Activity of bleomycin in iron- and copper-deficient cells

Iron is not involved in oxidative stress-mediated cytotoxicity of doxorubicin and bleomycin

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The anticancer drugs doxorubicin and bleomycin are well-known for their oxidative stress-mediated side effects in heart and lung, respectively. It is frequently suggested that iron is involved in doxorubicin and bleomycin toxicity. We set out to elucidate whether iron chelation prevents the oxidative stress-mediated toxicity of doxorubicin and bleomycin and whether it affects their antiproliferative/proapoptotic effects.

EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH

Cell culture experiments were performed in A549 cells. Formation of hydroxyl radicals was measured in vitro by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). We investigated interactions between five iron chelators and the oxidative stress-inducing agents (doxorubicin, bleomycin and H(2)O(2)) by quantifying oxidative stress and cellular damage as TBARS formation, glutathione (GSH) consumption and lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) leakage. The antitumour/proapoptotic effects of doxorubicin and bleomycin were assessed by cell proliferation and caspase-3 activity assay.

KEY RESULTS

All the tested chelators, except for monohydroxyethylrutoside (monoHER), prevented hydroxyl radical formation induced by H(2)O(2)/Fe(2+) in EPR studies. However, only salicylaldehyde isonicotinoyl hydrazone and deferoxamine protected intact A549 cells against H(2)O(2)/Fe(2+). Conversely, the chelators that decreased doxorubicin and bleomycin-induced oxidative stress and cellular damage (dexrazoxane, monoHER) were not able to protect against H(2)O(2)/Fe(2+).

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

We have shown that the ability to chelate iron as such is not the sole determinant of a compound protecting against doxorubicin or bleomycin-induced cytotoxicity. Our data challenge the putative role of iron and hydroxyl radicals in the oxidative stress-mediated cytotoxicity of doxorubicin and bleomycin and have implications for the development of new compounds to protects against this toxicity.

The iron chelating cardioprotective prodrug dexrazoxane does not affect the cell growth inhibitory effects of bleomycin

The clinical use of bleomycin is limited by a dose-dependent pulmonary toxicity. Bleomycin is thought to be growth inhibitory by virtue of its ability to oxidatively damage DNA through its complex with iron. Our previous preclinical studies showed that bleomycin-induced pulmonary toxicity can be reduced by pretreatment with the doxorubicin cardioprotective agent dexrazoxane. Dexrazoxane is thought to protect against iron-based oxygen radical damage through the iron chelating ability of its hydrolyzed metabolite ADR-925, an analog of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). ADR-925 quickly and effectively displaced either ferrous or ferric iron from its complex with bleomycin. This result suggests that dexrazoxane may have the potential to antagonize the iron-dependent growth inhibitory effects of bleomycin. A study was undertaken to determine if dexrazoxane could antagonize bleomycin-mediated cytotoxicity using a CHO-derived cell line (DZR) that was highly resistant to dexrazoxane through a threonine-48 to isoleucine mutation in topoisomerase IIalpha. Dexrazoxane is also a cell growth inhibitor that acts through its ability to inhibit the catalytic activity of topoisomerase II. Thus, the DZR cell line allowed us to examine the cell growth inhibitory effects of bleomycin in the presence of dexrazoxane without the confounding effect of dexrazoxane inhibiting cell growth. The cell growth inhibitory effects of bleomycin were unaffected by pretreating DZR cells with dexrazoxane. These results suggest that dexrazoxane may be clinically used in combination with bleomycin as a pulmonary protective agent without adversely affecting the antitumor activity of bleomycin.

Association of redox-active iron bound to high molecular weight structures in nuclei with inhibition of cell growth by H2O2

Perturbations to Fe species contributing to generation of DNA single-strand breaks (SSBs) and inhibition of growth by H2O2 were studied in HL-60 cells made Fe-deficient by 24 h pretreatment with 144 microM bathophenanthroline disulfonic acid and 400 microM ascorbic acid (Free Radic. Biol. Med. 20: 399; 1996). The diffusion distance for SSB generation (d) in Fe-deficient cells, measured via inhibition with the *OH scavenger Me2SO using alkaline elution, was 6.5 nm. This is similar to the d for Fe-normal cells reported previously. After 1 and 3 h in fresh RPMI 1640 medium containing 10% serum, SSB generation increased from 29 to 56 and 93% of control Fe-normal cells, respectively. The d of the major contributor to SSB generation at these two treatment times was 1.9 nm. This d resembled the d for Fe-ATP as determined in isolated Ehrlich cell nuclei. The association of ATP with Fe2+ was further supported by decreased SSB generation in cells in which ATP synthesis was inhibited. In contrast to SSB generation, H2O2-induced inhibition of growth of Fe-deficient cells treated immediately after placing in fresh medium was not appreciably different from Fe-normal cells. However, after 3 h, an approximately 70% greater concentration of H2O2 than for control, Fe-normal cells was required to inhibit growth. This increase in H2O2 concentration was associated with decreased generation of SSBs by H2O2 in isolated HL-60 cell nuclei. Thus, Fe bound to nuclear structures is more closely associated with inhibition of cell growth than apparent Fe-ATP species. In parallel experiments, changes in total cellular Fe assayed by ashing and complexing with ferrozine were consistent with a non-transferrin mode of acquisition. These short-term changes appear due to processes accompanying reestablishment of the Fe content and distribution normally observed during long-term growth.

Depletion of cellular iron by bps and ascorbate: effect on toxicity of adriamycin

A new method was developed that reduces the intracellular iron content of cells grown in serum-containing culture without involving the significant uptake of iron-chelating agents into cells. Negatively charged bathophenanthrolinedisulfonate (BPS), together with ascorbate, caused cells to lose much of their cellular iron without causing much depression in HL-60 or H9c2 (2-1) cell proliferation over a 48-h period. When added to serum supplemented RPMI-1640 culture media, BPS and ascorbate efficiently reduced and competed for iron in Fe(III) transferrin to form Fe(II)(BPS)3. The reaction also occurred with purified human iron-transferrin. When cells were incubated with growth medium containing serum that had been treated with BPS and ascorbate for 24 h, little or no BPS2- or Fe(II)(BPS)(4-)3 entered the cells, according to direct measurements and in agreement with the highly unfavorable 1-octanol/water partition coefficients for these molecules. However, iron was mobilized out of both cell types. After 24 h incubation of cells in this medium, there was no change in the activities of catalase and superoxide dismutase, or in the concentration of glutathione. Glutathione peroxidase was elevated 9%. Using HL-60 and H9c2 (2-1) cells made iron deficient with BPS and ascorbate, HL-60 cells grown in defined-growth media in the absence of iron-pyridoxal isonicotinoyl hydrazone, or Euglena gracilis cells maintained in a defined medium that was rigorously depleted of iron, it was shown that the cytotoxicity of adriamycin is markedly dependent on the presence of iron in each type of cell. Similar results were obtained when HL-60 cells were grown in RPMI-1640 culture medium and serum that had been incubated for 24 h in BPS and ascorbate and then chromatographed over a Bio-Rad desalting column to remove small molecules including BPS, ascorbate, and Fe(II)(BPS)3.

Iron requirement for cellular DNA damage and growth inhibition by hydrogen peroxide and bleomycin

Studies with Euglena gracilis and HL-60 cells have assessed the need for intracellular iron in the mechanisms of inhibition of cell growth and DNA damage by H2O2 and bleomycin. Cell culture media were directly depleted of iron in order to deprive cells of nutrient iron. Major pools of cellular iron were reduced in both cell types. Nevertheless, iron bound in e.s.r.-observable haem protein and ribonucleotide diphosphate reductase in HL-60 cells was not decreased. In both control cell populations, there was a concentration-dependent reduction in proliferation and cell survival caused by H2O2. In comparison, the proliferation rates of both iron-deficient cell types were significantly less sensitive to H2O2. H2O2 caused concentration-dependent single-strand breakage in DNA in control HL-60 and Euglena gracilis cells. Iron deficiency reduced the amount of strand breaks in HL-60 cells at each concentration of H2O2 used. Single-strand breakage caused by H2O2 in Euglena gracilis was a direct function of the concentration of iron in which the cells had been grown. Growth inhibition and both single- and double-strand DNA damage caused by bleomycin were substantially reduced or eliminated in iron-deficient cells. Copper bleomycin behaved like metal-free bleomycin when assayed for the capacity to cause DNA damage in iron-normal and iron-deficient HL-60 cells. In contrast, iron bleomycin was equally active under the two conditions in these cells.

DNA strand breakage in isolated nuclei subjected to bleomycin or hydrogen peroxide

The sources of iron (Fe) and reductant required for DNA strand breakage by the antitumor drug bleomycin (Blm), H2O2 and ascorbate were investigated using nuclei instead of whole cells in order to study a simpler, related system that was subject to better control and easier chemical manipulation. Ehrlich ascites tumor cells were isolated and treated directly on filters, and analysed for DNA damage by alkaline and nondenaturing elution. Extraction and treatment buffers were depleted of trace Fe by passage through Mg(OH)2 gel. Nuclei were treated for 1 hr at 37 degrees. High levels of single- and double-strand breakage were obtained using Fe(III)Blm in the range 0.01 to 0.08 microM. In contrast, Blm was effective only at two orders of magnitude greater concentration. Cu(II)Blm was totally ineffective in causing damage. Depletion of nuclear protein thiols with N-ethylmaleimide reduced double-strand breakage at the upper end of the FeBlm concentration-response curve. A 1 mM concentration of NADPH or NADH greatly increased the extent of double-strand breakage by 0.01 microM FeBlm, suggesting roles for cytochrome P450 or cytochrome b5 reductase in strand breakage. Fe(III)ATP (1:20 metal to ligand and 50 microM in Fe) and Fe(III)EDTA (1:2 metal to ligand and 50 microM in Fe) did not cause single-strand breaks. In the absence of added Fe, H2O2 or ascorbic acid (50 microM) caused less than one Gy-equivalent single-strand breakage. Addition of ascorbate plus Fe(III)ATP or Fe(III)EDTA produced breakage beyond the capacity of alkaline elution to analyse (5-6 Gy). Overall, the results indicate that Fe, which may contribute to DNA damage by Blm and forms of activated oxygen within cells, is not strongly bound in the nucleus and that nuclear thiols other than glutathione contribute reducing equivalents to Fe(III)Blm for the DNA damaging chemistry.

Reaction of DNA-bound ferrous bleomycin with dioxygen: activation versus stabilization of dioxygen

The properties of binding of dioxygen to ferrous bleomycin [Fe(II)Blm] in the presence of DNA have been examined. Dioxygen reacts rapidly with Fe(II)Blm.DNA, forming an adduct that is increasingly stable to oxidation-reduction as the ratio of base pairs to drug becomes larger. This species has a spectrum similar to that reported for a proposed dioxygenated intermediate in the solution reaction of Fe(II)Blm with O2. It contains Fe(II) as measured with bathophenanthroline disulfonate (BPS) and O2 according to direct observation of stoichiometric release of O2 upon chelation of Fe(II) by BPS. The dioxygenated form O2-Fe(II)Blm.DNA, is highly stable; bound O2 dissociates upon purging with N2 with a rate constant of 0.16 min-1. Although Fe(II)Blm or Fe(II)Blm.DNA reacts almost completely with BPS within the time of mixing, O2-Fe(II) Blm.DNA reacts much slower in a process that is first order in Fe(II) and in BPS at constant DNA concentration. The rate is inversely related to DNA concentration reaching a limiting value at 50-100 base pairs per drug molecule. The kinetics of oxidation of Fe(II)Blm bound to DNA by O2 are biphasic and depend on the base pair to drug ratio. After formation of O2-Fe(II)Blm.DNA, another reaction occurs in which O2 is released, which is second order in dioxygen donor, and in which the second-order rate constant declines with increasing base pairs to FeBlm ratio. The rate of this second-order process accelerates at higher ionic strength.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Interactions of 1,10-phenanthroline and its copper complex with Ehrlich cells

Mechanistic details of the interaction of 1,10-phenanthroline and its copper complex with Ehrlich ascites tumor cells were examined, using inhibition of cell proliferation, DNA breakage, and increased membrane permeability as indices of cellular damage. The metal chelating agent, 1,10-phenanthroline (OP), the 1:0.5 complex of 1,10-phenanthroline and CuCl2 [(OP)2Cu], and CuCl2 inhibited growth of Ehrlich ascites tumor cell monolayers during 48-h treatments by 50% at about 3.5, 2, and 70 nmol/10(5) cells/mL, respectively. (OP)2Cu at 10 nmol/10(5) cells also enhanced uptake of trypan blue dye during 6 h of treatment, while dye uptake in OP- and CuCl2-treated cells remained similar to controls. DNA breakage, measured by DNA alkaline elution, was produced during 1-h treatments with (OP)2Cu at drug/cell ratios similar to those producing growth inhibition. Copper uptake was similar for both (OP)2Cu and CuCl2. Electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy suggested that cellular ligands bind copper added as (OP)2Cu or CuCl2 and then undergo time-dependent reductions of Cu(II) to Cu(I) for both forms. Inhibition of (OP)2Cu-induced single-strand scission and trypan blue uptake by scavengers of activated oxygen is consistent with participation of superoxide and H2O2 in both processes. In contrast, superoxide dismutase (SOD) did not reduce the magnitude of the fraction of cellular DNA appearing in lysis fractions prior to alkaline elution of (OP)2Cu-treated cells. Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) inhibited uptake of trypan blue dye but did not inhibit DNA strand scission produced by (OP)2Cu. Thus, multiple mechanisms for generation of oxidative damage occur in (OP)2Cu-treated cells. Growth inhibition produced by OP or (OP)2Cu, as well as the low levels of strand scission produced by OP, was not reversed by scavengers.

Inhibition of bleomycin-induced cellular DNA strand scission by 1,10-phenanthroline

Inhibition by 1,10-phenanthroline of cellular DNA strand scission induced by the antitumor antibiotic bleomycin in Ehrlich ascites tumor cells was studied. DNA alkaline elution was performed on cells after 1-hr bleomycin treatments. Pretreatment for 24 hr with initial 1,10-phenanthroline concentrations of 0.2 nmol/10(5) cells, which depletes cells of ferritin iron by 80%, had no consistent effect on bleomycin strand breakage. However, simultaneous treatment with 3.1 nmol of 1,10-phenanthroline/10(5) cells and with bleomycin concentrations from 5 to 25 microM decreased both apparent double-stranded breaks and random breakage. When cells were treated with both 3.1 nmol of 1,10-phenanthroline/10(5) cells and 25 microM bleomycin, washed free of both drugs, and incubated at 35 degrees for 1 hr, the resulting breakage was equivalent to that found in cells treated with bleomycin only. When the combination treatment was extended to 4 hr, cell washing and reincubation resulted in increased strand scission, as compared with strand scission in cells treated with bleomycin only. Growth inhibition by bleomycin was not affected appreciably by temporary suppression of DNA strand breakage activity.

The role of redox-active metals in the mechanism of action of bleomycin

Belomycin is a glycopeptide antibiotic routinely used to treat human cancer. It is commonly thought to exert its biological effects as a metallodrug, which oxidatively damages DNA. This review systematically examines the properties of bleomycin which contribute to its reaction with DNA in vitro and may be important in the breakage of DNA in cells. Because strand cleavage results from the reductive activation of dioxygen by metallobleomycins, the mechanism of this process is given primary attention. Current understanding of the structures of the coordination sites of various metallobleomycins, their thermodynamic stabilities, their propensity to form adduct species, and their properties in ligand substitution reactions provide a foundation for consideration of the chemistry of dioxygen activation as well as a basis for thinking about the metal-speciation of bleomycin in biological systems. Oxidation-reduction pathways of iron-bleomycin, copper-bleomycin, and other metal-bleomycin species with O2 are then examined, including information on photochemical activation. With this background, structural and thermodynamic features of the binding interactions of DNA with bleomycin, its metal complexes, and adducts of metallobleomycins are reviewed. Then, the DNA cleavage reaction involving iron-bleomycin is scrutinized on the basis of the preceding discussion. Particular emphasis is placed on the constraints which the presence of DNA places on the mechanism of dioxygen activation. Similarly, the reactions of other metalloforms of bleomycin with DNA are reviewed. The last topic is an analysis of current understanding of the relationship of bleomycin-induced cellular DNA damage to the model developed above, which has evolved on the basis of chemical experimentation. Consideration is given to the question of the importance of DNA strand breakage caused by bleomycin for the mechanism of cytotoxic activity of the drug.