Studies of non-metabolizable polyamines that support growth of SV-3T3 cells depleted of natural polyamines by exposure to alpha-difluoromethylornithine

Enantiomers of 3-methylspermidine selectively modulate deoxyhypusine synthesis and reveal important determinants for spermidine transport

Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A (eIF5A) is essential for cell proliferation, becoming functionally active only after post-translational conversion of a specific Lys to hypusine [N(ε)-(4-amino-2-hydroxybutyl)lysine]. Deoxyhypusine synthase (DHS) is the rate-limiting enzyme of this two-step process, and the polyamine spermidine is the only natural donor of the butylamine group for this reaction, which is very conserved-hypusine biosynthesis suffers last when the intracellular spermidine pool is depleted. DHS has a very strict substrate specificity, and only a few spermidine analogs are substrates of the enzyme and can support long-term growth of spermidine-depleted cells. Herein, we compared the biological properties of earlier unknown enantiomers of 3-methylspermidine (3-MeSpd) in deoxyhypusine synthesis, in supporting cell growth and in polyamine transport. Long-term treatment of DU145 cells with α-difluoromethylornithine (inhibitor of polyamine biosynthesis) and (R)-3-MeSpd did not cause depletion of hypusinated eIF5A, and the cells were still able to grow, whereas the combination of α-difluoromethylornithine with a racemate or (S)-3-MeSpd caused cessation of cell growth. Noticeably, DHS preferred the (R)- over the (S)-enantiomer as a substrate. (R)-3-MeSpd competed with [(14)C]-labeled spermidine for cellular uptake less efficiently than the (S)-3-MeSpd (Ki = 141 μM vs 19 μM, respectively). The cells treated with racemic 3-MeSpd accumulated intracellularly mainly (S)-3-MeSpd, but not DHS substrate (R)-3-MeSpd, explaining the inability of the racemate to support long-term growth. The distinct properties of 3-MeSpd enantiomers can be exploited in designing polyamine uptake inhibitors, facilitating drug delivery and modulating deoxyhypusine synthesis.

Selective regulation of polyamine metabolism with methylated polyamine analogues

Polyamine metabolism is intimately linked to the physiological state of the cell. Low polyamines levels promote growth cessation, while increased concentrations are often associated with rapid proliferation or cancer. Delicately balanced biosynthesis, catabolism, uptake and excretion are very important for maintaining the intracellular polyamine homeostasis, and deregulated polyamine metabolism is associated with imbalanced metabolic red/ox state. Although many cellular targets of polyamines have been described, the precise molecular mechanisms in these interactions are largely unknown. Polyamines are readily interconvertible which complicate studies on the functions of the individual polyamines. Thus, non-metabolizable polyamine analogues, like carbon-methylated analogues, are needed to circumvent that problem. This review focuses on methylated putrescine, spermidine and spermine analogues in which at least one hydrogen atom attached to polyamine carbon backbone has been replaced by a methyl group. These analogues allow the regulation of both metabolic and catabolic fates of the parent molecule. Substituting the natural polyamines with methylated analogue(s) offers means to study either the functions of an individual polyamine or the effects of altered polyamine metabolism on cell physiology. In general, gem-dimethylated analogues are considered to be non-metabolizable by polyamine catabolizing enzymes spermidine/spermine-N¹-acetyltransferase and acetylpolyamine oxidase and they support short-term cellular proliferation in many experimental models. Monomethylation renders the analogues chiral, offering some advantage over gem-dimethylated analogues in the specific regulation of polyamine metabolism. Thus, methylated polyamine analogues are practical tools to meet existing biological challenges in solving the physiological functions of polyamines.

Effects of novel C-methylated spermidine analogs on cell growth via hypusination of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A

The polyamines, putrescine, spermidine, and spermine, are ubiquitous multifunctional cations essential for cellular proliferation. One specific function of spermidine in cell growth is its role as a butylamine donor for hypusine synthesis in the eukaryotic initiation factor 5A (eIF5A). Here, we report the ability of novel mono-methylated spermidine analogs (α-MeSpd, β-MeSpd, γ-MeSpd, and ω-MeSpd) to function in the hypusination of eIF5A and in supporting the growth of DFMO-treated DU145 cells. We also tested them as substrates and inhibitors for deoxyhypusine synthase (DHS) in vitro. Of these compounds, α-MeSpd, β-MeSpd, and γ-MeSpd (but not ω-MeSpd) were substrates for DHS in vitro, while they all inhibited the enzyme reaction. As racemic mixtures, only α-MeSpd and β-MeSpd supported long-term growth (9-18 days) of spermidine-depleted DU145 cells, whereas γ-MeSpd and ω-MeSpd did not. The S-enantiomer of α-MeSpd, which supported long-term growth, was a good substrate for DHS in vitro, whereas the R-isomer was not. The long-term growth of DFMO-treated cells correlated with the hypusine modification of eIF5A by intracellular methylated spermidine analogs. These results underscore the critical requirement for hypusine modification in mammalian cell proliferation and provide new insights into the specificity of the deoxyhypusine synthase reaction.

The use of novel C-methylated spermidine derivatives to investigate the regulation of polyamine metabolism

The polyamines are organic polycations present at millimolar concentrations in eukaryotic cells where they participate in the regulation of vital cellular functions including proliferation and differentiation. Biological evaluation of rationally designed polyamine analogs is one of the cornerstones of polyamine research. Here we have synthesized and characterized novel C-methylated spermidine analogs, that is, 2-methylspermidine, 3-methylspermidine, and 8-methylspermidine. 3-Methylspermidine was found to be metabolically stable in DU145 cells, while 8-methylspermidine was a substrate for spermidine/spermine N(1)-acetyltransferase (SSAT) and 2-methylspermidine was a substrate for both SSAT and acetylpolyamine oxidase. All the analogs induced the splicing of the productive mRNA splice variant of SSAT, overcame growth arrest induced by 72-h treatment with ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) inhibitor α-difluoromethylornithine, and were transported via the polyamine transporter. Surprisingly, 2-methylspermidine was a weak downregulator of ODC activity in DU145 cells. Our data demonstrates that it is possible to radically alter the biochemical properties of a polyamine analog by changing the position of the methyl group.

Methylated polyamines as research tools

Earlier unknown racemic β-methylspermidine (β-MeSpd) and γ-methylspermidine (γ-MeSpd) were -synthesized starting from crotononitrile or methacrylonitrile and putrescine. Lithium aluminum hydride reduction of the intermediate di-Boc-nitriles resulted in corresponding di-Boc-amines, which after deprotection gave target β- and γ-MeSpd's. To prepare α-MeSpd, the starting compound, 3-amino-1-butanol, was converted into N-Cbz-3-amino-1-butyl methanesulfonate, which alkylated putrescine to give (after deprotection of amino group) the required α-MeSpd. Novel β- and γ-MeSpd's in combination with earlier α-MeSpd are useful tools for studying enzymology and cell biology of polyamines.

Current status of the polyamine research field

This chapter provides an overview of the polyamine field and introduces the 32 other chapters that make up this volume. These chapters provide a wide range of methods, advice, and background relevant to studies of the function of polyamines, the regulation of their content, their role in disease, and the therapeutic potential of drugs targeting polyamine content and function. The methodology provided in this new volume will enable laboratories already working in this area to expand their experimental techniques and facilitate the entry of additional workers into this rapidly expanding field.

Hypusine modification for growth is the major function of spermidine in Saccharomyces cerevisiae polyamine auxotrophs grown in limiting spermidine

Spermidine and its derivative, hypusinated eIF5A, are essential for the growth of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Very low concentrations of spermidine (10(-8) M) are sufficient for the growth of S. cerevisiae polyamine auxotrophs (spe1Delta, spe2Delta, and spe3Delta). Under these conditions, even though the growth rate is near normal, the internal concentration of spermidine is <0.2% of the spermidine concentration present in wild-type cells. When spe2Delta cells are grown with low concentrations of spermidine, there is a large decrease in the amount of hypusinated eukaryotic initiation factor 5A (eIF5A) (1/20 of normal), even though there is no change in the amount of total (modified plus unmodified) eIF5A. It is striking that, as intracellular spermidine becomes limiting, an increasing portion of it (up to 54%) is used for the hypusine modification of eIF5A. These data indicate that hypusine modification of eIF5A is a most important function for spermidine in supporting the growth of S. cerevisiae polyamine auxotrophs.

Alpha-methyl polyamines: efficient synthesis and tolerance studies in vivo and in vitro. First evidence for dormant stereospecificity of polyamine oxidase

Efficient syntheses of metabolically stable alpha-methylspermidine 1, alpha-methylspermine 2, and bis-alpha,alpha'-methylated spermine 3 starting from ethyl 3-aminobutyrate are described. The biological tolerance for these compounds was tested in wild-type mice and transgenic mice carrying the metallothionein promoter-driven spermidine/spermine N(1)-acetyltransferase gene (MT-SSAT). The efficient substitution of natural polyamines by their derivatives was confirmed in vivo with the rats harboring the same MT-SSAT transgene and in vitro with the immortalized fibroblasts derived from these animals. Enantiomers of previously unknown 1-amino-8-acetamido-5-azanonane dihydrochloride 4 were synthesized starting from enantiomerically pure (R)- and (S)-alaninols. The studies with recombinant human polyamine oxidase (PAO) showed that PAO (usually splits achiral substrates) strongly favors the (R)-isomer of 4 that demonstrates for the first time that the enzyme has hidden potency for stereospecificity.

[New syntheses of alpha-methyl- and alpha,alpha'-dimethylspermine]

alpha-Methylspermine and alpha,alpha'-dimethylspermine were synthesized in high overall yields starting from N-(benzyloxycarbonyl)-3-aminobutanol in order to study polyamine biochemistry in vitro and in vivo.

Polyamine synthesis and transport inhibition in a human anaplastic thyroid carcinoma cell line in vitro and as xenograft tumors

Polyamines are essential cellular components for neoplastic transformation and cell proliferation. Antineoplastic efforts that inhibit polyamine synthesis are insufficient to induce cytotoxicity, due to compensatory induction of polyamine transport. Treatment of an anaplastic human thyroid carcinoma cell line (DRO90-1) with a novel polymeric spermine conjugate (polyspermine; PSpm) caused in vitro cytotoxicity and inhibited the growth of xenograft tumors at low concentrations. Similar in vitro antineoplastic effects were noted with two other human anaplastic thyroid carcinoma cell lines. This coincided with inhibition of polyamine uptake and synthetic enzyme activities, with reduced ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) and S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase (SAM-DC) but increased spermidine/spermine N1-acetyltransferase (SSAT) activities, as measured in DRO90-1 cells. In subsequent studies using these cells, PSpm was effective in reducing the intracellular levels of all polyamines in vitro, resulting in cytotoxicity that was not reversed by administration of extracellular polyamines. Low-dose PSpm inhibited tumor growth in vivo, but high doses of PSpm potentiated xenograft tumor growth. PSpm degradation products produced with in vivo treatment may be produced that function as substrates for polyamine biosynthesis. These studies suggest that polyamine metabolism inhibition is a viable target for antineoplastic therapy of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma, although the in vivo response to PSpm suggests that this agent will have limited clinical utility.

Effects of polyamine levels on the degradation of short-lived and long-lived proteins in cultured L-132 human lung cells

Biogenic polyamines have important regulatory functions in various biological processes and it has also been suggested that they could modulate intracellular protein degradation. For an overall assessment of the role of polyamines in this process, we have investigated the effect that the decrease in intracellular polyamine levels caused by inhibitors of polyamine biosynthesis brings about on the degradation of the pools of short- and long-lived proteins in cultured L-132 human lung cells. Treatment of cells with 100 microM (2R,5R)-delta-methyl acetylenic putrescine (MAP), a potent enzyme-activated irreversible inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase, or with 100 microM MAP plus 50 microM N-butyl 1,3-diaminopropane, a specific inhibitor of spermine synthase, caused a similar decrease (65-70% of control) in the total intracellular levels of polyamines, although they affected the concentrations of spermidine and spermine differently. The effect of the two treatments on protein degradation was essentially the same. In polyamine-depleted cells we observed an inhibition of degradation in long-lived proteins of 16% (P<0.05), with a significant increase in the half-life (t12) of this pool from 100.5 to 120.1 h. This was concomitant with an increase of 26% (P<0. 05) in degradation in short-lived proteins, with a significant decrease in the t12 of this pool from 0.85 to 0.67 h. Recovery of polyamine levels by the addition of 50 microM spermidine to polyamine-depleted cells resulted in a restoration of the degradation rates in both pools of proteins. The way(s) by which polyamines could modulate proteolysis are discussed.

Use of aminopropyltransferase inhibitors and of non-metabolizable analogs to study polyamine regulation and function

The polyamines spermidine and spermine are essential for the growth of mammalian cells. This review describes the properties of the two aminopropyltransferases that are responsible for their biosynthesis, the synthesis and use of specific aminopropyltransferase inhibitors, and the use of analogs of the polyamines to investigate polyamine transport and function. Highly specific and potent multisubstrate adduct inhibitors of these enzymes have been synthesized while less potent inhibitors have been obtained by the synthesis of amines that bind at the active site. Studies with these inhibitors indicate that polyamines are needed for a normal rate of growth and that, although some of the functions of polyamines may be interchangeable, other functions may have a specific requirement for spermidine or spermine. Two groups of growth-promoting polyamine analogs can be distinguished: the many that are effective in short-term experiments compared to the few that can act over a prolonged period. The more stringent structural requirements for long-term growth are probably due to a need for spermidine, or a closely related analog, as a precursor of hypusine in the protein eIF-5A. Metabolically resistant polyamine analogs can be used as model substrates for studies of the polyamine transport system, which plays a critical role in maintaining normal cellular polyamine levels. The feedback regulation by high levels of polyamines that downregulates transport is essential to prevent the accumulation of polyamines at toxic levels. Such accumulation may be associated with apoptosis and, therefore, polyamine analogs are useful tools for investigating the mechanism(s) of polyamine-mediated toxicity.

Pharmacological properties of the ornithine decarboxylase inhibitor 3-aminooxy-1-propanamine and several structural analogues

Analogues of 3-aminooxy-1-propanamine proved to be highly potent and selective inhibitors of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC). The compounds competed with ornithine for the substrate binding site of ODC, but resulted in progressive and apparently irreversible inactivation of the enzyme. Diamine oxidase was inhibited by these compounds to a lesser extent than ODC; the compounds were not metabolized by this enzyme. Several derivatives were growth-inhibitory for human T24 cells and for other mammalian cells, the most active compound being 3-aminooxy-2-fluoro-1-propanamine (AFPA). Growth-arrested cells were largely depleted of putrescine and spermidine. Cellular growth arrest could be antagonized by supplementation with spermidine. Selection for resistance against AFPA led to cells with amplified ODC genes and overexpression of the message. Some of the derivatives were tumoristatic at well-tolerated doses in mice bearing solid T24 tumours. The antiproliferative activity of these compounds appears to be mediated by polyamine depletion.

Cytostasis induced in L1210 murine leukaemia cells by the S-adenosyl-L-methionine decarboxylase inhibitor 5'-([(Z)-4-amino-2-butenyl]methylamino)-5'-deoxyadenosine may be due to hypusine depletion

The effects of inhibition of the capacity to form spermidine and spermine on cell growth were investigated using murine leukaemia L1210 cells and 5'-([(Z)-4-amino-2-butenyl]methylamino)-5'-deoxyadenosine (MDL 73811, AbeAdo), an enzyme-activated irreversible inhibitor of S-adenosyl-L-methionine decarboxylase. Putrescine levels were increased 80-fold, and spermidine and spermine levels were greatly reduced after a 3-day exposure to a maximally inhibitory dose of 10 microM-AbeAdo. Addition of AbeAdo to the culture medium inhibited the growth of L1210 cells measured 3 days later in a dose-dependent manner, but, even at a dose of 10 microM, which was maximally effective, exposure to AbeAdo was not immediately cytostatic. However, the growth rate of L1210 cells chronically exposed to 10 microM-AbeAdo declined steadily until day 12, when the cells stopped growing. L1210 cells exposed to AbeAdo for 12 days could not be rescued from cytostasis by removal of the drug from the culture, but could be rescued by exposure to exogenous spermidine or spermine, indicating that the growth-inhibitory effects of AbeAdo were a result of spermidine and/or spermine depletion. It is suggested that elevated intracellular putrescine in AbeAdo-treated cells sustained limited growth in the absence of physiological levels of spermidine and spermine until certain critical and specific physiological role(s) fulfilled by spermidine (and/or spermine) became deficient resulting in cytostasis. N-(3-Aminopropyl)-1,4-diamino-cis-but-2-ene, a spermidine analogue that is a substrate for deoxyhypusine synthase, was able to mimic the effects of spermidine in reversing AbeAdo-induced cytostasis. Spermidine analogues such as 5,5-dimethylspermidine, which are not substrates for deoxyhypusine synthase, were not active in this way. These results provide evidence that the formation of hypusine in the protein-synthesis initiation factor eIF-5A may be a critical role of spermidine essential for cell growth.

Sequestered end products and enzyme regulation: the case of ornithine decarboxylase

The polyamines (putrescine, spermidine, and spermine) are synthesized by almost all organisms and are universally required for normal growth. Ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), an initial enzyme of polyamine synthesis, is one of the most highly regulated enzymes of eucaryotic organisms. Unusual mechanisms have evolved to control ODC, including rapid, polyamine-mediated turnover of the enzyme and control of the synthetic rate of the protein without change of its mRNA level. The high amplitude of regulation and the rapid variation in the level of the protein led biochemists to infer that polyamines had special cellular roles and that cells maintained polyamine concentrations within narrow limits. This view was sustained in part because of our continuing uncertainty about the actual biochemical roles of polyamines. In this article, we challenge the view that ODC regulation is related to precise adjustment of polyamine levels. In no organism does ODC display allosteric feedback inhibition, and in three types of organism, bacteria, fungi, and mammals, the size of polyamine pools may vary radically without having a profound effect on growth. We suggest that the apparent stability of polyamine pools in unstressed cells is due to their being largely bound to cellular polyanions. We further speculate that allosteric feedback inhibition, if it existed, would be inappropriately responsive to changes in the small, freely diffusible polyamine pool. Instead, mechanisms that control the amount of the ODC protein have appeared in most organisms, and even these are triggered inappropriately by variation of the binding of polyamines to ionic binding sites. In fact, feedback inhibition of ODC might be maladaptive during hypoosmotic stress or at the onset of growth, when organisms appear to require rapid increases in the size of their cellular polyamine pools.

Role of unsaturated derivatives of spermidine as substrates for spermine synthase and in supporting growth of SV-3T3 cells

Synthetic unsaturated analogues of the natural polyamine were examined as possible substrates for spermine synthase and as replacements for spermidine in supporting the growth of SV-3T3 cells. It was found that N-(3-aminopropyl)-1,4-diamino-cis-but-2-ene [the cis isomer of the alkene analogue of spermidine] was a good substrate for spermine synthase, but that the trans isomer [N-(3-aminopropyl)-1,4-diamino-trans-but-2-ene] and the alkene analogue [N-(3-aminopropyl)-1,4-diaminobut-2-yne] were not substrates. These results provide the first demonstration of stereospecificity in the spermine synthase reaction. All three of the unsaturated spermidine analogues described above and the cis-alkene analogue of spermine [N1N4-bis-(3-aminopropyl)-1,4-diamino-cis-but-2-ene] were able to support the growth of SV-3T3 cells that were prevented from the endogenous synthesis of spermidine by treatment with alpha-difluoromethylornithine. Since N-(3-aminopropyl)-1,4-diamino-trans-but-2-ene] and N-(3-aminopropyl)-1,4-diaminobut-2-yne were not converted into a spermine derivative, it is apparent that this conversion is not needed for the stimulation of growth. However, since N1N4-bis-(3-aminopropyl)-1,4-diamino-cis-but-2-ene was also able to support growth and was not degraded to the spermidine derivative, it appears that either polyamine can be effective in this respect. All of the unsaturated analogues tested accumulated in the SV-3T3 cells to a much greater extent than spermidine itself. This indicates that these compounds are substrates for the polyamine transport system, but that they are less effective than the natural polyamines in the feedback regulation of this system.

Polyamine--DNA nexus: structural ramifications and biological implications

Polyamines at physiological concentration can condense DNA, chromatin and promote B to Z DNA transitions. These properties of polyamines are crucial to the molecular organization and functional control of DNA and thus have very significant implications in the control of cellular functions. The structure of polyamines plays an important role in the binding of DNA and chromatin and it is not merely the charge, but a specific chain length of methylene (-CH2) groups that is required. Acetylation of polyamines seems to be an important mode of regulating polyamine-chromatin interaction. Purified histone acetyltransferase also possesses polyamine acetylation activity, thus histones and polyamine acetylation may occur in tandem to alter the structure/function of the nucleosome thereby regulating DNA replication and transcription. Acetylation as a means to diminish the number of charges on polyamine molecules serves as an ordered mechanism to control DNA replication and transcription in vivo. The results on the involvement of polyamines and their analogs in condensation of DNA and B to Z DNA transition correlate well with the conclusions drawn from experiments designed to observe the in vivo effects of polyamines and their analogs on the growth of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. For example, any change in the hydrogen bonding capacity of polyamines leads to a marked reduction in protein synthesis and the growth rate of polyamine depleted cells. A minimal level of polyamines is required for cells to move from G1 through S phase and these amines are directly involved in the DNA synthetic phase of the cell cycle. A nexus between polyamines and nucleic acids appears crucial to the cellular function(s) of polyamines.