Metabolism of ether phospholipids and analogs in neoplastic cells

Hexadecylphosphocholine, a new ether lipid analogue. Studies on the antineoplastic activity in vitro and in vivo

Hexadecylphosphocholine (He-PC) is a new compound synthesized according to the minimal structural requirements deducted from studies with other ether lipids. In vitro studies on He-PC revealed remarkable antineoplastic activity on HL60, U937, Raji and K562 leukemia cell lines. In addition, He-PC, applied orally, showed a superior effect in the treatment of dimethylbenzanthracene-induced rat mammary carcinomas when compared to intravenously administered cyclophosphamide. After oral application He-PC was well absorbed from the intestine and metabolized in the liver by phospholipases C and D. During a 5-week treatment no hematotoxic effects were detected. In a clinical pilot study on breast cancer patients with widespread skin involvement, topically applied He-PC showed skin tumor regressions without local or systemic side effects.

HL-60 cells become resistant towards antitumor ether-linked phospholipids following differentiation into a granulocytic form

1-0-Alkyl-2-0-methyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (alkylmethoxy-GPC) exerts a highly selective cytotoxic activity towards a variety of tumor cells that is not seen in normal cells. Human promyelocytic leukemia (HL-60) cells are particularly sensitive to this cytotoxic action. In this report we show that when HL-60 cells are differentiated into a granulocytic form by dimethylsulfoxide (Me2SO)they become resistant toward the cytotoxic effects of alkylmethoxy-GPC. Also, after short-term exposures of the HL-60 cells to alkylmethoxy-GPC, the uptake of [methyl-3H]choline is inhibited in the undifferentiated cells, but not in those differentiated with Me2SO. Thus, cellular choline uptake appears to be a useful index for assessing the susceptibility of cells to the cytotoxic effects of antitumor phospholipids. [3H]Alkylmethoxy-GPC is poorly metabolized by both cell populations as is evident by the trace quantities of labeled metabolites formed; also, alkylmethoxyglycerols do not exert any cytotoxic activity toward undifferentiated cells. These results demonstrate that differences in the cytotoxic response of sensitive (undifferentiated) and resistant (differentiated) cells to alkylmethoxy-GPC are not due to differences in their ability to metabolize alkylmethoxy-GPC or to a phospholipase C-generated toxic metabolite. Instead the data support our earlier hypothesis that the antitumor action of alkylmethoxy-GPC is, at least in part, caused by an impaired transport of small molecules across the membrane of sensitive cells.

Characterization of the antitumor activity of hexadecylphosphocholine (D 18506)

Hexadecylphosphocholine (HPC) differs from ether lipids with known antitumor activity by its lack of the glycerol part. In the experiments described here HPC revealed outstanding antitumor activity in dimethylbenzanthracene (DMBA)-induced rat mammary tumors. A dose-response relationship was seen after daily oral treatment with complete suppression of tumor growth at doses of 46.4 mg/kg/day. There was no schedule dependence and the therapeutic efficacy was independent of the tumor weight at the initiation of therapy. Another autochthonous tumor, the benzo[a]pyrene-induced sarcoma of the rat did not respond to HPC treatment, indicating a highly selective spectrum of activity of the test compound. In comparison to an optimal single dose of cyclophosphamide, a single high dose of HPC was considerably more active against the DMBA tumor. At therapeutic dose levels no major toxicity of HPC was observed. Bone marrow suppression was not encountered, on the contrary, at high doses leukocytosis became apparent. The available pharmacological and toxicological data suggest that HPC may be useful in the treatment of human cancer.

Metabolism of ether glycolipids with potentially antineoplastic activity by Ehrlich ascites tumor cells

Ehrlich ascites tumor cells were incubated in vitro with rac-1-O-[1'-14C]octadecyl-2-O-methylglycero-3-beta-D-glucopyranosi de for 24 h. The potentially antineoplastic ether glycolipid was rapidly metabolized by the cells to radioactive 1-O-octadecyl-2-O-methylglycerol (70 pmol/10(6) cells per h) and further acylated to 1-O-octadecyl-2-O-methyl-3-acylglycerols. Incubation of Ehrlich ascites cells with synthetic rac-1-O-[1'-14C]octadecyl-2-O-methyl-3-palmitoylglycerol showed that this metabolite is reconverted by deacylation to 14C-labeled 1-O-octadecyl-2-O-methylglycerol. The latter compound or a metabolite derived therefrom may be the 'toxic principle' of both the ether glyceroglycolipids and ether glycerophospholipids having a 1-O-alkyl-2-O-methylglyceryl moiety, as suggested by Unger et al. (J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 78 (1987) 219-222).

Biosynthesis and biotransformation of ether lipids

Some naturally occurring as well as synthetic ether lipids are biologically active. In certain cases, the effects of these substances are enhanced, in others, they are inhibited by compounds that were isolated from natural sources or prepared by chemical synthesis. The biotransformation of natural or "unnatural" ether lipids in microorganisms, plant or animal tissue also can lead to substances that elicit biological effects. The production of such compounds through various biotechnological techniques is a field wide open for future exploration. In addition to animal cell cultures, plant cell cultures may become useful tools in biomedical studies concerned with ether lipids.