Towards selective pharmacological modulation of protein kinase C--opportunities for the development of novel antineoplastic agents.
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Animals↗
Biomedical subjects
A Gescher
Publications and source records attributed to A Gescher.
Acetoxime is metabolized by human and rodent hepatic cytochrome P450 enzymes to the genotoxicant and carcinogen propane 2-nitronate.
The hepatocarcinogenicity of acetoxime has been tentatively linked with its metabolic oxidation to the potent genotoxicant and carcinogen propane 2-nitronate (P2-N). In order to test the hypothesis that acetoxime is metabolized to P2-N, the oxime (20 mM) was incubated with liver microsomes from mice, rats and two humans. Ion-pair HPLC analysis of the incubates afforded a peak that co-eluted with P2-N. P2-N exists in tautomeric equilibrium with 2-nitropropane (2-NP). Samples of the microsomal incubates, which had been adjusted to pH 5.5 and kept for 24 h in order to allow maximal tautomeric equilibration of P2-N to 2-NP to occur, were extracted with hexane. GLC analysis of the extracts yielded a peak that co-eluted with 2-NP, and gave a mass spectrum identical to that of authentic 2-NP. The metabolite peak obtained on HPLC was isolated and its hexane extract contained also 2-NP when investigated by GLC. P2-N was found by HPLC in the urine of rats that had received acetoxime (3.36 mmol/kg i.p.). Hexane extracts of urine samples, which had been adjusted to pH 5.5 and left for 24 h, contained 2-NP as demonstrated by GLC analysis. The results are consistent with the suggestion that the toxicity of acetoxime is associated with its biotransformation to P2-N.
Animals↗
Metabolic oxidation and toxification of N-methylformamide catalyzed by the cytochrome P450 isoenzyme CYP2E1.
Alkylformamides, for example N-methylformamide, are hepatotoxic in rodents and humans. The mechanism by which N-methylformamide exerts its hepatotoxicity involves metabolic oxidation at the formyl moiety to yield a short-lived intermediate, perhaps methyl isocyanate, which reacts with glutathione to afford S-(N-methylcarbamoyl)glutathione. The hypothesis that the cytochrome P450 isozyme CYP2E1 catalyzes the metabolic toxification of N-methylformamide was tested. Hepatocytes obtained from mice that had received acetone, an inducer of CYP2E1, were incubated for up to 4 hr with N-methylformamide (5 and 10 mM). Whereas N-methylformamide caused cytotoxicity in these cells, as measured by release from the cells of lactate dehydrogenase, it was barely toxic, under these conditions, to cells from untreated mice. Coincubation of N-methylformamide with dimethylsulfoxide (10 mM), a CYP2E1 inhibitor, for 4 or 6 hr abolished the hepatocytotoxicity of N-methylformamide. Metabolism of N-methylformamide to S-(N-methylcarbamoyl) glutathione was measured in incubates with liver microsomes from rats, mice, or humans in the presence of glutathione. Pretreatment of rodents with acetone or ethanol induced the rate of metabolism of N-methylformamide and of p-nitrophenol, a known CYP2E1 substrate, but it did not increase aminopyrine N-demethylation. Metabolism of N-methylformamide and p-nitrophenol was elevated in microsomes from animals that had received acetone (1%) in their drinking water for 1 week to 230% and 200%, respectively, of control values in mouse microsomes and to 310% and 240%, respectively, of control values in rat microsomes. Pretreatment of animals with 4-methylpyrazole (200 mg/kg intraperitoneally, once daily for 3 days) increased metabolism of N-methylformamide to 410% of control values in rat liver microsomes but was without effect on murine microsomal metabolism of N-methylformamide. The metabolism of this compound was strongly inhibited by the CYP2E1 substrates or inhibitors dimethylsulfoxide (1-100 mM), p-nitrophenol (100 microM), and diethyldithiocarbamate (100 microM), which did not affect aminopyrine N-demethylation. A polyclonal antibody against rat CYP2E1 (10 mg of IgG/nmol of cytochrome P450) inhibited N-methylformamide metabolism in liver microsomes from rats and from a human by 75% and 80%, respectively. The rate of metabolism of N-methylformamide to S-(N-methylcarbamoyl) glutathione was determined in liver microsomes from six humans and correlated with extent of metabolic hydroxylation of chlorzoxazone, a CYP2E1 probe, and with amount of immunodetectable enzyme using an anti-rat CYP2E1 antibody (r = 0.81 and 0.80, respectively). The results suggest that CYP2E1 is the predominant, if not sole, cytochrome P450 isozyme responsible for the metabolic toxification of hepatotoxic N-alkylformamides.
Acetone↗
The effect of fetal calf serum on growth arrest caused by activators of protein kinase C.
The growth of human-derived A549 lung carcinoma cells is inhibited by activators of protein kinase C (PKC) such as 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol- 13-acetate (TPA). In this study, the effect of serum deprivation on TPA-induced growth retardation has been investigated. Cells cultured with 10% FCS and TPA (10(-8) M) stopped growing for 6 days, whereas inhibition of DNA synthesis caused by TPA in cells which were grown in medium containing the serum substitute ultraser lasted for less than 48 hr. The ability of cells to respond to the growth-inhibitory potential of TPA decreased with decreasing amounts of FCS in the cellular medium. Addition of fetuin or epidermal growth factor (EGF) to incubates with serum-deprived cells increased the ability of TPA to affect growth, but addition of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) or retinoic acid (RA) was without effect. Growth arrest caused by bryostatin I, another PKC activator, was equally transitory in serum-supplemented and serum-deprived cells. Cytosol of serum-deprived cells contained only 32% of specific phorbol ester binding sites compared to cells grown with FCS; PKC enzyme activity and immunodectable protein were similarly reduced in cells grown without FCS. There was no difference in rate of TPA-induced down-regulation of PKC activity and cytosolic phorbol ester receptor sites between cells grown with or without serum.
Animals↗
New findings in the metabolism of N,N-dimethylformamide--consequences for evaluation of occupational risk.
Using a novel gas chromatographic method, specific mercapturic acids produced in the biotransformation of several formamide analogues have been quantified. Thus, N-acetyl-S-(N-methylcarbamoyl)cysteine, derived from an important industrial solvent N,N-dimethylformamide, was found to be a minor metabolite in rodents but an important one in humans. Because manifestations of hepatotoxicity of formamide analogues were always linked with the production of mercapturic acids, the risk from exposure to DMF in humans appears to be higher than that estimated from toxicological experiments on laboratory animals.
Air Pollutants, Occupational↗
Comparison of the cytotoxicity in vitro of temozolomide and dacarbazine, prodrugs of 3-methyl-(triazen-1-yl)imidazole-4-carboxamide.
The present study tested the hypothesis that the experimental antineoplastic imidazotetrazinone temozolomide degrades in the biophase to 3-methyl-(triazen-1-yl)imidazole-4-carboxamide (MTIC) and exerts its cytotoxicity via this species. MTIC is a metabolite of the antimelanoma agent dacarbazine and is thought to be responsible for the antineoplastic activity of the latter. Cytotoxicity in vitro was investigated in TLX5 murine lymphoma cells. MTIC and temozolomide were cytotoxic in the absence of mouse-liver microsomes, whereas dacarbazine required metabolic activation. The generation of MTIC from either dacarbazine, its primary metabolite 5-[3-(hydroxymethyl)-3-methyl-triazen-1-yl]-imidazole-4-carboxamid e (HMMTIC) or temozolomide was studied by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography in incubation mixtures under the conditions of the cytotoxicity assay. MTIC was found in incubations of temozolomide with or without microsomes. Dacarbazine yielded MTIC (and HMMTIC) only when microsomes were included in the incubation mixture. Although the mode of action of temozolomide seems to be similar to that of dacarbazine, the results obtained in this study show that these agents differ markedly in their ability to generate the active species MTIC.
Animals↗
Investigation of the chemical basis of nitroalkane toxicity: tautomerism and decomposition of propane 1- and 2-nitronate under physiological conditions.
Unlike primary nitroalkanes, such as 1-nitropropane, the secondary nitroalkane 2-nitropropane is geno- and hepatotoxic. Nitroalkanes exist in equilibrium with alkane nitronates. In order to investigate the relationship between nitroalkane toxicity and generation and stability of nitronates, propane 1- or 2-nitronate (4-6 mM) were incubated in buffer (pH 3.8 -7.4) in the absence or presence of cysteine. Equilibrium formation and degradation were studied by 1H-NMR spectroscopy and ion pair HPLC chromatography. Propane 1-nitronate generated 1-nitropropane rapidly and almost quantitatively. In the case of propane 2-nitronate equilibrium at pH 7.4 was reached within 8 h, when 48% of initial nitronate had tautomerised to 2-nitropropane. The pKa of the reaction 2-nitropropane less than--greater than propane 2-nitronate measured by HPLC was 7.63. Equilibrium formation, hydrolysis and reduction of nitronates were pH-dependent and, in the case of propane 2-nitronate, yielded mainly acetone, nitrite and acetone oxime, apart from 2-nitropropane. Hydrolysis of propane 2-nitronate (4 mM) to nitrite was modulated by cysteine (4 mM) and p-methoxyphenol (0.4 mM). At pH 7.4 they increased nitrite generation by 300 and 28%, respectively, at pH 4.8 they decreased nitrite formation by 91 and 82%, respectively, probably by scavenging radical intermediates. Differences between nitroalkanes in terms of content of nitronate tautomer at equilibrium are probably an important chemical determinant of their toxic potential.
Animals↗
Oxidative denitrification of 2-nitropropane and propane-2-nitronate by mouse liver microsomes: lack of correlation with hepatocytotoxic potential.
2-Nitropropane (2-NP) is an industrial chemical with hepatotoxic and genotoxic properties. It exists in chemical equilibrium with propane-2-nitronate, which is much more genotoxic than 2-NP. In this work the link between toxicity and metabolism of 2-NP and its nitronate was investigated. To that end 2-NP or propane-2-nitronate were incubated with murine hepatic microsomes at concentrations of up to 10 mM, and generation of nitrite was measured as product of metabolic oxidation of the two species. Under the acidic reaction conditions of the colorimetric nitrite assay propane-2-nitronate decomposed chemically to nitrite. Therefore an ion-pair HPLC assay at neutral pH was developed which enabled determination of nitrite formed from the nitronate. The rate of metabolic nitrite generation from propane-2-nitronate was 5-10-fold that obtained with 2-NP. Metabolism of either species to nitrite was dependent on the presence in the incubate of viable microsomes and of NADPH, and it was inhibited in the presence of carbon monoxide or the cytochrome P-450 inhibitor SKF525A. Acetone could also be measured as a metabolite of 2-NP. Optical difference spectra were recorded in mixtures of propane-2-nitronate with liver microsomes from phenobarbital-pretreated rats. The spectral dissociation constant was found to be 30 mM, which compares with 10 mM reported for 2-NP. 2-NP and propane 2-nitronate were incubated with mouse hepatocytes in suspension and cytotoxicity was determined by measurement of leakage of cellular lactate dehydrogenase into the medium. Both species were hardly toxic, as concentrations of 20 mM were required to elicit significant damage to the cells. The results demonstrate that propane-2-nitronate, like 2-NP, undergoes microsomal oxidative denitrification, probably catalysed by cytochrome P-450. Metabolism of both species occurs at markedly different rates, but the difference in metabolism is not reflected by a difference in hepatocytotoxic potential.
Animals↗
Mechanism of toxicity of the antimelanoma drug 4-hydroxyanisole in mouse hepatocytes.
To elucidate the mechanism of the hepatotoxicity of 4-hydroxyanisole (4-HA), its effect on the viability of mouse hepatocytes in suspension was investigated. Cell viability was assessed by measurement of release of lactate dehydrogenase into the medium. 4-HA was cytotoxic in a concentration-dependent and time-dependent fashion with an IC50 of 0.26 mmol/l after 4 h incubation. Almost all cells were killed after exposure to 4-HA for 4 h at 0.5 mmol/l or for 2 h at 1.0 mmol/l. At 5 and 10 mmol/l, 4-HA caused less cytotoxicity and 1 mmol/l or below. On coincubation with the P450 inhibitor octylamine, 4-HA cytotoxcity was reduced, which suggests the involvement of cytochrome P450 in the hepatocytotoxicity of this drug. Induction of P450 isoenzymes IA, IIB and IIE1 by pretreatment of mice with phenobarbitone, 3-methylcholanthrene or acetone had no significant effect on the toxicity of 4-HA towards hepatocytes. Depletion of hepatic glutathione by pretreatment of mice with buthionine sulphoximine (1.6 g/kg, intraperitoneally) 4 h before cell isolation led to an increase in 4-HA cytotoxicity. Incubation with N-acetylcysteine (10 mmol/l) abolished the cytotoxicity of 4-HA (1 mmol/l). Both these results are consistent with the intermediacy of a reactive metabolite of 4-HA. Production of hydroquinone by oxidative demethylation of 4-HA as toxication mechanism can be excluded as formation of formaldehyde was not observed on incubation of 4-HA with mouse liver microsomes. 3,4-diacetoxyanisole, a prodrug of the known 4-HA metabolite 3,4-dihydroxyanisole, was not more cytotoxic towards hepatocytes than 4-HA.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Acetaminophen↗
Medicinal azides. Part 8. The in vitro metabolism of p-substituted phenyl azides.
1. A series of p-substituted aromatic azides was synthesized and their metabolism investigated in suspensions of mouse liver microsomes and mouse hepatocytes. Metabolite analysis was performed by h.p.l.c. 2. On incubation with microsomes under anaerobic conditions p-nitro, p-cyano- and p-chlorophenyl azide afforded metabolites which co-chromatographed with the respective aromatic amines. The rate at which p-nitrophenyl azide was metabolically reduced was approximately 20-fold that observed for p-cyano- and p-chlorophenyl azide. 3. Phenyl azide, p-methoxyphenyl azide and the aliphatic congener, phenethyl azide, did not furnish detectable amounts of metabolites on incubation with microsomes under anaerobic conditions. When phenyl azide and p-methoxyphenyl azide were incubated with hepatocytes or microsomes under aerobic conditions the resulting chromatograms furnished peaks which co-eluted with authentic p-hydroxyphenyl azide. 4. The microsomal reduction of p-nitrophenyl azide was dependent upon the presence of viable microsomes and NADPH, and on the absence of oxygen above the incubation medium.
Aerobiosis↗
Characterisation of urinary metabolites of temozolomide in humans and mice and evaluation of their cytotoxicity.
The experimental antineoplastic agent temozolomide was not metabolised in vitro at a measurable rate by mouse liver fractions. In contrast, the temozolomide analogue 3-methylbenzotriazinone was metabolically N-demethylated by hepatic microsomes to yield benzotriazinone. The major route of excretion of [14C]-labelled temozolomide in mice was via the kidneys. An acidic metabolite of temozolomide, probably a conjugate, was found in the urine of mice, but its identity could not be established unambiguously. Spectroscopic analysis and chemical tests revealed that it possesses an intact NNN-linkage. Another metabolite was found in the urine of patients but not of mice. This metabolite was identified as the 8-carboxylic acid derivative of temozolomide. Unlike the unknown species, this metabolite was cytotoxic against TLX5 lymphoma cells in vitro.
Animals↗
Metabolism and murine pharmacokinetics of the 8-(N,N-dimethylcarboxamide) analogue of the experimental antitumor drug mitozolomide (NSC353451).
The in vitro cytotoxicity, stability, and metabolism of the 8-(N,N-dimethylcarboxamide) and 8-(N-methylcarboxamide) analogues of the experimental antitumor drug mitozolomide have been investigated in conjunction with their in vivo murine pharmacokinetics and metabolism. When tested against the TLX5 lymphoma in vitro the ID50 values for dimethylmitozolomide, methylmitozolomide, and mitozolomide were 14.6, 3.0, and 2.3 microM, respectively. The cytotoxicity of dimethylmitozolomide was dramatically increased when it was incubated with murine hepatic microsomes. There was no significant difference in the in vitro stabilities of dimethylmitozolomide and methylmitozolamide with half-lives of 43.5 and 45.8 min, respectively, in RPMI at 37 degrees C. The in vitro microsomal incubation of dimethylmitozolomide produced significant amounts of methylmitozolomide, which suggests that methylmitozolomide contributed to the cytotoxicity of dimethylmitozolomide in the presence of microsomes. The pharmacokinetics of both dimethylmitozolomide and methylmitozolomide, given i.p. at 10 mg/kg, were investigated in CBA/Ca mice bearing the s.c. solid TLX5 lymphoma. Methylmitozolomide was absorbed rapidly with maximum plasma and tumor concentrations of 10.66 mg/liter and 8.01 mg/kg, respectively, achieved 0.17 h following dosing. Dimethylmitozolomide was also rapidly absorbed with maximum plasma and tumor concentrations of 9.34 mg/liter and 5.00 mg/kg, respectively, achieved within 0.18 h of dosing. Following administration of dimethylmitozolomide, methylmitozolomide was found in both plasma and tumor tissue. The plasma and tumor area under the curves of methylmitozolomide were 87.7% and 120.8%, respectively, of those seen when mice were dosed with authentic methylmitozolomide. By comparison of the area under the curves and clearance values, it was demonstrated that 89% of the administered dimethylmitozolomide was metabolized via methylmitozolomide.
Animals↗
Sterically hindered analogues of diacylglycerols. Synthesis, binding to the phorbol ester receptor and metabolism in A549 human lung carcinoma cells.
The 5 following compounds were synthesized in order to investigate the relationship between structure and ability of glyceride-type molecules to bind to the phorbol ester receptor: one dioctanoyl cyclohexane-1,2,4-triol, 2 isomeric methyl analogues of 1,2-dioctanoyl-sn-glycerol (diC8), one dimethyl and one cyclohexyl analogue of diC8. Their ability to compete with 3H-labelled phorbol-12,13-dibutyrate [( 3H]PDBu) for specific binding sites in intact A549 human-derived lung carcinoma cells and in a cytosolic cell extract was compared with that of diC8 and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA). The affinity of diC8 for the phorbol ester receptor was much weaker than that of TPA. The analogues in turn were less able than diC8 to compete with [3H]PDBu for receptor sites. Like diC8 and unlike TPA, the synthesized compounds inhibited cell growth only at those concentrations at which cytotoxicity was also apparent. DiC8 and its methyl and dimethyl derivates, but not the cyclohexyl derivative or the cyclohexanetriol diester, were metabolically removed from cellular incubates as measured by gas liquid chromatography. The results suggest that the binding of glyceride-type molecules to the phorbol ester receptor exhibits stringent specificity and that the design of novel potent agonists of phorbol esters might require the placement of the molecular features of diacylglycerols important for biological activity into a molecular framework which is more complicated than glycerol.
Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins↗
Comparison of effects of bryostatins 1 and 2 and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate on protein kinase C activity in A549 human lung carcinoma cells.
Activators of protein kinase C (PKC), such as 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) and bryostatins 1 and 2, inhibit the growth of A549 cells. At high concentrations the bryostatins do not affect cell growth. Here the hypothesis has been tested that modulation of A549 cell growth is the consequence of agent-induced changes in location or extent of cellular PKC activity. PKC activity was measured after semi-purification with nondenaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in the cytosol and the particulate fraction of A549 cells. When cells were exposed to TPA or mezerein, PKC activity underwent rapid and concentration-dependent translocation from the cytosol to the membrane. TPA at 0.1 microM or mezerein at 1 microM caused almost complete translocation within 30 min. Incubation with bryostatins 1 or 2 also led to enzyme translocation, which was, however, much weaker than that observed with the tumor promoters. Neither 4 alpha-phorboldidecanoate nor the synthetic diacylglycerols 1,2-sn-dioctanoylglycerol or 1-oleoyl-2-acetyl-sn-glycerol mimicked TPA in this way. Exposure of cells to TPA or the bryostatins for longer than 30 min caused the gradual disappearance of total cellular PKC activity. PKC downregulation was concentration dependent and complete after 24 h. A549 cells which had acquired temporary resistance toward the growth-arresting potential of TPA were completely devoid of any measurable PKC activity. The bryostatins were potent inhibitors of the binding of [3H]phorbol-12,13-dibutyrate to its receptors in intact cells, and the inhibition was dependent on bryostatin concentration. The results support the contention that PKC is involved in the mediation of growth inhibition caused by TPA or the bryostatins. However, the relationship between growth arrest and PKC translocation or downregulation seems to be a complex one.
Antineoplastic Agents↗
Effects of activators of protein kinase C, including bryostatins 1 and 2, on the growth of A549 human lung carcinoma cells.
Phorbol esters such as 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) inhibit the growth of A549 human lung carcinoma cells at non-toxic concentrations, whereas 1-oleoyl-2-acetylglycerol and 1,2-dioctanoylglycerol, synthetic analogues of the physiological ligands of protein kinase C (PKC), do not. Experiments were conducted to test the hypothesis that other activators of PKC are capable of interfering with A549 cell growth. The non-phorboid tumour promotor mezerein mimicked the growth-inhibitory effect of TPA in that it arrested growth for 5 days, after which cells proliferated again in the continued presence of the agent. TPA was 20 times more potent as a growth inhibitor than was mezerein. Bryostatin 1 at 10 nM and bryostatin 2 at 100 nM also arrested A549 cell growth and inhibited DNA replication as measured by incorporation of [methyl-3H]-thymidine into cells. Inhibition of DNA synthesis to between 90 and 75% of control values developed during the first hour of incubation of the cells with TPA, mezerein or the bryostatins. The extent of inhibition changed little during the subsequent 5 hr of incubation, after which it increased further to reach maximal values within 12 hr. At concentrations above those which caused maximal growth inhibition, the bryostatins abolished both their own inhibition of DNA synthesis and the anti-replicative effect of TPA and mezerein. The results show that activators of PKC other than phorbol esters are capable of inhibiting the growth of A549 cells. The bryostatins not only interfere with A549 cell growth but can also counter the growth-inhibitory effect of PKC activators, presumably via interaction with a target separate from the phorbol ester receptor site.
Animals↗
Differences between rodents and humans in the metabolic toxification of N,N-dimethylformamide.
The widely used industrial solvent N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) causes liver damage in occupationally exposed persons and is suspected of involvement in the generation of certain occupational malignancies. Here the extent of the biotransformation of DMF to three urinary metabolites has been compared in humans and rodents. The metabolites, which were quantified by gas chromatography (GC) are N-(hydroxymethyl)-N-methylformamide (HMMF), which yielded N-methylformamide on GC analysis, a species which decomposed to formamide on GC analysis, and N-acetyl-S-(N-methylcarbamoyl) cysteine (AMCC), measured after derivatization with ethanol to give ethyl N-methylcarbamate. Ten volunteers who absorbed between 28 and 60 mumol/kg DMF during an 8-hr exposure to DMF in the air at 60 mg/m3 excreted in the urine within 72 hr between 16.1 and 48.7% of the dose as HMMF, between 8.3 and 23.9% as formamide, and between 9.7 and 22.8% as AMCC. AMCC, together with HMMF, was also detected in the urine of workers after occupational exposure to DMF. The portion of the dose (0.1, 0.7, or 7.0 mmol/kg given ip) which was metabolized in mice, rats, or hamsters to HMMF varied between 8.4 and 47.3% of the dose; between 7.9 and 37.5% were excreted as formamide and only between 1.1 and 5.2%, as AMCC. The results suggest that there is a quantitative difference between the metabolic pathway of DMF to AMCC in humans and rodents. It is argued that the hepatotoxic potential of DMF may be linked to the extent of its metabolic conversion to AMCC.
Adult↗
Comparison of the hepatotoxicity in mice and the mutagenicity of three nitroalkanes.
The hepatotoxic and mutagenic potentials of 2-nitropropane, nitromethane, and nitroethane were compared. Hepatotoxicity was assessed biochemically and histopathologically in BALB/c mice. In male mice, plasma activities of the hepatic enzymes sorbitol dehydrogenase, alanine aminotransferase, and aspartate aminotransferase were significantly elevated 48, 72, and 96 hr after ip administration of 9 mmol/kg 2-nitropropane, but not at 24 hr and not after administration of smaller doses of 2-nitropropane nor after nitromethane or nitroethane (9 mmol/kg). In female mice a dose of 6.7 mmol/kg of 2-nitropropane was sufficient to cause hepatotoxicity. The histopathological evaluation supported the biochemical results, and livers of mice that had received 2-nitropropane (9 mmol/kg) showed damage, particularly in the periportal region. Mutagenicity was tested in Salmonella typhimurium tester strains TA98, TA100, and TA102. Both 2-nitropropane and its anionic form, propane-2-nitronate, were mutagenic but the nitronate was the more powerful mutagen. Nitromethane, nitroethane, nor their nitronates caused an increase in the number of revertant colonies over those seen in control plates. The results suggest that the primary nitroalkanes are much less hepatotoxic and mutagenic than 2-nitropropane.
Animals↗
Studies on bioactive compounds. 13. Synthesis and lack of growth-inhibitory properties of cyclohexane-1,2,4-triol 1,2-diesters, which resemble ring C of the phorbol ester molecule.
It has been suggested that ring C of biologically active phorbol esters is an essential structural feature of the pharmocophore which confers activity on these compounds. In this study the hypothesis has been tested that compounds which resemble ring C of the phorbol ester molecule mimic the ability of phorbol esters to inhibit cell growth at nontoxic concentrations. All four diastereoisomers of (+/-)-1,2-di-O-octanoylcyclohexane-1,2,4-triol have been prepared from cyclohexen-4-ol and tested for growth-inhibitory and cytotoxic properties. The phorbol ester 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol 13-acetate inhibited the growth of A549 human lung carcinoma cells by 50% at a concentration of 0.2 nM and exerted cytotoxicity at concentrations of greater than 1 microM. Diacylglycerols are the physiological ligands and activators of protein kinase C, the receptor via which phorbol esters are thought to mediate their effects. The diacylglycerols 1-oleoyl-2-acetylglycerol and 1,2-dioctanoylglycerol and the cyclohexanetriol diesters inhibited the growth of A549 cells only at concentrations of 10(-5) to 10(-4) M, at which they were also cytotoxic. A computer-assisted analysis of the goodness of fit between the cyclohexanetriol diesters and ring C of the phorbol moiety revealed possible energetic grounds for conformational dissimilarities. The results suggest that activation of protein kinase C alone is probably not sufficient to reproduce phorbol ester induced growth arrest in A549 cells and that the cyclohexanetriol diesters may lack pivotal elements of the phorbol ester pharmacophore.
Cell Division↗