoxic activities of the IMP dehydrogenase (IMPDH) inhibitors benzamide riboside, tiazofurin, and selenazofurin were compared. These three C-nucleosides exert their cytotoxicity by forming an analogue of NAD, wherein nicotinamide is replaced by the C-nucleoside base. The antiproliferative activities of these three agents were compared in a panel of 60 human cancer cell lines. To examine the relationship of benzamide riboside and selenazofurin to tiazofurin, COMPARE computer analysis was performed, and correlation coefficients of 0.761 and 0.815 were obtained for benzamide riboside and selenazofurin, respectively. The biochemical activities of these agents were examined in human myelogenous leukemia K562 cells. Incubation of K562 cells for 4 hr with 10 microM each of benzamide riboside, selenazofurin and tiazofurin resulted in a 49, 71, and 26% decrease in IMPDH activity with a concurrent increase in intracellular IMP pools. As a consequence of IMPDH inhibition, GTP and dGTP concentrations were curtailed. These studies demonstrated that selenazofurin was the most potent of the three agents. To compare the cellular synthesis of NAD analogues of these agents, K562 cells were incubated with 10 microM each of benzamide riboside, tiazofurin and selenazofurin after prelabeling the cells with [2,8-3H]adenosine. The results demonstrated that benzamide riboside produced 2- and 3-fold more of NAD analogue (BAD) than tiazofurin and selenazofurin did. To elucidate the effects of the three compounds on other NAD-utilizing enzymes, the inhibitory activities of purified benzamide adenine dinucleotide (BAD), thiazole-4-carboxamide adenine dinucleotide (TAD) and selenazole-4-carboxamide adenine dinucleotide (SAD) were studied in commercially available purified preparations of lactate dehydrogenase, glutamate dehydrogenase and malate dehydrogenase. TAD and SAD did not inhibit these three dehydrogenases. Although BAD did not influence lactate and glutamate dehydrogenases, it selectively inhibited 50% of malate dehydrogenase activity at a 3.2 microM concentration. These studies demonstrate similarities and differences in the biochemical actions of the three C-nucleosides, even though they share similar mechanisms of action.

Effects of IMP dehydrogenase inhibitors on the phosphorylation of ganciclovir in MOLT-4 cells before and after herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase gene transduction

We have undertaken to characterize the role of cytoplasmic 5'-nucleotidase (EC 3.1.3.5) in the phosphorylation of the anti-herpes simplex virus and anti-human cytomegalovirus agent ganciclovir (GCV) in MOLT-4 cells, a human T cell line adapted to grow in suspension culture. The rate of formation of GCV triphosphate was found to be approximately doubled by preincubation of nontransfected MOLT-4 cells with agents that cause the accumulation of IMP, such as ribavirin (20 microM) and mycophenolic acid (1 microM), and the reaction rate was found to be unaffected by high levels of thymidine (100 microM). With herpes simplex virus-1 thymidine kinase (HStk) gene-transduced MOLT-4 cells, the rate of GCV phosphorylation was approximately 40-fold faster than that in uninfected cells and, in marked contrast to uninfected cells, the reaction was significantly inhibited both by IMP dehydrogenase inhibitors and by thymidine. These latter effects appear to be the result of 1) the accumulation of high levels of dTTP in IMP dehydrogenase inhibitor-treated cells, with consequent feedback inhibition of HStk, and 2) direct competitive substrate inhibition by thymidine of the HStk-catalyzed phosphorylation of GCV. Thus, agents that enhance 5'-nucleotidase-catalyzed phosphorylation of GCV in uninfected cells do not play a similar role in HStk-transfected cells, a consequence of the quantitative predominance of the viral thymidine kinase-catalyzed reaction over that attributable to endogenous cytoplasmic 5'-nucleotidase.

Characterization of 2',3'-dideoxycytidine diphosphocholine and 2',3'-dideoxycytidine diphosphoethanolamine. Prominent phosphodiester metabolites of the anti-HIV nucleoside 2',3'-dideoxycytidine

2',3'-Dideoxycytidine (ddCyd) is among the most potent of the anti-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) agents of the dideoxynucleoside class. Its pharmacologically active metabolite 2',3'-dideoxycytidine 5'-triphosphate (ddCTP) is an effective inhibitor of HIV reverse transcriptase and thus of HIV replication. ddCyd differs, however, from other dideoxynucleoside agents such as 3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine and 2',3'-dideoxyinosine in its capacity to generate phosphodiester metabolites (i.e. ddCDP choline and ddCDP ethanolamine). We have synthesized and characterized these two diesters, and established their identity with the metabolites formed in ddCyd-treated Molt-4 cells. Toward this end, the biologically generated metabolites have been isolated on a preparative scale and compared with the synthetic compounds mass spectroscopically, chromatographically, and enzymatically (i.e. their relative susceptibility to the catabolic enzymes alkaline phosphatase and venom phosphodiesterase). The concentration reached by each of these two phosphodiesters within cells can, under certain conditions, equal or exceed that of ddCTP, and their half-times of disappearance are long, indicating that they may serve as depot forms of ddCyd. The possible role of these phosphodiesters in contributing to the unusual toxicity of ddCyd is discussed.

A lactococcal expression system for engineered nisins

The nisin-producing Lactococcus lactis strain FI5876 has been modified and developed for use as an expression system for engineered nisin variants. Insertional inactivation of the resident nisA gene had a polar effect on downstream genes, including those involved in nisin immunity. However, subsequent chromosomal rearrangements in this region involving a newly discovered insertion element (IS905) generated a strain that was deficient in the nisA gene product but expressed those nisin determinants necessary for prenisin maturation, secretion, and immunity. Complementation of the lesion in the nisA gene by plasmid-encoded nisA genes containing site-specific mutations resulted in the exclusive production of altered nisins containing specific amino acid substitutions.

Effects of bone marrow stimulatory cytokines on human immunodeficiency virus replication and the antiviral activity of dideoxynucleosides in cultures of monocyte/macrophages

Cells of the monocyte lineage are important targets for the replication of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Our group and others have previously shown that granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) stimulates HIV replication in monocyte/macrophages, but that it also enhances the anti-HIV activity of 2',3'-dideoxy-3'-azidothymidine (AZT). In the present study, we have explored the effects of other bone marrow stimulatory cytokines on the replication of HIV and on the anti-HIV activity of certain dideoxynucleosides in human peripheral blood monocyte/macrophages (M/M). Like GM-CSF, macrophage CSF (M-CSF) enhanced HIV replication in M/M. In contrast, granulocyte CSF (G-CSF) and erythropoietin (Epo) had no such effects. The anti-HIV activity of zidovudine (AZT) was increased in M/M exposed to GM-CSF. In contrast, the anti-HIV activity of AZT was unchanged in M/M exposed to M-CSF, and the activities of 2',3'-dideoxycytidine (ddC) and 2',3'-dideoxyinosine (ddl) were unchanged or slightly diminished in M/M stimulated with GM-CSF or M-CSF. These differential activities of AZT and ddC were paralleled by differential effects of the cytokines on the anabolism of these drugs to their active 5'-triphosphate moieties. GM-CSF increased the levels of AZT-5'-triphosphate (at least in part through an increase in thymidine kinase activity) and overall induced an increase in the ratio of AZT-5'-triphosphate/thymidine-5'-triphosphate. In contrast, M-CSF-induced increases in AZT-5'-triphosphate were roughly matched by increases in thymidine-5'-triphosphate. Also, GM-CSF- or M-CSF-induced increases in the levels of ddC-5'-triphosphate were associated with parallel increases in the levels of deoxycytidine-5'-triphosphate (the physiologic nucleoside that competes at the level of reverse transcriptase), so that there was relatively little net change in the ddC-5'-triphosphate/deoxycytidine-5'-triphosphate ratio. Thus, bone marrow stimulatory cytokines may have a variety of effects on HIV replication and on the activity and metabolism of dideoxynucleosides in M/M.

[Hypoglycemic effect of fructus Ligustri Lucidi]

The decoction of Fructus Ligustri Lucidi (FLL) 15.30 g/kg ig for 10 days significantly decreased the blood glucose level in normal mice. FLL 30 g/kg before or after the treatment of alloxan also decreased the blood glucose level in alloxan diabetic mice. The elevation of blood glucose level induced by adrenaline or glucose was antagonized by FLL.

Cellular pharmacology of cyclopentenyl cytosine in Molt-4 lymphoblasts

The toxicity, uptake, and metabolism of the oncolytic nucleoside cyclopentenyl cytosine (CPEC) have been examined in the Molt-4 line of human lymphoblasts. This compound is known to be converted to its 5'-triphosphate, which inhibits CTP synthetase and depletes the pools of cytidine nucleotides. In the Molt-4 system, the concentration of drug reducing proliferation by 50% in a 24-h incubation was between 50 and 100 nM. Cytidine, uridine, and nitrobenzylthioinosine almost fully prevented the cytotoxicity of CPEC when introduced shortly before or together with the drug, but only cytidine was effective as an antidote when added 12 h after 200 nM CPEC. Studies of the cellular entry of CPEC revealed that nitrobenzylthioinosine fully blocked this process over a 60-s interval and for as long as 2 h, suggesting that the initial interiorization was mediated by facilitated diffusion. In Molt-4 cells incubated with tritiated CPEC, 9 metabolites could be distinguished: prominent among these was cyclopentenyl uridine (CPEU), the deamination product of CPEC; other major metabolites included the 5'-mono-, di-, and triphosphates of CPEC, and of CPEU, along with two phosphodiesters provisionally identified as CPEC-diphosphate choline and CPEC-diphosphate ethanolamine. When the accumulation of CPEC-5'-triphosphate was measured as a function of concentration of the drug in the medium, the process was found not to be saturable by levels of CPEC up to 1000 nM. In cells incubated with 200 nM drug, CPEC-5'-triphosphate accumulated rapidly and linearly for approximately 4 h, the time for doubling of the concentration being 2 h. After a 16-h incubation with 100 nM CPEC, the concentration of CPEC-5'-triphosphate was 50-fold that of the parent drug in the medium and could be readily monitored spectrophotometrically in high-pressure liquid chromatography effluents without recourse to radiolabeled nucleoside. In 2-h incubations, the concentration of free CPEC required to reduce CTP by 50% was 150 nM; this corresponded to a CPEC-5'-triphosphate level of 750 nM. After washout of extracellular CPEC, CPEC-5'-triphosphate decayed with a half-life that ranged from 9 to 14 h. Twenty-four h after washout of 200 nM CPEC (the concentration of drug reducing proliferation by 80%), cells had not resumed proliferation, and CTP pools were still depressed by 90%. Cytidine, uridine, and nitrobenzylthioinosine all strongly repressed the anabolic phosphorylation of CPEC when added to Molt-4 cells along with the drug.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

9-[(2RS)-3-fluoro-2-phosphonylmethoxypropyl] derivatives of purines: a class of highly selective antiretroviral agents in vitro and in vivo

A new class of compounds, 9-[(2RS)-3-fluoro-2-phosphonylmethoxypropyl] [(RS)-FPMP] derivatives of purines, is described that has selective activity against a broad spectrum of retroviruses [including human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and type 2 (HIV-2)] but not other RNA or DNA viruses. This activity spectrum is completely different from that of the parental compounds, 9-[(2S)-3-hydroxy-2-phosphonylmethoxypropyl] [(S)-HPMP] derivatives of purines, which are active against a broad range of DNA viruses. The racemic (RS)-FPMP derivatives of adenine and 2,6-diaminopurine, termed (RS)-FPMPA and (RS)-FPMPDAP, respectively, are markedly more selective as in vitro antiretroviral agents than their 9-(2-phosphonylmethoxyethyl) (PME) counterparts, PMEA and PMEDAP. Also, (RS)-FPMPA and (RS)-FPMPDAP have a substantially higher therapeutic index in mice in inhibiting Moloney murine sarcoma virus-induced tumor formation and associated death and are markedly less inhibitory to human bone marrow cells than PMEA and PMEDAP. The diphosphate derivative of (RS)-FPMPA [(RS)-FPMPApp] is a potent and selective inhibitor of HIV-1 reverse transcriptase but not of HSV-1 DNA polymerase or DNA polymerase alpha. (RS)-FPMPApp, akin to PMEA diphosphate (PMEApp), acts as a DNA chain terminator. The DNA chain-terminating properties of PMEApp and (RS)-FPMPApp seem to be a prerequisite for acyclic nucleoside phosphonates to exhibit antiretrovirus (i.e., anti-HIV) activity.

Intracellular metabolism and mechanism of anti-retrovirus action of 9-(2-phosphonylmethoxyethyl)adenine, a potent anti-human immunodeficiency virus compound

9-(2-Phosphonylmethoxyethyl)adenine (PMEA) is a potent and selective inhibitor of retrovirus (i.e., human immunodeficiency virus) replication in vitro and in vivo. Uptake of PMEA by human MT-4 cells and subsequent conversion to the mono- and diphosphorylated metabolites (PMEAp and PMEApp) are dose-dependent and occur proportionally with the initial extracellular PMEA concentrations. Adenylate kinase is unable to phosphorylate PMEA. However, 5-phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate synthetase directly converts PMEA to PMEApp with a Km of 1.47 mM and a Vmax that is 150-fold lower than the Vmax for AMP. ATPase, 5'-phosphodiesterase, and nucleoside diphosphate kinase are able to dephosphorylate PMEApp to PMEAp, albeit to a much lower extent than the dephosphorylation of ATP. PMEApp has a relatively long intracellular half-life (16-18 hr) and has a much higher affinity for the human immunodeficiency virus-specified reverse transcriptase than for the cellular DNA polymerase alpha (Ki/Km: 0.01 and 0.60, respectively). PMEApp is at least as potent an inhibitor of human immunodeficiency virus reverse transcriptase as 2',3'-dideoxyadenosine 5'-triphosphate. Being an alternative substrate to dATP, PMEApp acts as a potent DNA chain terminator, and this may explain its anti-retrovirus activity.

2'-Fluoro-2',3'-dideoxyarabinosyladenine: a metabolically stable analogue of the antiretroviral agent 2',3'-dideoxyadenosine

In this report, we have compared the uptake, metabolism, and relevant enzymology of a novel anti-acquired immunodeficiency syndrome drug, 2'-fluoro-2',3'-dideoxyarabinosyladenine (2'-F-dd-ara-A) with the corresponding properties of its parent compound 2',3'-dideoxyadenosine (2',3'-ddAdo) in three human T cell lines, MOLT-4, ATH8, and CEM. In previous communications, we have reported that the primary route of metabolism of 2',3'-ddAdo in human T lymphoblasts is catabolic, i.e., deamination to 2',3'-dideoxyinosine (2',3'-ddlno). At this point, the metabolic pathway diverges, to result in either cleavage and inactivation of 2',3'-ddlno by purine nucleoside phosphorylase or in 5'-phosphorylation by a phosphotransferase, a reaction that generates 2',3'-inosine monophosphate and ultimately the putative active metabolite 2',3'-dideoxy-ATP. Studies with kinase-deficient mutant CEM lines indicate, however, that 2'-F-dd-ara-A favors a more direct anabolic route toward formation of 2'-fluoro-dideoxynucleotides, catalyzed initially by 2'-deoxycytidine kinase. In MOLT-4 cells, amounts of 2'-fluoro-dideoxyarabinosyladenine di- and triphosphate formed were approximately 20-fold and 5-fold greater than the respective accumulation of 2',3'-dideoxy-ADP and 2',3'-dideoxy-ATP over the same time of exposure. This metabolic profile was supported by enzymological studies, which revealed that 2'-F-dd-ara-A is deaminated 10 times less rapidly than ddAdo and that the resulting deaminated product is resistant to hydrolysis by purine nucleoside phosphorylase. Under similar conditions, ddAdo was rapidly degraded through cleavage of its deamination product ddlno. Like ddAdo, 2'-F-dd-ara-A was found to be transported by passive diffusion and does not enter cells via the purine nucleoside transport carrier system. However, the rate of entry of 2'-F-dd-ara-A was about half that of ddAdo (9.7 pmol/10(6) cells/min for 2'-F-dd-ara-A versus 18.4 pmol/10(6) cells/min for ddAdo). This investigation, therefore, demonstrates that, under the conditions studied, 2'-F-dd-ara-A and its deamination product 2'-fluoro-2',3'-dideoxyarabinosylhypoxanthine have metabolic properties that differ significantly from those of their parent compounds ddAdo and ddlno. These properties, combined with the previously reported resistance of the fluorinated nucleosides to acid degradation, make these compounds interesting candidates for further study as orally administered agents for the inhibition of human immunodeficiency virus replication in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

Potent DNA chain termination activity and selective inhibition of human immunodeficiency virus reverse transcriptase by 2',3'-dideoxyuridine-5'-triphosphate

2',3'-Dideoxyuridine (ddUrd) exhibits poor if any anti-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) activity in ATH8 and MT-4 cells. This is in agreement with the failure of ddUrd to be efficiently anabolized intracellularly to its 5'-triphosphate metabolite. However, 2',3'-dideoxyuridine-5'-triphosphate (ddUTP) proved to be a potent and selective inhibitor of the reverse transcriptase of HIV (Ki, 0.05 microM) and avian myeloblastosis virus (Ki, 1.0 microM). Bacterial DNA polymerase I, mammalian DNA polymerase alpha, terminal deoxyribonucleotidyl transferase, and Moloney murine leukemia virus reverse transcriptase were resistant to ddUTP. ddUTP is incorporated into the growing DNA chain principally at dTTP sites and inhibits further elongation. The potential of ddUTP as an anti-HIV therapeutic agent merits further investigation. However, to achieve this goal, it will be necessary to resort to techniques capable of delivering preformed phosphorylated ddUrd to the susceptible cells.

Metabolism and action of amino acid analog anti-cancer agents

The preclinical pharmacology, antitumor activity and toxicity of seven of the more important amino acid analogs, with antineoplastic activity, is discussed in this review. Three of these compounds are antagonists of L-glutamine: acivicin, DON and azaserine; and two are analogs of L-aspartic acid: PALA and L-alanosine. All five of these antimetabolites interrupt cellular nucleotide synthesis and thereby halt the formation of DNA and/or RNA in the tumor cell. The remaining two compounds, buthionine sulfoximine and difluoromethylornithine, are inhibitors of glutathione and polyamine synthesis, respectively, with limited intrinsic antitumor activity; however, because of their powerful biochemical actions and their low systemic toxicities, they are being evaluated as chemotherapeutic adjuncts to or modulators of other more toxic antineoplastic agents.

Replication of human immunodeficiency virus in monocytes. Granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) potentiates viral production yet enhances the antiviral effect mediated by 3'-azido-2'3'-dideoxythymidine (AZT) and other dideoxynucleoside congeners of thymidine

We have investigated the influence of granulocyte-macrophage CSF (GM-CSF) on the replication of HIV-1 in cells of monocyte/macrophage (M/M) lineage, and its effect on the anti-HIV activity of several 2'3'-dideoxynucleoside congeners of thymidine in these cells in vitro. We found that replication of both HTLV-IIIBa-L (a monocytotropic strain of HIV-1) and HTLV-IIIB (a lymphocytotropic strain) is markedly enhanced in M/M, but not in lymphocytes exposed to GM-CSF in culture. Moreover, GM-CSF reduced the dose of HIV required to obtain productive infection in M/M. Even in the face of this increased infection, GM-CSF also enhanced the net anti-HIV activity of 3'-azido-2'3'-dideoxythymidine (AZT) and several related congeners: 2'3'-dideoxythymidine (ddT), 2'3'-dideoxy-2'3'-didehydrothymidine (D4T), and 3'-azido-2'3'-dideoxyuridine (AZddU). Inhibition of viral replication in GM-CSF-exposed M/M was achieved with concentrations of AZT and related drugs, which were 10-100 times lower than those inhibitory for HIV-1 in monocytes in the absence of GM-CSF. Other dideoxynucleosides not related to AZT showed unchanged or decreased anti-HIV activity in GM-CSF-exposed M/M. To investigate the possible biochemical basis for these effects, we evaluated the metabolism of several drugs in M/M exposed to GM-CSF. We observed in these cells markedly increased levels of both parent and mono-, di-, and triphosphate anabolites of AZT and D4T compared with M/M not exposed to GM-CSF. By contrast, only limited increases of endogenous competing 2'-deoxynucleoside-5'-triphosphate pools were observed after GM-CSF exposure. Thus, the ratio of AZT-5'-triphosphate/2'-deoxythymidine-5'-triphosphate and 2'3'-dideoxy-2'3'-didehydrothymidine-5'-triphosphate/2'-deoxythymi dine- 5'-triphosphate is several-fold higher in GM-CSF-exposed M/M, and this may account for the enhanced activity of such drugs in these cells. Taken together, these findings suggest that GM-CSF increases HIV-1 replication in M/M, while at the same time enhancing the anti-HIV activity of AZT and related congeners in these cells. These results may have implications in exploring new therapeutic strategies in patients with severe HIV infection.

Factors determining the activity of 2',3'-dideoxynucleosides in suppressing human immunodeficiency virus in vitro

Mitsuya and Broder [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 83:1911-1915 (1986)] demonstrated that every purine (adenosine, guanosine, and inosine) and pyrimidine (cytidine and thymidine) nucleoside containing the 2',3'-dideoxyribose configuration, when evaluated against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in vitro, significantly suppressed both the infectivity and the cytopathic effect of the virus, with 2',3'-dideoxycytidine (ddCyd) being the most potent of the series (total antiviral protection at 0.5-1.0 microM). We have compared three factors likely to be of significance in determining the pharmacological activity of these compounds, i.e., (i) their abilities to influence pool sizes of physiological deoxynucleoside-5'-triphosphates, (ii) their capacity to generate the corresponding 2',3'-dideoxynucleoside-5'-triphosphates, and (iii) the effectiveness of these nucleoside-5'-triphosphates as inhibitors of HIV reverse transcriptase. In MOLT-4 cells (a human T cell line), ddCyd was the compound most efficiently converted to its 5'-triphosphate, whereas 2',3'-dideoxyguanosine and 2',3'-dideoxythymidine were the compounds least efficiently converted, generating levels of their corresponding 5'-triphosphates less than 0.1% of that seen with ddCyd when these nucleosides were compared on an equimolar basis (5 microM). The 3'-azido analogue of 2',3'-dideoxythymidine fell intermediate between these two extremes. As inhibitors of HIV reverse transcriptase, however, all the 5'-triphosphates, with the exception of 2',3'-dideoxyinosine-5'-triphosphate, fell within a narrow range of activity (Ki, 0.10-0.26 microM), affinities some 40-60 fold greater than those of the corresponding physiological 2'-deoxynucleoside-5'-triphosphates. Significant alterations in pool sizes of physiological 2'-deoxynucleoside-5'-triphosphates were not observed at pharmacologically effective drug levels. The relative ability of 2',3'-dideoxynucleosides to generate 5'-triphosphates intracellularly thus correlates much more closely than do the other two factors examined, in capacity to block HIV replication. These studies support the conclusion that, for purposes of design of new compounds of this general class, factors influencing efficiency of nucleotide formation and degradation (e.g., membrane transport mechanisms, affinities for nucleoside kinases and for nucleotide kinases and phosphatases) may be of equal or even greater importance than differences in the relative abilities of the resultant 2',3'-dideoxynucleoside-5'-triphosphates to inhibit the viral reverse transcriptase.

Inhibition of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1/HTLV-IIIBa-L) replication in fresh and cultured human peripheral blood monocytes/macrophages by azidothymidine and related 2',3'-dideoxynucleosides

Because of the probable role of HIV-infected monocyte/macrophages in the pathogenesis and progression of AIDS, it is essential that antiretroviral therapy address viral replication in cells of this lineage. Several dideoxynucleosides have been shown to have potent in vitro and, in the case of 3'-azido-2',3'-dideoxythymidine (AZT) and 2',3'-dideoxycytidine (ddC), in vivo activity against HIV. However, because these compounds must be phosphorylated (activated) in target cells, and because monocyte/macrophages may have levels of kinases that differ from those in lymphocytes, we investigated the capacity of these drugs to suppress HIV replication in monocyte/macrophages using HIV-1/HTLV-IIIBa-L (a monocytotropic isolate). In the present study, we observed that HTLV-IIIBa-L replication in fresh human peripheral blood monocyte/macrophages was suppressed by each of three dideoxynucleosides: 3'-azido-2',3'-dideoxythymidine (AZT), 2',3'-dideoxycytidine (ddC), and 2',3'-dideoxyadenosine (ddA). Similar results were observed in 5-d-cultured monocyte/macrophages, although higher concentrations of the drugs were required. We then studied the metabolism of AZT and ddC in such cells. The phosphorylation of ddC to a triphosphate moiety was somewhat decreased in monocyte/macrophages as compared with H9 T cells. On the other hand, the phosphorylation of AZT in monocyte/macrophages was markedly decreased to 25% or less of the level in T cells. However, when we examined the level of the normal endogenous 2'-deoxynucleoside triphosphate pools, which compete with 2',3'-dideoxynucleoside triphosphate for viral reverse transcriptase, we found that the level of 2'-deoxycytidine-triphosphate (dCTP) was six- to eightfold reduced, and that of 2'-deoxythymidine-triphosphate (dTTP) was only a small fraction of that found in T cell lines. These results suggest that the ratio of dideoxynucleoside triphosphate to normal deoxynucleoside triphosphate is a crucial factor in determining the antiviral activity of dideoxynucleosides in HIV target cells, and that the lower levels of dTTP may account for the antiretroviral activity of AZT in the face of inefficient phosphorylation of this compound.