Effects of alanosine and hadacidin on enzymes using aspartic acid as a metabolite

Nitrosation of sugar oximes: preparation of 2-glycosyl-1-hydroxydiazene-2-oxides

Oximes of glucose, xylose, lactose, fructose, and mannose have been prepared. Nitrosation of the oximes of glucose, xylose, and lactose with NaNO2/HCl afforded 2-(beta-glycopyranosyl)-1-hydroxydiazene-2-oxides, which were isolated as salts 13, 22, and 28. Nitrosation of fructose oxime 29 furnished fructose, whereas nitrosation of mannose oxime 30 with NaNO2/HCl afforded the 1-hydroxy-2-(beta-D-mannopyranosyl)diazene-2-oxide 32, from which the p-anisidinium salt 31 and the sodium salt 33 were prepared. However, nitrosation of 30 with isopentyl nitrite in aqueous solutions of CsOH or KOH resulted in the formation of the 2-(alpha-D-mannofuranosyl)-1-hydroxydiazene-2-oxide salts 34 and 35, respectively. Methylation of the ammonium 2-(beta-D-glucopyranosyl)-1-hydroxydiazene-2-oxide 13 yielded the 1-methoxy compound, which was benzoylated to afford the tetra-O-benzoate 14a, the structure of which was confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis. From the glucose O-methyloximes 15 and 16 the N-methoxy-N-nitroso-2,3,4,6-tetra-O-acetyl-beta-D-glucopyranosylamine 18 was prepared. The structure of this compound was confirmed by X-ray diffraction analysis. Treatment of acetobromoglucose with cupferron furnished the 1-(2,3,4,6-tetra-O-acetyl-beta-D-glucopyranosyloxy)-2-phenyldiazene-2-oxide 20.

Decreased ATP cost of isometric contractions in ATP-depleted rat fast-twitch muscle

ATP was depleted to inosine 5'-monophosphate (IMP) in gastrocnemius muscles of anesthetized rats during two consecutive bouts of intermittent tetanic stimulation (each 1 Hz at 100 Hz, 100-ms duration, for 3 min) separated by 5 min. During a subsequent 75-min recovery period, resynthesis of adenine nucleotide from IMP was inhibited in one group of muscles with hadacidin (N-formyl-N-hydroxyaminoacetate, total dose 300 mg/kg ip), an inhibitor of adenylosuccinate synthase. In vivo 31P-nuclear magnetic resonance spectra and analysis of muscle extracts confirmed that ATP was reduced by over 30% in hadacidin-treated muscles compared both with nonstimulated muscles and with identically stimulated and rested control muscles in saline-injected rats. After the recovery period, calculated [ADP] in ATP-depleted muscles was half that in controls, while phosphorylation potential [PP = ln([ATP]/[ADP] [Pi]), where Pi is inorganic phosphate] and twitch force were similar. During a final 8 min of 0.75-Hz twitch stimulation, [ADP] and the initial rate of phosphocreatine (PCr) hydrolysis were less in ATP-depleted compared with control muscles, while changes in PP and twitch force were similar in the two groups. During a final 3 min of tetanic stimulation, ATP, PCr, and pH decreased less in ATP-depleted compared with control muscles. The results indicate that the ATP cost of isometric contraction is decreased by acute ATP depletion.

Reduction of adenine nucleotide content of clone 4 MDCK cells: effects on multiplication, protein synthesis, and morphology

The antitumor agent hadacidin (N-formyl-hydroxyamino-acetic acid), at 4 mM, inhibited the multiplication of clone 4 Madin Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells within 24 hr. Growth resumed rapidly upon replacement of hadacidin with aspartate, an observation consistent with the drug's action as a competitive inhibitor of adenylosuccinate synthetase, an enzyme in adenine nucleotide biosynthesis. Data indicate that the drug-treated cells were arrested in S phase of the cell cycle. Accompanying inhibition of multiplication was a 16-fold increase in the area occupied by the cells and a refractoriness to release by treatment with trypsin. None of these changes occurred when 0.5 mM adenosine was included in the incubation mixture containing the inhibitor. Hadacidin decreased the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) content of the cells as well as the rate at which 3H-leucine was incorporated into protein. In the presence of 1 mM dibutyryl cAMP and theophylline, the drug had no effect on cell division and protein synthesis. The data suggest that, in clone 4 MDCK cells, the effects of hadacidin are mediated by diminishing the level of cAMP.

AMP deamination and IMP reamination in working skeletal muscle

The extent of purine nucleotide cycle (PNC) turnover [i.e., the cyclic deamination of adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP) and reamination of inosine 5'-monophosphate (IMP)] was estimated in fast-twitch muscle of pentobarbital sodium anesthetized rats during in situ stimulation, by the accumulation of excess IMP after blocking IMP reamination with the adenylosuccinate synthetase inhibitor, hadacidin. Sodium hadacidin (100 mg/kg, iv) did not alter IMP production and was effective in blocking IMP reamination by 80%. Hadacidin had no effect on IMP levels in muscle at rest or during mild stimulation (1 Hz for 30 min). During 30 min of more intense stimulation (5 Hz), hadacidin treatment resulted in a threefold increase in IMP in the fast-twitch white gastrocnemius section, but had no effect in the fast-twitch red section. The IMP in the fast-twitch white section did not accumulate over the 30-min period, but was produced initially (within 5 min) and kept for being reaminated by hadacidin. Thus, the IMP formation and IMP reamination evident in the saline-injected animals did not occur concurrently. This suggests that the IMP reamination arm of the PNC is not an important pathway in "working" muscle.

Determination of L-alanosine in plasma and urine by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography of the Dns derivative

L-Alanosine is an antitumour antibiotic that has recently been placed in clinical trial. We have developed a relatively rapid and specific assay for urinary and plasma alanosine, based on formation of the Dns derivative and separation of this from other Dns compounds by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. Dns-Alanosine is detected by its absorption at 254 nm, since alanosine is atypical in that it forms a Dns derivative with very low fluorescence. The lower limit of detection of alanosine in plasma is 0.1 microgram/ml. The assay has been used to measure the levels of alanosine in the plasma and urine of rabbits and of man.