Phenethyl Alcohol Synergism with Mitomycin C, Porfiromycin, and Streptonigrin

Free radical formation by antitumor quinones

Quinones are among the most frequently used drugs to treat human cancer. All of the antitumor quinones can undergo reversible enzymatic reduction and oxidation, and form semiquinone and oxygen radicals. For several antitumor quinones enzymatic reduction also leads to formation of alkylating species but whether this involves reduction to the semiquinone or the hydroquinone is not always clear. The antitumor activity of quinones is frequently linked to DNA damage caused by alkylating species or oxygen radicals. Some other effects of the antitumor quinones, such as cardiotoxicity and skin toxicity, may also be related to oxygen radical formation. The evidence for a relationship between radical formation and the biological activity of the antitumor quinones is evaluated.

Chemotherapeutic attack of hypoxic tumor cells by the bioreductive alkylating agent mitomycin C

Since the cure of solid tumors is limited by the presence of cells with low oxygen contents, we have approached the development of treatment regimens and of new drugs for these tumors by investigating agents which are preferentially bioactivated under hypoxia. Major emphasis has been directed at studying the mode of action of the mitomycin antibiotics, as bioreductive alkylating agents. Using primarily the EMT6 mouse mammary carcinoma as a solid tumor model, we have found that mitomycin C and porfiromycin are preferentially toxic to cells with low oxygen contents. The mitomycin analog BMY-25282 is more toxic to hypoxic cells than are mitomycin C and porfiromycin; however, unlike these antibiotics, BMY-25282 is preferentially toxic to well-oxygenated cells. With these three mitomycins, we have observed a correlation between cytotoxicity to hypoxic cells, the rate of generation of reactive products, and the redox potentials of the drugs. Investigations of the enzymes in EMT6 cells that could possibly activate mitomycin C have revealed that cytochrome P-450 and xanthine oxidase are not present in measurable quantities and therefore are not responsible for activation of mitomycin C. Activities representative of NADPH-cytochrome c reductase and DT-diaphorase are present in these neoplastic cells. Comparison of these enzymatic activities in EMT6, CHO, and V79 cells with the rate of generation of reactive products under hypoxia shows a direct correlation between these two parameters, but there is no quantitative correlation between these two parameters and the amount of cytotoxicity. Use of purified NADPH-cytochrome c reductase and inhibitors of this enzyme demonstrated that NADPH-cytochrome c reductase can activate mitomycin C, but that it is probably not the only enzyme participating in this bioactivation in EMT6 cells. The DT-diaphorase inhibitor dicoumarol was employed to show that this enzyme is not involved in the activation of mitomycin C to a cytotoxic agent. Instead, DT-diaphorase appears to metabolize mitomycin C to a nontoxic product. This property has been exploited to develop a new treatment regimen for solid tumors. Using X-rays to eliminate well oxygenated cells of a solid tumor implant of the EMT6 carcinoma, we have found that the combination of dicoumarol plus mitomycin C is more toxic to hypoxic tumor cells in vivo than mitomycin C alone. Furthermore, knowledge of the biochemical mechanism of mitomycin C activation permits a prediction of which tumors can best be treated with this combination of drugs by measuring enzymatic activities in biopsy specimens.

Irreversible binding of reductively activated streptonigrin to nucleic acids in the presence of metals

The binding of streptonigrin (SN) to nucleic acids was studied in the presence of reducing agents and metals. Incubation of chemically reduced SN with DNA in vitro resulted in irreversible binding and complexes containing 1 mol of SN per 250 nucleotides were obtained. The presence of Zn2+ increased this binding considerably to give complexes containing 1 mol of SN per 80 nucleotides. On the other hand, Mg2+ decreased this binding. More drug was bound to the denatured DNA than to the native DNA. Maximum binding was obtained when SN was reduced in the presence of DNA. Increased binding was also obtained when the fully reduced SN was incubated with DNA. Considerably more SN was bound to DNA when activated enzymatically than with NaBH4. Studies with synthetic polynucleotides in the presence of Zn2+ suggested that while SN has a high affinity for guanine residues, cytosine and adenine residues also serve as excellent substrates. These studies indicate that the active intermediate that binds to nucleic acids is unstable and may be derived from the fully reduced drug. These in vitro studies further suggest that Zn2+ plays an important role in the binding of SN to DNA and may have implications for the biological actions of SN if similar reactions occurred in vivo.

Synergistic denaturant therapy--a general strategy for treatment of solid malignancies

"Synergistic denaturant therapy" is defined as the acute disruption of tumor cell structure by concurrent application of "denaturant" modalities such as hyperthermia, tumor-specific acidification, hypoenergia, ischemia, sulphydryl blockade, free-radical generation, detergents, and chemical denaturants (e.g. DMSO). Possible techniques for effective and tumor-specific clinical application of these modalities are discussed, and experimental investigations of their use in cancer therapy, alone or in synergistic combinations, are cited. Various of these modalities may also be used to potentiate the efficacy and specificity of traditional anti-mitotic therapies. Numerous therapeutic advantages are offered by a "synergistic denaturant" approach.

H2O2 generation during the redox cycle of mitomycin C and dna-bound mitomycin C

Reduction of mitomycin C by NaBH4 or by NADPH in the presence of a cell extract followed by exposure to air results in the generation of H2O2. This phenomenon occurs not only with free mitomycin but also with mitomycin irreversibly bound to DNA. In view of these findings, the antibiotic activity of mitomycin was tested in two bacterial systems: a facultative aerobic bacterium grown in the presence or absence of oxygen and obligate anaerobic bacterium. No oxygen effect could be demonstrated in either case in the growth-inhibitory and bactericidal activity of the drug. Nevertheless, the H202 generating capacity of mitomycin-DNA complexes inside the nucleus may play a role in the drug-induced biological damage to the genetic material of cells.

Evidence for two states of F pili

The addition of phenethyl alcohol (PEA) to cultures of male strains of Escherichia coli rapidly prevents the adsorption of the male-specific bacteriophages f1 and f2 to the donor cells. The adsorption of f2 to F pili in cell-free preparations is unaffected by PEA. In a mating system, PEA alters the kinetics of gene transfer in minimal medium but not in broth. Sodium cyanide, azide, and iodoacetate also apparently inhibit f2 adsorption to cells but not to detached F pili. The phage adsorption inhibitory action of PEA is completely reversible in the presence of 100 mug of chloramphenicol per ml.