Synthesis and properties of N-acetimidoyl derivatives of glycine and sarcosine

N-Methylation in polylegionaminic acid is associated with the phase-variable epitope of Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 lipopolysaccharide. Identification of 5-(N,N-dimethylacetimidoyl)amino and 5-acetimidoyl(N-methyl)amino-7-acetamido-3,5,7,9-tetradeoxynon-2-ulosonic acid in the O-chain polysaccharide

Previously, a phase-variable epitope was detected in the virulent wild-type strain RC1 of Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1 subgroup OLDA using a lipopolysaccharide-specific monoclonal antibody, mAb 2625 [Lüneberg, E., Zähringer, U., Knirel, Y. A., Steinmann, D., Hartmann, M., Steinmetz, I., Rohde, M., Kohl, J. & Frosch, M. (1998) J.Exp. Med. 188, 49-60]. In the present study, an isogenic mutant strain, termed 5215, was constructed by deletion of genes involved in the biosynthesis of the mAb 2625 epitope. Mutant 5215 was as virulent as the parental wild-type RC1 but did not bind mAb 2625. The two strains showed no difference in the core oligosaccharide and lipid A but in the O-chain polysaccharide structure, which is a homopolymer of 5-acetimidoylamino-7-acetamido-3,5,7,9-tetradeoxy-d-glycero-d-galacto-non-2-ulosonic acid (a derivative of legionaminic acid). NMR spectroscopic studies revealed a hitherto unknown modification of bacterial polysaccharides in the wild-type strain, namely N-methylation of the 5-acetimidoylamino group on a single legionaminic acid residue that is located, most likely, proximal to the core oligosaccharide. Two major N-methylated substituents, the (N,N-dimethylacetimidoyl)amino and acetimidoyl(N-methyl) amino groups, could be allocated to the long- and middle-chain O-polysaccharide species, respectively. N-Methylation of legionaminic acid that was absent from the isogenic mutant 5215 and from the spontaneous phase variant 811, correlated with the presence of the mAb 2625 epitope.

Isolation and biochemical characterization of a new topoisomerase I inhibitor from Ocotea leucoxylon

In a continuation of our search for potential tumor inhibitors from plants, we found that a crude extract from Ocotea leucoxylon showed selective activity typical of inhibitors of the enzyme topoisomerase I in a yeast assay for DNA-damaging agents. Using a bioassay-directed fractionation approach, the major bioactive compound was isolated and identified as the known aporphine alkaloid dicentrinone (4); the inactive alkaloid dicentrine (3) was also isolated. Compound 4 showed selective bioactivity against the rad52 repair-deficient yeast strain RS322 (IC(12) 49 microg/mL) and was inactive against the rad52- and topo1-deficient strain RS321 (IC(12) > 2000 microg/mL) and against the repair-proficient strain RJ03 (IC(12) > 2000 microg/mL). Biochemical studies with recombinant human topoisomerase I indicated that dicentrinone (4) is an inhibitor of the human enzyme. Colony formation studies suggest that it is weakly cytotoxic, but that its mechanism of toxicity differs from that of camptothecin and its derivatives.

Kinetics of cyclocreatine and Na(+) cotransport in human breast cancer cells: mechanism of activity

The growth-inhibitory effect of cyclocreatine (CCr) and the kinetics of CCr and Na(+) cotransport were investigated in MCF7 human breast cancer cells and its adriamycin-resistant subline with use of (31)P- and (23)Na-NMR spectroscopy. The growth-inhibitory effect in the resistant line occurred at a lower CCr concentration and was more pronounced than in the wild-type line. This correlated with an approximately 10-fold higher affinity of CCr to the transporter in the resistant line. The passive diffusion coefficient of CCr was also higher in the resistant line by three- to fourfold. The transport of CCr was accompanied by a rapid increase in intracellular Na(+). This increase was found to depend on the rate of CCr transport and varied differently with CCr concentration in the two cell lines. It is proposed that the cotransport of CCr and Na(+) followed by increased Na(+) concentration, together with the accumulation of the highly charged phosphocyclocreatine, are responsible for cell swelling and death.

Critical role of phosphagens in the energy cascade of cutaneous ischemia and protective action of phosphocreatine analogues in skin flap survival

A general understanding of the pivotal role of phosphocreatine (PCr) as the principal determinant of skin flap survival is now emerging. Definitive metabolic investigations using phosphorus (31P) and proton (1H) magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) have established that the inability to replenish metabolically exhausted PCr reserves predictably correlates with skin flap necrosis. Furthermore, postoperative parenteral administration of PCr has been shown to augment effectively skin flap survival. We hypothesized that creatine kinase, the enzyme controlling the utilization of the high-energy phosphate component of PCr, is a critical determinant of the tolerance of a skin flap to ischemic insult. In other words, if the rate of utilization of PCr is too rapid, PCr stores will rapidly deplete, and the flap will not be able to withstand a period of ischemia. Alternatively, if the rate of dephosphorylation of PCr is reduced, survival of skin flaps during periods of ischemia could be extended. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the metabolic distribution and fate of cyclocreatine (cCr), a competent creatine analogue with a lower affinity for the creatine kinase enzyme. When administered as 1.5 percent (w/w) of the normal diet of laboratory rats, cCr accumulates in skin as the competent phosphagen, phosphocyclocreatine (PcCr). Cutaneous flaps elevated in these animals, and studied by 31P and 1H MRS, demonstrate that once depletion of PCr has occurred, PcCr continues to sustain ATP levels. This results in significant enhancement of skin flap survival (p < 0.005). These observations confirm the importance of the creatine kinase enzyme in cutaneous flap ischemia and suggest new approaches to augment skin flap survival.

Inhibition of rate of tumor growth by creatine and cyclocreatine

Growth rate inhibition of subcutaneously implanted tumors results from feeding rats and athymic nude mice diets containing 1% cyclocreatine or 1%, 2%, 5%, or 10% creatine. The tumors studied included rat mammary tumors (Ac33tc in Lewis female rats and 13762A in Fischer 344 female rats), rat sarcoma MCI in Lewis male rats, and tumors resulting from the injection of two human neuroblastoma cell lines, IMR-5 and CHP-134, in athymic nude mice. Inhibition was observed regardless of the time experimental diets were administered, either at the time of tumor implantation or after the appearance of palpable tumors. For mammary tumor Ac33tc, the growth inhibition during 24 days after the implantation was approximately 50% for both 1% cyclocreatine and 1% creatine, and inhibition increased as creatine was increased from 2% to 10% of the diet. For the other rat mammary tumor (13762A), there was approximately 35% inhibition by both 1% cyclocreatine and 2% creatine. In the case of the MCI sarcoma, the inhibitory effect appeared more pronounced at earlier periods of growth, ranging from 26% to 41% for 1% cyclocreatine and from 30% to 53% for 1% creatine; there was no significant difference in growth rate between the tumors in the rats fed 1% and 5% creatine. The growth rate of tumors in athymic nude mice, produced by implantation of the human neuroblastoma IMR-5 cell line, appeared somewhat more effectively inhibited by 1% cyclocreatine than by 1% creatine, and 5% creatine feeding was most effective. For the CHP-134 cell line, 33% inhibition was observed for the 1% cyclocreatine diet and 71% for the 5% creatine diet. In several experiments, a delay in appearance of tumors was observed in animals on the experimental diets. In occasional experiments, neither additive inhibited tumor growth rate for the rat tumors or the athymic mouse tumors.

Relative abilities of phosphagens with different thermodynamic or kinetic properties to help sustain ATP and total adenylate pools in heart during ischemia

Hearts of chicks fed the creatine analog, 1-carboxymethyl-2-iminoimidazolidine (cyclocreatine), accumulated 15 mumol/g wet wt of the synthetic phosphagen, cyclocreatine-3-P; had total creatine levels reduced from the normal 6 mumol/g to only 1.8 mumol/g; and had their glycogen levels tripled. During total ischemia in vitro these hearts utilized the cyclocreatine-P for synthesis of ATP, had greatly prolonged glycolysis, and exhibited a two- to fivefold delay in depletion of both ATP and the total adenylate pool, relative to controls. Accumulation from the diet of comparable levels of the closely related 1-carboxyethyl-2-imino-3-phosphonoimidazolidine (homocyclocreatine-P) by heart was accompanied by only slight lowering of total creatine to 4.2 mumol/g, and a tripling of glycogen levels. During ischemia these hearts exhibited prolonged glycolysis, but they did not utilize the very stable homocyclocreatine-P (200,000-fold less reactive than creatine-P) and thus formed less Pi; most significantly, there was no delay in depletion of ATP levels relative to controls. Feeding of creatine doubled total creatine levels in heart, but had no marked effect on ATP depletion during ischemia; in all dietary groups creatine-P pools had fallen to less than or equal to 1.2 mumol/g by first tissue sampling. Although adaptive responses were also involved, maximal conservation of ATP and total adenylate pools in heart during ischemia apparently required, in addition to adequate glycogen reserves, substantial levels of a kinetically competent phosphagen that is thermodynamically poised to continue to assist glycolysis in buffering decreases and oscillations in the [ATP]/[free ADP] ratio at the lower phosphorylation potentials and more acid pH characteristic of later stages of ischemia. Decreases and oscillations in the [ATP]/[free ADP] ratio cannot be buffered effectively late in ischemia by the creatine-P system for thermodynamic reasons, or by the homocyclocreatine-P system because of kinetic limitations.

Cyclocreatine phosphate, an analogue of creatine phosphate, does not improve hypoxic tolerance in mice

Dietary cyclocreatine has been reported to increase brain high-energy stores in mice and to prolong the generation and utilization of these stores following decapitation. A possible cerebral protective action after 50 days of dietary cyclocreatine 0.5 and 1.0% was therefore examined in mice. Cyclocreatine 0.5% did not increase survival time during hypoxia (5% O2). Cyclocreatine 1.0% in the absence of hypoxia caused significant mortality and decreased weight in survivors despite prophylactic antibiotic treatment. Dietary cyclocreatine offers no cerebral protection against hypoxia in mice.