Biochemical and pharmacological properties of CI-972, a novel 9-deazaguanine analog purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) inhibitor

Purine nucleoside phosphorylases: properties, functions, and clinical aspects

The ubiquitous purine nucleoside phosphorylases (PNPs) play a key role in the purine salvage pathway, and PNP deficiency in humans leads to an impairment of T-cell function, usually with no apparent effects on B-cell function. This review updates the properties of the enzymes from eukaryotes and a wide range of prokaryotes, including a tentative classification of the enzymes from various sources, based on three-dimensional structures in the solid state, subunit composition, amino acid sequences, and substrate specificities. Attention is drawn to the compelling need of quantitative experimental data on subunit composition in solution, binding constants, and stoichiometry of binding; order of ligand binding and release; and its possible relevance to the complex kinetics exhibited with some substrates. Mutations responsible for PNP deficiency are described, as well as clinical methods, including gene therapy, for corrections of this usually fatal disease. Substrate discrimination between enzymes from different sources is also being profited from for development of tumour-directed gene therapy. Detailed accounts are presented of design of potent inhibitors, largely nucleosides and acyclonucleosides, their phosphates and phosphonates, particularly of the human erythrocyte enzyme, some with Ki values in nanomolar and picomolar range, intended for induction of the immunodeficient state for clinical applications, such as prevention of host-versus-graft response in organ transplantations. Methods of assay of PNP activity are reviewed. Also described are applications of PNP from various sources as tools for the enzymatic synthesis of otherwise inaccessible therapeutic nucleoside analogues, as coupling enzymes for assays of orthophosphate in biological systems in the micromolar and submicromolar ranges, and for coupled assays of other enzyme systems.

Recent advances in immunosuppressants

In recent years, a large number of structurally diverse immunosuppressants have been discovered that are effective for the treatment of organ transplantation. Some of them are undergoing clinical trials and may soon enter into routine clinical practice. These compounds are either chemical entities obtained from natural sources/synthetic means or biomaterials such as monoclonal antibodies/gene products/proteins. They have been found to interfere at different stages of T cell activation and proliferation, and can be identified as inhibitors of nucleotide synthesis, growth factor signal transduction and differentiation. Newer strategies involving combination of new agents with traditional immunosuppressants, monoclonal antibodies and gene therapy offer enormous potential, not only for the investigation of mechanisms pertaining to graft rejection, but also for its therapeutic prevention.

PD 141955 and CI-972: 9-deazaguanine analog purine nucleoside phosphorylase inhibitors. I. Suppression of the human mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR)

Inhibitors of purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) are of interest as potential T-cell-selective immunosuppressive agents and for other uses. PD 141955 (9-deaza-9-(3-thienylmethyl)guanine; 2-amino-3,5-dihydro-7-(3-thienylmethyl)-4H-pyrrolo[3,2-d]pyrimidin -4-one) is 12- to 100-fold more potent than CI-972 (8-amino-9-deaza-9-(3-thienylmethyl)guanine; 2,6-diamino-3,5-dihydro-7-(3-thienylmethyl)-4H-pyrrolo[3,2-d]pyrim idin-4- one) in PNP enzyme inhibition assays. In the human MLR, PD 141955 has IC50s of 2.8 and 12.8 microM in the presence and absence, respectively, of 15 microM GdR (means from 10 assays), while the IC50s of CI-972 tested in parallel are > 30 microM. Concentration-dependent accumulation of dGTP occurs in PD 141955-treated MLRs under conditions in which CI-972 lacks detectable activity. Thus, consistent with its greater PNP inhibitory activity in a cell free system, PD 141955 is significantly more potent than CI-972 in its ability to suppress the MLR.

PD 141955 and CI-972: 9-deazaguanine analog purine nucleoside phosphorylase inhibitors. II. Effects on nucleoside catabolism in human and rat blood in vitro

Patients with deficiency in purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) have elevated levels of the PNP substrates inosine, guanosine, and (rarely) 2'-deoxyguanosine (GdR) in their plasma and urine. GdR is critical because it serves as a precursor of dGTP, which blocks T-cell replication, thus leading to T-cell-selective immune dysfunction. We adapted these findings to the study of PNP inhibitors in human and rat blood in vitro. Blood was spiked with GdR (2.5 micrograms/ml) and the effects of PD 141955 (9-deaza-9-(3-thienylmethyl)guanine; 2-amino-3,5-dihydro-7-(3-thienylmethyl)-4H-pyrrolo[3,2-d]pyrimidin -4-one) and CI-972 (8-amino-9-deaza-9-(3-thienylmethyl)guanine; 2,6-diamino-3,5-dihydro-7-(3-thienylmethyl)-4H-pyrrolo[3,2-d]pyrim idin-4- one) on GdR catabolism were determined. GdR was metabolized 89 times faster in human blood than in rat blood (half-life = 12.0 +/- 1.4 s in human blood). When PD 141955 (1 microgram/ml) was added to human blood before spiking, the GdR half-life increased to > 60 min. In contrast, CI-972 (1 microgram/ml) extended the GdR half-life to 7.2 +/- 1.7 min. Both PD 141955 and CI-972 at 1 microgram/ml significantly retarded GdR catabolism from rat blood.