Metabolism of puromycin aminonucleoside in the normal, "pre-nephrotic," and nephrotic rat

Synthesis, stereochemical characterization, and antimicrobial evaluation of a potentially nonnephrotoxic 3'-C-acethydrazide puromycin analog

Puromycin is a peptidyl nucleoside endowed with significant antibiotic and anticancer properties, but also with an unfortunate nephrotoxic character that has hampered its use as a chemotherapeutic agent. Since hydrolysis of puromycin's amide to puromycin aminonucleoside is the first metabolic step leading to nephrotoxicity, we designed a 3'-C-hydrazide analog where the nitrogen and carbon functionality around the amide carbonyl of puromycin are inverted. The title compound, synthesized in 11 steps from D-xylose, cannot be metabolized to the nephrotoxic aminonucleoside. Evaluation of the title compound on Staphylococcus epidermidis and multi-drug resistance Staphylococcus aureus did not show significant antimicrobial activity up to a 400 μM concentration.

Inducible rodent models of acquired podocyte diseases

Glomerular diseases remain the leading cause of chronic and end-stage kidney disease. Significant advances in our understanding of human glomerular diseases have been enabled by the development and better characterization of animal models. Diseases of the glomerular epithelial cells (podocytes) account for the majority of proteinuric diseases. Rodents have been extensively used experimentally to better define mechanisms of disease induction and progression, as well as to identify potential targets and therapies. The development of podocyte-specific genetically modified mice has energized the research field to better understand which animal models are appropriate to study acquired podocyte diseases. In this review we discuss inducible experimental models of acquired nondiabetic podocyte diseases in rodents, namely, passive Heymann nephritis, puromycin aminonucleoside nephrosis, adriamycin nephrosis, liopolysaccharide, crescentic glomerulonephritis, and protein overload nephropathy models. Details are given on the model backgrounds, how to induce each model, the interpretations of the data, and the benefits and shortcomings of each. Genetic rodent models of podocyte injury are excluded.

Cardiac remodeling and dysfunction in nephrotic syndrome

There is an increased incidence of heart disease in patients with chronic nephrotic syndrome (NS), which may be attributable to the malnutrition and activated inflammatory state accompanying the sustained proteinuria. In this study, we evaluated renal function, cardiac morphometry, contractile function, and myocardial gene expression in the established puromycin aminonucleoside nephrosis rat model of NS. Two weeks after aminonucleoside injection, there was massive proteinuria, decreased creatinine clearance, and a negative sodium balance. Skeletal and cardiac muscle atrophy was present and was accompanied by impaired left ventricular (LV) hemodynamic function along with decreased contractile properties of isolated LV muscle strips. The expression of selected cytokines and proteins involved in calcium handling in myocardial tissue was evaluated by real time polymerase chain reaction. This revealed that the expression of interleukin-1beta, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and phospholamban were elevated, whereas that of cardiac sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum calcium pump protein was decreased. We suggest that protein wasting and systemic inflammatory activation during NS contribute to cardiac remodeling and dysfunction.

Differential nephron HO-1 expression following glomerular epithelial cell injury

BACKGROUND

In proteinuria of glomerular origin there is upregulation of heme-oxygenase (HO), the rate-limiting enzyme of heme degradation, in the nephron in a segment-specific manner. To better characterize this phenomenon, we employed a model of proteinuria resulting from disruption of the glomerular capillary permeability barrier to protein by administration of the glomerular epithelial cell toxin puromycin aminonucleoside (PAN) to rats. In this model, we assessed nephron distribution of the expression of the inducible HO isoform, HO-1, and the role of free radicals in modulating HO-1 expression.

METHODS

Rats were injected with either vehicle (dimethyl sulfoxide) or PAN or the spin trap free radical stabilizer alpha-phenyl-N-tert butyl nitrone (PBN), or with both PAN and PBN. Ten days following the PAN injection, urine protein, creatinine, nitric oxide (NO) and malonyldialdehyde (MDA) were measured. Kidney sections and protein lysates were assessed for changes in HO-1 expression by immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis.

RESULTS

In control animals (DMSO or PBN alone) there was no proteinuria and very weak or absent HO-1 staining in nephron segments. PAN treatment induced proteinuria and increased urine MDA excretion. In these animals, there was a robust HO-1 expression mainly in tubules and in glomerular parietal but not visceral epithelial cells. Unilateral ureteral obstruction to interrupt glomerular filtration in animals treated with PAN abrogated tubular HO-1 expression in the kidney ipsilateral to the obstruction. Administration of PBN to PAN-treated animals reduced proteinuria and MDA excretion while it markedly augmented tubular HO-1 expression. This augmentation was prominent in tubular cells of the inner cortex/outer medulla.

CONCLUSIONS

These observations indicate that upregulation of nephron HO-1 following disruption of the glomerular permeability barrier occurs at sites downstream of this barrier and is mediated by a filtered HO-1 inducer(s). Scavenging of free radicals potentiates the effect of this inducer and unmasks nephron segments most and least capable of upregulating HO-1.

An adenosine deaminase inhibitor prevents puromycin aminonucleoside nephrotoxicity

Puromycin aminonucleoside (PAN) toxicity was totally inhibited in the rat in vivo and in cultured glomerular epithelial cells (GECs) in vitro using the adenosine deaminase (ADA) inhibitor, 2'-deoxycoformycin (DCF). DCF completely inhibited ADA activity in glomeruli and protected against the development of PAN nephrosis; the 24-h urinary protein excretion of treated rats compared with controls (PAN rats) 9 days after PAN injection was 16 +/- 2 mg and 524 +/- 55 mg, respectively (p < .01). Morphological examination also demonstrated that the glomerular epithelial cells were protected against PAN-induced damage. Furthermore, when DCF was added to the first passage of GECs simultaneously with PAN, the adenosine triphosphate contents of remnant GECs on culture substrata increased in a dose-dependent manner, and PA toxicity was completely inhibited by 10(-4) M DCF. The order of ADA activity in glomeruli from various species was as follows: rat > monkey > guinea pig > dog > rabbit > mouse. High activity of ADA in the glomerulus was limited to species in which PAN induced nephrosis. Additionally, DCF increased glomerular cyclic AMP contents, resulting from enhanced adenosine accumulation in the pericellular space. These results indicate that the pathogenesis of PAN toxicity is closely related to adenosine metabolism and that ADA plays a key role in this model. Furthermore, we speculate that DCF contributes to the inhibition of reactive oxygen metabolites by decreasing the substrate of xanthine oxidase and/or increasing pericellular adenosine accumulation.

Time course analysis of serum and urinary proteins by SDS-PAGE in experimental nephrotic syndrome

Serum and urinary proteins from rats with nephrotic syndrome (NS) induced by puromycin aminonucleoside (PAN) were analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Analysis was made on days 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20, and 30 after PAN injection. Data were compared with control rats (C). Rats developed proteinuria on days 4-30 and hypoproteinemia on days 4-16. Total protein concentration in serum and urine was similar on day 6. SDS-PAGE revealed that urinary albumin augmented on days 4-30 and serum albumin decreased markedly on days 4-20. Albumin concentration in serum and urine was similar on days 4-16. In addition, the study examined serum changes of 7 other proteins (designed as A, B, C, D, E, F, and G) which appeared or increased in urine, and whose molecular weights were higher (A, B, and C) or lower (D, E, F, and G) than that of albumin. In serum, protein A remained unchanged; protein B and G increased; proteins C, D, E, and F decreased. The qualitative pattern of urinary proteins remained essentially unchanged on days 4-30. During the intense proteinuria, the serum concentrations of protein B and albumin were similar and the urine concentrations of proteins C and D became comparable to that found in serum. These 7 serum proteins did not show the same behavior although all of them were excreted in urine. These data indicate that in PAN-nephrotic rats: (a) urinary proteins can be of low and high molecular weight, (b) serum proteins can be regulated independently of their urinary excretion and molecular weight, (c) the urine concentration of total protein and some specific proteins can reach values similar to that found in serum during the intense hypoproteinemia, and (d) the qualitative pattern of urinary proteins was unrelated to the magnitude of proteinuria.

Activity of serum enzymes in puromycin aminonucleoside-induced nephrotic syndrome

Total serum protein, serum albumin, total urine protein excretion, and the serum activity of several enzymes--aldolase (ALS), cholinesterase (CHS), leucine aminopeptidase (LAP), isocitrate dehydrogenase (ICD), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), alpha-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (HBD), creatine kinase (CK), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT)--were estimated in rats with nephrotic syndrome (NS) at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20, and 30 days after a single injection of puromycin aminonucleoside (PAN). It was found that: (a) total serum protein and serum albumin diminished on day 4 and returned to control values on days 20 and 30, respectively; (b) total urine protein excretion rose on day 4, reached a peak value on day 8, and then fell substantially but still remained higher than control values on day 30; (c) ALS and CHS activities increased; (d) LAP, ICD, and AST activities showed a biphasic pattern, first increasing and then decreasing; (e) ALT, LDH, HBD, CK, and ALP activities decreased; and (f) GGT activity remained unchanged. The differences in the profiles of the enzyme activities suggest their independent regulation in experimental NS induced by PAN.

Puromycin aminonucleoside metabolism by glomeruli and glomerular epithelial cells in vitro

Two puromycin aminonucleoside (PAN) excretion products were purified by HPLC from urine of PAN-treated rats and characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance as N6-dimethyl-3'amino-3'deoxyadenosine (DA-Ado) and N6-methyl-3'amino-3'deoxyadenosine (MA-Ado), respectively, the former corresponding to unmodified PAN. DA-Ado was not a substrate for adenosine deaminase (ADA), purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) or xanthine oxidase (XO), while MA-Ado was consecutively converted into hypoxanthine by a mixture of ADA and PNP. A different rate of transformation of DA-Ado and MA-Ado into hypoxanthine by isolated glomeruli was observed and was higher for the monomethylated analogue by a factor of 3 (79% vs. 21%); this was ascribed to the rate-limiting level of a demethylase activity acting on DA-Ado. Furthermore, DA-Ado was not transformed by glomerular epithelial cells in culture, while a little amount of MA-Ado was converted into hypoxanthine after six hours of incubation. In spite of this different metabolic behavior, the same order of cytotoxicity on glomerular epithelial cells in culture was observed for MA-Ado, DA-Ado and commercial PAN. All these molecules induced a dose response inhibition of [3H]thymidine incorporation into DNA after exposure for two hours and a marked alteration of cell viability which was not inhibited by free radical scavengers and deferoxamine. This study provides the first evidence for a glomerular metabolism of PAN and its urinary metabolite MA-Ado involving their transformation via the purine cycle enzymes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Acute tubulointerstitial nephritis associated with aminonucleoside nephrosis

The aminonucleoside of puromycin (PAN) induces nephrotic syndrome in rats. We studied the tubulointerstitial cellular (TIC) infiltrate previously unrecognized in this model. Rats received one i.p. injection of PAN (15 mg/100 g) and were sacrificed at 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 14, 20 and 28 days. Frozen kidney sections and peripheral blood cells were stained with a panel of anti-rat monoclonal antibodies and quantitated by epifluorescence microscopy. An increase in Ia+ cells (60/1000 TIC) (P less than 0.001) and OX42+ macrophages (MO) (18/1000 TIC) (P less than 0.05) were observed on day 5. On day 7 the infiltrate consisted of OX19+ T-lymphocytes (29/1000 TIC) (P less than 0.001) and OX42+ MO (68/1000 TIC) (P less than 0.001). The majority of the lymphocytes expressed the OX8 cytotoxic T cell marker (23/1000 TIC) (P less than 0.001). The severe mixed cellular lesion present on day 14 was dominated by OX42+ MO (113/1000 TIC) (P less than 0.001). With resolution of proteinuria on days 20 and 28, the infiltrate decreased, although OX42+ MO persisted on day 28 (46/1000 TIC) (P less than 0.001). The severity of the cellular lesion correlated with the degree of albuminuria (r = 0.57 to 0.81 for the antibody panel). Expression of Ia antigens by proximal tubular epithelial cells markedly decreased during peak proteinuria but normalized by day 28. Increased deposition of C3 and IgG was not detected. Reversible tubulointerstitial nephritis develops in PAN-treated rats and may be a consequence of severe proteinuria.

A role for oxygen free radicals in aminonucleoside nephrosis

The cellular processes responsible for the proteinuria induced by the aminonucleoside of puromycin (PA) remain inadequately defined. Hypoxanthine is both a metabolic breakdown product of PA as well as a substrate for xanthine oxidase, which catalyzes its enzymatic conversion to xanthine and uric acid, yielding the superoxide anion in the process. We examined whether oxygen free radical production contributes to the development of proteinuria in this model. Seven groups of male Sprague-Dawley rats were studied. Proteinuria was quantitated and histology examined 7 days after rats were treated with PA intravenously over 5 min. PA-treated animals received either saline, dimethyl sulfoxide, superoxide dismutase, or catalase over 30 min prior to and 30 min following PA administration. Another group received allopurinol over 4 hr prior to PA. The superoxide dismutase and allopurinol treatment groups had a significant suppression of urinary protein excretion compared to the PA control group. There were also less severe glomerular morphologic changes in the superoxide dismutase group vs. the PA controls, which demonstrated a pathologic pattern that included epithelial cell blebbing, segmental mesangial cell proliferation and matrix expansion, loss of glomerular capillary lumina, and occasional adhesions between the glomerular tuft and Bowman's capsule. The allopurinol group exhibited normal glomerular morphology on light microscopy, with the exception of occasional epithelial cell blebs. All groups showed spreading of the epithelial cell cytoplasm along the glomerular basement membrane with loss of foot processes, focal areas of lifting of the epithelial cell from the glomerular basement membrane, cytoplasmic vacuolization, and protein reabsorption droplets; however, allopurinol-treated animals demonstrated these changes to a lesser extent.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)