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The Biochemical Journal Sep 1992DT-diaphorase [NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase; EC 1.6.99.2] catalysed the two-electron reduction of the anti-tumour quinone...
Thiol oxidation coupled to DT-diaphorase-catalysed reduction of diaziquone. Reductive and oxidative pathways of diaziquone semiquinone modulated by glutathione and superoxide dismutase.
DT-diaphorase [NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase; EC 1.6.99.2] catalysed the two-electron reduction of the anti-tumour quinone 2,5-bis-(1-aziridinyl)-3,6-bis(ethoxycarbonylamino)-1,4-benzoquino ne (AZQ) to the hydroquinone form (AZQH2). Although DT-diaphorase catalysis of AZQ was not significantly affected by pH, the hydroquinone product was effectively stabilized by protonation at pH values below 7, whereas, above that pH, hyroquinone autoxidation, evaluated in terms of H2O2 production, increased exponentially. The autoxidation of AZQH2 entailed the formation of diverse radicals, such as O2-.,HO., and the semiquinone form of AZQ (AZQ-.), which contributed to different extents to the e.p.r. spectrum. Superoxide dismutase enhanced the autoxidation of AZQH2 and suppressed the e.p.r. signal ascribed to AZQ-., in agreement with a displacement of the equilibrium of the semiquinone autoxidation reaction (AZQ-.+O2 in equilibrium with AZQ+O2-.) upon enzymic withdrawal of O2-.. GSH increased the steady-state concentration of AZQH2 formed during DT-diaphorase catalysis and inhibited temporarily its autoxidation. This effect was accompanied by oxidation of the thiol to the disulphide within a process involving glutathionyl radical (GS.) formation, the relative contribution of which to the e.p.r. spectrum was enhanced by increasing GSH concentrations. GS. formation in this experimental model can be rationalized as originating from the reaction of GSH with AZQ-., rather than with O2-. or HO., for thiol oxidation was not affected significantly by superoxide dismutase, and GS. formation was insensitive to catalase. In addition, GSH suppressed the e.p.r. signal attributed to AZQ-.. No glutathionyl-quinone conjugate was detected during the DT-diaphorase-catalysed reduction of AZQ; although the chemical requirements for alkylation were partly fulfilled (quinone ring aromatization and acid-assisted aziridinyl ring opening), the negligible dissociation of GSH (GS(-)+H+ in equilibrium with GSH) at low pH prevented any nucleophilic addition to occur. Therefore the redox transitions of AZQ during DT-diaphorase catalysis seemed to be centred on the semiquinone species, the fate of which was inversely affected by catalytic amounts of superoxide dismutase and large amounts of GSH: the former enhanced AZQ-. autoxidation and the latter favoured AZQ-. reduction. Accordingly, superoxide dismutase and GSH suppressed the semiquinone e.p.r. signal. These results are discussed in terms of three interdependent redox transitions (comprising one-electron transfer reactions involving the quinone, oxygen and the thiol) and the thermodynamic and kinetic properties of the reactions involved.
Topics: Aziridines; Benzoquinones; Catalysis; Free Radicals; Glutathione; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Kinetics; NAD(P)H Dehydrogenase (Quinone); Oxidation-Reduction; Spectrum Analysis; Sulfhydryl Compounds; Superoxide Dismutase; Thermodynamics
PubMed: 1530580
DOI: 10.1042/bj2860481 -
British Journal of Cancer Dec 1991Surgical specimens from 15 medulloblastoma patients were used to establish early passage cultures. In vitro sensitivity to a battery of cytotoxic agents, including some...
Surgical specimens from 15 medulloblastoma patients were used to establish early passage cultures. In vitro sensitivity to a battery of cytotoxic agents, including some in current medulloblastoma treatment protocols, was measured. Drug sensitivity was assessed at clinically relevant drug concentrations using the 3H-thymidine uptake method. Tumours were predicted to be sensitive if greater than 37% were killed by exposure to drugs at clinically achievable levels. A poor response to vincristine (Vcr), cis-platin (CDDP), hydroxyurea (HU) or diaziquone (AZQ) (no responders), and cytosine arabinoside (AraC) (1/12), was seen. Nine of ten tumours tested were sensitive to mafosfamide (Mfs); seven out of 12 were sensitive to carmustine (BCNU), 12 of 13 to teniposide (VM-26) and seven of 13 to etoposide (VP16-213). VM-26 was the best of the agents tested with most tumours responding to very low concentrations of drug, suggesting that the role of epipodophyllotoxins in treatment of brain tumours be further investigated. Despite the marked sensitivity of the medulloblastomas to the epipodophyllotoxins, three early passage cultures were much more resistant to these drugs than the average for the group. The basis of this resistance was investigated. Deficient cellular uptake of drug was excluded as a cause of resistance. One resistant early passage culture displayed low cellular activity of topoisomerase II and decreased levels of drug induced enzyme-DNA strand break activity. This was not the case for the other resistant early passage cultures: the basis of resistance in these cells does not appear to be due to any previously reported mechanism.
Topics: Alkylating Agents; Amsacrine; Cell Division; Cell Survival; Cross-Linking Reagents; Cytarabine; DNA Damage; DNA Topoisomerases, Type II; Drug Resistance; Etoposide; Humans; Hydroxyurea; In Vitro Techniques; Karyotyping; Medulloblastoma; Teniposide; Tumor Cells, Cultured; Vincristine
PubMed: 1662532
DOI: 10.1038/bjc.1991.464 -
Blood Jun 1987The promising antineoplastic agent diaziquone is associated with prolonged aplasia and rare instances of bone marrow necrosis, but only mild extramedullary toxicity. To...
UNLABELLED
The promising antineoplastic agent diaziquone is associated with prolonged aplasia and rare instances of bone marrow necrosis, but only mild extramedullary toxicity. To explore the drug's potential as a myeloablative agent prior to bone marrow transplantation, we compared its effects on hematopoietic versus marrow stromal cells. After short-term (one to six hours) or prolonged (three to seven days) exposure to the drug, marrow was assayed for hematopoietic (CFU-Mix, BFU-E, CFU-GM) and stromal (CFU-F) colony-forming cells and studied in long-term marrow culture (LTMC). One- and three-hour treatments produced little cytotoxicity, even at 5000 ng/mL. After six-hour treatments with this dose, marrow was depleted of CFU-Mix, BFU-E, and CFU-GM, but produced CFU-GM in LTMCs, indicating an ongoing input of CFU-GM from a surviving pre-CFU-Mix population. In contrast, elimination of the latter may be inferred from the absence of CFU-GM in LTMCs exposed for three to seven days to diaziquone at only 150 ng/mL. Under these conditions, CFU-F recovery was 40% and adherent stromal layers in LTMCs were similar to untreated controls regarding rate of development and cellular composition. Our in vitro pre-CFU-Mix-ablative regimen correlates with clinical data that show prolonged but reversible myelosuppression at steady-state diaziquone plasma levels of 101 +/- 10 ng/mL (mean +/- standard error of mean) during 7-day constant infusions.
IN CONCLUSION
hematopoietic cells are more sensitive than marrow stromal cells to the dose- and highly time-dependent cytotoxicity of diaziquone, a direct drug-induced noxious effect on the marrow microenvironment is an unlikely cause of the isolated episodes of marrow necrosis after the use of diaziquone in vivo, and prolonged infusion of diaziquone represents an attractive means for achieving myeloablation in selected clinical situations.
Topics: Aziridines; Azirines; Benzoquinones; Bone Marrow Cells; Bone Marrow Transplantation; Cells, Cultured; Humans; Stem Cells; Time Factors
PubMed: 3555652
DOI: No ID Found -
British Journal of Cancer Mar 1987
Topics: Antibiotics, Antineoplastic; Antineoplastic Agents; Aziridines; Benzoquinones; Biotransformation; DNA Damage; Free Radicals; Mitomycin; Mitomycins; Mitoxantrone; Naphthacenes; Quinones
PubMed: 3105571
DOI: 10.1038/bjc.1987.64 -
Proceedings of the National Academy of... Jun 1986The cytotoxicity of the clinically important antineoplastic quinones doxorubicin, mitomycin C, and diaziridinylbenzoquinone for the Ehrlich ascites carcinoma was...
The cytotoxicity of the clinically important antineoplastic quinones doxorubicin, mitomycin C, and diaziridinylbenzoquinone for the Ehrlich ascites carcinoma was significantly reduced or abolished by the antioxidant enzymes catalase and superoxide dismutase, the hydroxyl radical scavengers dimethyl sulfoxide, diethylurea, and thiourea, and the iron chelators deferoxamine, 2,2-bipyridine, and diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid. However, tumor cell killing by 5-iminodaunorubicin, a doxorubicin analog with a modified quinone function that prohibits oxidation-reduction cycling, was not ameliorated by any of the free radical scavengers tested. Furthermore, treatment of intact tumor cells with doxorubicin, mitomycin C, and diaziridinylbenzoquinone but not 5-iminodaunorubicin generated the hydroxyl radical, or a related chemical oxidant, in vitro in a process that required hydrogen peroxide, iron, and intact tumor cells. These results suggest that drug-induced hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl radical production may play a role in the antineoplastic action of redox active anticancer quinones.
Topics: Animals; Aziridines; Benzoquinones; Carcinoma, Ehrlich Tumor; Catalase; Cell Survival; Cells, Cultured; Doxorubicin; Free Radicals; Hydrogen Peroxide; Hydroxides; Mice; Mitomycin; Mitomycins; Quinones; Superoxide Dismutase
PubMed: 3086887
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.83.12.4514 -
Blood Jan 1986Diaziquone given as a bolus has not been effective in patients with relapsed or refractory leukemia. Because of in vitro data suggesting enhancement of...
Diaziquone given as a bolus has not been effective in patients with relapsed or refractory leukemia. Because of in vitro data suggesting enhancement of diaziquone-induced cytotoxicity for human and murine leukemia cells with increased duration of drug exposure and the relatively short terminal plasma half-life of diaziquone, 49 patients (34 acute nonlymphocytic leukemia [ANLL], six chronic myelogenous leukemia in blast crisis [CML-B], five acute lymphocytic leukemia [ALL], four 2 degrees ANLL) with leukemia were given diaziquone as a continuous infusion for seven days. The maximum tolerated dose was 28 mg/m2/d for seven days. The dose-limiting toxicity was the duration of bone marrow aplasia (median, 49 days to greater than 500 PMNs in responders; range, 28 to 101 days). Nonhematologic toxicity was minimal. Responses occurred only in patients with relapsed ANLL, of whom 26 were treated at effective doses. There were six complete responses (CR) (23%) and two partial responses (PR) (8%), although five of eight responders never achieved platelet counts greater than 100,000/microL. Thrombocytopenia in these patients was felt to be a manifestation of diaziquone effect, not persistence of leukemia. The median duration of CR was 195 days (range, 88 to 860+). One patient had active CNS leukemia at the start of treatment and has had a durable (28+ month) CR in both sites of disease. Diaziquone produced prolonged aplasia in patients with secondary ANLL and CML-B (five of ten patients died aplastic), whereas patients with ALL all had regrowth of leukemia and two failed to become aplastic. The lack of significant nonhematologic toxicity and the activity in patients with relapsed ANLL render diaziquone of interest as second-line therapy or consolidation therapy in first remission for patients with ANLL.
Topics: Acute Disease; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Antineoplastic Agents; Aziridines; Azirines; Benzoquinones; Female; Humans; Kinetics; Leukemia; Male; Middle Aged; Platelet Count; Recurrence
PubMed: 3940546
DOI: No ID Found -
Cancer Treatment Reports Apr 1985
Clinical Trial Randomized Controlled Trial
Topics: Aclarubicin; Adult; Aged; Aziridines; Azirines; Benzoquinones; Brain Neoplasms; Carcinoma, Bronchogenic; Drug Evaluation; Female; Humans; Infusions, Parenteral; Lung Neoplasms; Male; Middle Aged; Naphthacenes; Random Allocation
PubMed: 3857972
DOI: No ID Found