IPdR: a novel oral radiosensitizer

Inhibition of vertebrate aldehyde oxidase as a therapeutic treatment for cancer, obesity, aging and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

The aldehyde oxidases (AOXs) are a small sub-family of cytosolic molybdo-flavoenzymes, which are structurally conserved proteins and broadly distributed from plants to animals. AOXs play multiple roles in both physiological and pathological processes and AOX inhibition is of increasing significance in the development of novel drugs and therapeutic strategies. This review provides an overview of the evolution and the action mechanism of AOX and the role of each domain. The review provides an update of the polymorphisms in the human AOX. This review also summarises the physiology of AOX in different organs and its role in drug metabolism. The inhibition of AOX is a promising therapeutic treatment for cancer, obesity, aging and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

The contribution of thermally labile sugar lesions to DNA double-strand break formation in cells grown in the presence of BrdU

PURPOSE

Radiosensitization by bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) is commonly attributed to an increase in the yield of double-strand breaks (DSB) in the DNA and an associated decrease in the reparability of these lesions. Radiation chemistry provides a mechanism for the increased yield of DSB through the generation, after bromine loss, of a highly reactive uracilyl radical that attacks the sugar moiety of the nucleotide to produce a single-strand break (SSB). The effects underpinning DSB repair inhibition remain, in contrast, incompletely characterized. A possible source of reduced reparability is a change in the nature or complexity of the DSB in BrdU-substituted DNA. Recent studies show that DSB-complexity or DSB-nature may also be affected by the presence within the cluster of thermally labile sugar lesions (TLSL) that break the DNA backbone only if they chemically evolve to SSB, a process thought to occur within the first hour post-irradiation. Since BrdU radiosensitization might be associated with increased yields and reduced reparability of DSB, we investigated whether BrdU underpins these effects by shifting the balance in the generation of TLSL.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

We employed asymmetric-field-inversion gel electrophoresis (AFIGE), a pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) method to quantitate DSB in a battery of five cells lines grown in the presence of different concentrations of BrdU. We measured specifically the yields of promptly forming DSB (prDSB) using low temperature lysis protocols, and the yields of total DSB (tDSB = prDSB + tlDSB; tlDSB form after evolution to SSB of TLSL) using high temperature lysis protocols.

RESULTS

We report that incorporation of BrdU generates similar increases in the formation of tlDSB and prDSB, but variations are noted among the different cell lines tested.

CONCLUSIONS

The similar increase in the yields of tlDSB and prDSB in BrdU substituted DNA showed that shifts in the yields of these forms of lesions could not be invoked to explain BrdU radiosensitization.

Structure, stability and function of 5-chlorouracil modified A:U and G:U base pairs

The thymine analog 5-chlorouridine, first reported in the 1950s as anti-tumor agent, is known as an effective mutagen, clastogen and toxicant as well as an effective inducer of sister-chromatid exchange. Recently, the first microorganism with a chemically different genome was reported; the selected Escherichia coli strain relies on the four building blocks 5-chloro-2'-deoxyuridine (ClU), A, C and G instead of the standard T, A, C, G alphabet [Marlière,P., Patrouix,J., Döring,V., Herdewijn,P., Tricot,S., Cruveiller,S., Bouzon,M. and Mutzel,R. (2011) Chemical evolution of a bacterium's genome. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 50, 7109-7114]. The residual fraction of T in the DNA of adapted bacteria was <2% and the switch from T to ClU was accompanied by a massive number of mutations, including >1500 A to G or G to A transitions in a culture. The former is most likely due to wobble base pairing between ClU and G, which may be more common for ClU than T. To identify potential changes in the geometries of base pairs and duplexes as a result of replacement of T by ClU, we determined four crystal structures of a B-form DNA dodecamer duplex containing ClU:A or ClU:G base pairs. The structures reveal nearly identical geometries of these pairs compared with T:A or T:G, respectively, and no consequences for stability and cleavage by an endonuclease (EcoRI). The lack of significant changes in the geometry of ClU:A and ClU:G base pairs relative to the corresponding native pairs is consistent with the sustained unlimited self-reproduction of E. coli strains with virtually complete T→ClU genome substitution.

Dependence of cell survival on iododeoxyuridine concentration in 35-keV photon-activated Auger electron radiotherapy

PURPOSE

To measure and compare Chinese hamster ovary cell survival curves using monochromatic 35-keV photons and 4-MV x-rays as a function of concentration of the radiosensitizer iododeoxyuridine (IUdR).

METHODS AND MATERIALS

IUdR was incorporated into Chinese hamster ovary cell DNA at 16.6 ± 1.9%, 12.0 ± 1.4%, and 9.2 ± 1.3% thymidine replacement. Cells were irradiated from 1 to 8 Gy with 35-keV synchrotron-generated photons and conventional radiotherapy 4-MV x-rays. The effects of the radiation were measured via clonogenic survival assays. Surviving fraction was plotted vs. dose and fit to a linear quadratic model. Sensitization enhancement ratios (SER(10)) were calculated as the ratio of doses required to achieve 10% surviving fraction for cells without and with DNA-incorporated IUdR.

RESULTS

At 4 MV, SER(10) values were 2.6 ± 0.1, 2.2 ± 0.1, and 1.5 ± 0.1 for 16.6%, 12.0%, and 9.2% thymidine replacement, respectively. At 35 keV, SER(10) values were 4.1 ± 0.2, 3.0 ± 0.1, and 2.0 ± 0.1, respectively, which yielded SER(10) ratios (35 keV:4 MV) of 1.6 ± 0.1, 1.4 ± 0.1, and 1.3 ± 0.1, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

SER(10) increases monotonically with percent thymidine replacement by IUdR for both modalities. As compared to 4-MV x-rays, 35-keV photons produce enhanced SER(10) values whose ratios are linear with percent thymidine replacement and assumed to be due to Auger electrons contributing to enhanced dose to DNA. Although this Auger effectiveness factor is less than the radiosensitization factor of IUdR, both could be important for the clinical efficacy of IUdR radiotherapy.

Integration of Principles of Systems Biology and Radiation Biology: Toward Development of in silico Models to Optimize IUdR-Mediated Radiosensitization of DNA Mismatch Repair Deficient (Damage Tolerant) Human Cancers

Over the last 7 years, we have focused our experimental and computational research efforts on improving our understanding of the biochemical, molecular, and cellular processing of iododeoxyuridine (IUdR) and ionizing radiation (IR) induced DNA base damage by DNA mismatch repair (MMR). These coordinated research efforts, sponsored by the National Cancer Institute Integrative Cancer Biology Program (ICBP), brought together system scientists with expertise in engineering, mathematics, and complex systems theory and translational cancer researchers with expertise in radiation biology. Our overall goal was to begin to develop computational models of IUdR- and/or IR-induced base damage processing by MMR that may provide new clinical strategies to optimize IUdR-mediated radiosensitization in MMR deficient (MMR⁻) “damage tolerant” human cancers. Using multiple scales of experimental testing, ranging from purified protein systems to in vitro (cellular) and to in vivo (human tumor xenografts in athymic mice) models, we have begun to integrate and interpolate these experimental data with hybrid stochastic biochemical models of MMR damage processing and probabilistic cell cycle regulation models through a systems biology approach. In this article, we highlight the results and current status of our integration of radiation biology approaches and computational modeling to enhance IUdR-mediated radiosensitization in MMR⁻ damage tolerant cancers.