Crystallization and preliminary X-ray crystallographic studies of a macromolecular antitumour antibiotic, C1027

Disruption of cagA, the apoprotein gene of chromoprotein antibiotic C-1027, eliminates holo-antibiotic production, but not the cytotoxic chromophore

C-1027 is a chromoprotein of the nine-membered enediyne antitumour antibiotic family, comprising apoprotein to stabilize and transport the enediyne chromophore. The disruption of apoprotein gene cagA within the C-1027 biosynthetic gene cluster abolished C-1027 holo-antibiotic production detected by an antibacterial assay, as well as the expression of the apoprotein and C-1027 chromophore extracted following protein precipitation of the culture supernatant. Complementation of the cagA-disrupted mutant AKO with the intact cagA gene restored C-1027 production, suggesting that cagA is indispensable for holo-antibiotic production. Overexpression of cagA in the wild-type strain resulted in a significant increase in C-1027 production as expected. Surprisingly, electrospray ionization (ESI)-MS and ESI-MS/MS analyses suggested that the AKO mutant still produced the C-1027 enediyne chromophore [m/z=844 (M+H)(+)] and its aromatized product [m/z=846 (M+H)(+)]. Consistent with this, the results from gene expression analysis using real-time reverse transcriptase-PCR showed that transcripts of the positive regulator sgcR3 and the structural genes sgcA1, sgcC4, sgcD6 and sgcE were readily detected in the AKO mutant as well as in the wild-type and the complementation strain. These results provided, for the first time, evidence suggesting that the apoprotein of C-1027 is not essential in the self-resistance mechanism for the enediyne chromophore.

C-1027, a radiomimetic enediyne anticancer drug, preferentially targets hypoxic cells

The hypoxic nature of cells within solid tumors limits the efficacy of anticancer therapies such as ionizing radiation and conventional radiomimetics because their mechanisms require oxygen to induce lethal DNA breaks. For example, the conventional radiomimetic enediyne neocarzinostatin is 4-fold less cytotoxic to cells maintained in low oxygen (hypoxic) compared with normoxic conditions. By contrast, the enediyne C-1027 was nearly 3-fold more cytotoxic to hypoxic than to normoxic cells. Like other radiomimetics, C-1027 induced DNA breaks to a lesser extent in cell-free, or cellular hypoxic, compared with normoxic environments. However, the unique DNA interstrand cross-linking ability of C-1027 was markedly enhanced under the same hypoxic conditions that reduced its DNA break induction. Although the unique chemistry of C-1027 allows it to concurrently generate both DNA breaks and cross-links in normoxic cells, a low oxygen environment represses the former and promotes the latter. Thus, treatment with C-1027 offers a facile approach for overcoming the radioresistance associated with poorly oxygenated cells.

Protein–Small Molecule Interactions in Neocarzinostatin, the Prototypical Enediyne Chromoprotein Antibiotic

The enediyne chromoproteins are a class of potent antitumour antibiotics comprising a 1:1 complex of a protein and a noncovalently bound chromophore. The protein is required to protect and transport the highly labile chromophore, which acts as the cytotoxic component by reacting with DNA leading to strand cleavage. A derivative of the best-studied member of this class, neocarzinostatin (NCS), is currently in use as a chemotherapeutic in Japan. The application of the chromoproteins as therapeutics along with their unique mode of action has prompted widespread interest in this area. Notable developments include the discovery of non-natural ligands for the apoproteins and the observation that multiple binding modes are available for these ligands in the binding site. Mutation studies on the apoproteins have revealed much about their stability and variability, and the application of an in vitro evolution method has conferred new binding specificity for unrelated ligands. These investigations hold great promise for the application of the apoproteins for drug-delivery, transport and stabilisation systems.

Pharmacokinetics of C-1027 in mice as determined by TCA-RA method

AIM

To validate a radioactivity assay, the TCA-RA method, for the measurement of C-1027 in serum and to evaluate its application in determination of pharmacokinetics of C-1027 in mice.

METHODS

(125)I-C-1027 was prepared by the Iodogen method and separated by HPLC. The radioactivity assay was established and used to determine (125)I-C-1027 in mice at doses of 10, 50 and 100 microg/kg after precipitation with 20% trichloroacetic acid (TCA-RA method). Several pharmacokinetic parameters were determined after intravenous injection of (125)I-C-1027 to mice.

RESULTS

After intravenous injection of (125)I-C-1027 to mice, at doses of 10, 50 and 100 microg/kg; the apparent distribution volumes (V(d)) were 0.26, 0.31 and 0.33 L/kg; the biological half-lives (T(1/2)) were 3.10, 3.40 and 3.90 h; the areas under curve (AUC) were 18.41, 103.69 and 202.74 ng/h/mL; the elimination rate constants (K) were 1.04, 1.26 and 0.58/h; and the total body clearance (Cl) were 0.54, 0.48 and 0.49 L/kg/h, respectively.

CONCLUSION

TCA-RA is a sensitive, reliable and suitable method for the determination of (125)I-C-1027 in mouse serum.