Effect of canavanine on murine retrovirus polypeptide formation

L-Canavanine potentiates the cytotoxicity of doxorubicin and cisplatin in arginine deprived human cancer cells

The non-protein amino acid L-canavanine (L-CAV), an antimetabolite of L-arginine (L-ARG), can alter the 3D conformation of proteins when incorporated into a protein instead of L-ARG. L-CAV inhibits the proliferation of some tumour cells. The deprivation of L-ARG in the culture medium enhances the response of cells to L-CAV. This study aimed to investigate the interaction of L-CAV in combination with the chemotherapeutic drugs, doxorubicin (DOX) or cisplatin (CIS), in cancer cells, especially in the absence of L-ARG. A combination method based on the median-effect principle and mass-action law was used. The following cancer cells were employed: HeLa and Caco-2 cells, overexpressing argininosuccinate synthase (ASS), pancreatic cells (MIA PaCa-2 and BxPC-3) and hepatocellular carcinoma cells (Hep G2 and SK-HEP-1), with down-regulated ASS. When constant and non-constant ratios of L-CAV were combined with DOX and CIS, a synergistic potentiation of cytotoxicity was recorded. Cells expressing high levels of ASS were more sensitive to the treatment as compared to the cells with reduced ASS levels. Overall, this study may provide a new approach to targeting some cancer cells with L-CAV in combination with DNA-targeting drugs such as DOX and CIS, especially those cells which overexpress ASS, such as human cervical and colorectal carcinoma cells.

The Mechanism of l-Canavanine Cytotoxicity: Arginyl tRNA Synthetase as a Novel Target for Anticancer Drug Discovery

There is a clear need for agents with novel mechanisms of action to provide new therapeutic approaches for the treatment of pancreatic cancer. Owing to its structural similarity to L-arginine, L-canavanine, the beta-oxa-analog of L-arginine, is a substrate for arginyl tRNA synthetase and is incorporated into nascent proteins in place of L-arginine. Although L-arginine and L-canavanine are structurally similar, the oxyguanidino group of L-canavanine is significantly less basic than the guanidino group of L-arginine. Consequently, L-canavanyl proteins lack the capacity to form crucial ionic interactions, resulting in altered protein structure and function, which leads to cellular death. Since L-canavanine is selectively sequestered by the pancreas, it may be especially useful as an adjuvant therapy in the treatment of pancreatic cancer. This novel mechanism of cytotoxicity forms the basis for the anticancer activity of L-canavanine and thus, arginyl tRNA synthetase may represent a novel target for the development of such therapeutic agents.

Cell-free translation of American hop latent virus RNA

The RNA of American hop latent virus (AHLV) has a molecular size of 7.7 kb measured in agarose gels. Translation products of AHLV RNA in rabbit reticulocyte and wheat-germ cell-free systems ranged in size up to 200 kD. Time-course experiments indicated that a 36 kD peptide, immunoprecipitated by antivirion sera, was synthesized early followed by the sequential appearance of peptides of increasing Mr. An excess of the amino-acid analogue L-canavanine for arginine specifically reduced the quantity of the 36 kD peptide and induced synthesis of a 38-kD peptide in both rabbit reticulocyte and wheat germ. Translation products were not altered by the addition of a reducing agent, and no product appeared to be produced due to limitation of tRNA species or by readthrough. Synthesis of AHLV RNA-directed peptides was blocked by the cap analogue m7G5'ppp5'G, suggesting the presence of a cap structure at the 5' terminus.

The effect of canavanine on protein synthesis and protein degradation in IMR-90 fibroblasts

Proteins of IMR-90 fibroblasts incorporating [35S]methionine during a 1 h labelling period in the presence of the arginine analogue canavanine were degraded twice as rapidly in the cells as were proteins similarly made in the presence of arginine. Using both isoelectric focusing and SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoretic analyses, the banding patterns of proteins labelled in the presence of canavanine and arginine were found to differ. This banding difference was detected as early as 15 min after canavanine treatment. With the exception of one minor band in isoelectric focusing gel, the relative intensity of labelled protein bands for the control samples remained unchanged during the 2 h period of protein degradation being investigated. This was also true for the proteins labelled in the presence of canavanine, despite the increase in their rate of degradation. Banding difference between canavanine and arginine treatment was also detected in an in vitro reticulocyte lysate translation system dependent on fibroblast mRNA. Proteins labelled in the presence of a different analogue, p-fluorophenylalanine instead of phenylalanine, however, had similar banding patterns as the control both in the lysate system and in intact cells.

Endodeoxyribonuclease activity associated with Rauscher murine leukemia virus

Preparations of purified Rauscher murine leukemia virus were found to contain an endodeoxyribonuclease after disruption of the virus with nonionic detergents. The enzyme makes single-strand breaks in linear or covalently closed circular phage double-stranded DNA molecules. The enzyme was partially purified by ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE- and carboxymethyl-Sepharose columns followed by electrophoresis in DNA-containing polyacrylamide gels. The enzyme was separated from reverse transcriptase (p80pol), and the final endonuclease preparation contained no detectable reverse transcriptase activity. The DEAE-Sepharose column-purified endonuclease activity contained a polypeptide of about 40,000 Mr that we term p40. Peptide mapping experiments demonstrated that p40 shares methionine-labeled tryptic peptides with Pr200gag-pol and Pr135pol. Six major methionine-labeled tryptic peptides derived from p40 were found in Pr200gag-pol, but only five of these were detected in Pr135pol. The four core proteins (p30, p15, pp12, and p10) and p80pol plus p40 account for most, but not all, of the peptide sequences of Pr200gag-pol. The endonuclease-associated p40 is similar in size and precursor origin to the avian retrovirus-coded endonuclease (p32). In view of these similarities to the avian p32 endonuclease and its association with partially purified Rauscher murine leukemia virus-associated endonuclease preparations, we propose that p40 is the Rauscher murine leukemia virus-coded endonuclease.