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Biomedical subjects

W C Dewey

Publications and source records attributed to W C Dewey.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

Relationship between heat sensitivity and polyamine levels after treatment with alpha-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO).

Alpha-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), an irreversible inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase, was used to study the effect of polyamine depletion on delayed heat sensitization in Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO). The cells were treated with 1 or 10 mM DFMO for 8 or 48 h and then given a single heat treatment (43 degrees C, 90 min) at intervals up to 150 h after DFMO addition. Cellular survival, DNA polymerase activity, and polyamine levels were measured. Delayed heat sensitization for cell lethality began 50-55 h (about two cell divisions) after addition of 10 or 1 mM of DFMO for 8 or 48 h, respectively; i.e., cell survival of heated control cells was about 10(-1), but decreased to 10(-4)-10(-5) in heated DFMO-treated cells by 100 h. During this same interval, delayed heat sensitization also was observed for loss of DNA polymerase beta activity (from 20% in cells heated without DFMO treatment to 7% in heated DFMO-treated cells), but none was observed for DNA polymerase alpha activity. Delayed heat sensitization disappeared at 120-130 h after DFMO addition, with survival of heated DFMO-treated cells returning to that for heated control cells. The onset of delayed heat sensitization occurred 30-40 h after intracellular levels of putrescine and spermidine were depleted by more than 95%; however, spermine levels were not lowered, and in some cases even increased. Levels of putrescine and spermidine increased 5-10 h before delayed heat sensitization disappeared. While putrescine reached 25% of control, spermidine exceeded control levels during this time. Furthermore, delayed heat sensitization could be reversed by adding 10(-3) M putrescine or 5 X 10(-5) M spermidine 85-95 h after DFMO addition; in both cases spermidine increased 5-10 h before the decrease in heat sensitization. Finally, neither delayed heat sensitization nor depletion of spermidine was observed in nondividing plateau-phase cells treated with DFMO, although putrescine was depleted. These results lead to the hypothesis that DFMO-induced heat sensitization which occurs after inhibition of the synthesis of putrescine is secondary to the depletion of spermidine in some critical compartment of the cell or to a biochemical alteration. This depletion or biochemical alteration apparently occurs as the cells divide about two times after the intracellular levels of soluble spermidine have been depleted.

Cell Division↗

Survival of heated or irradiated Chinese hamster ovary microcolonies that develop after an initial dose of heat.

Asynchronous or synchronous G1 cells were heated initially and then heated or irradiated a second time when the multiplicity of viable cells in microcolonies that developed from cells surviving the first heat dose had increased to 6-30. The survival of these microcolonies was compared with the survival of single cells that were heated or irradiated after the microcolonies had been trypsinized and dispersed into single cells. The survival of the single cells was similar to the survival of the microcolonies and much higher than single cell survival calculated by correcting microcolony survival for multiplicity. However, when microcolonies developed from control unheated cells, the observed single cell survival corresponded to single cell survival calculated by correcting microcolony survival for multiplicity. Therefore, multiplicity corrections, which assume that cells within a microcolony survive independently from one another, are not valid when the microcolony has developed from a cell surviving an initial heat treatment.

Animals↗

Hyperthermic radiosensitization of thermotolerant Chinese hamster ovary cells.

Synchronous G1 cells were given a priming dose of heat (45.5 degrees C for 15 min) and then heated and irradiated 6-120 h later. Compared to heat radiosensitization for cells irradiated 10 min after the priming heat dose (thermal enhancement ratio, TER of 2.6 for a 10-fold reduction in survival), heat radiosensitization 18-24 h after the priming heat dose was less (i.e., TER of 1.6 for radiation at 24 h compared with heat-radiation at 24 h). A thermotolerance ratio (TTR) at 24 h was calculated to be 2.6/1.6 = 1.6. TERs at 100-fold or 1000-fold reduction in survival and ratios of slopes of radiation survival curves also showed that the cells developed a similar amount of thermotolerance for heat radiosensitization at 18-24 h. Furthermore, since the TER for heat radiosensitization increased with heat killing either from the priming heat dose or the second heat dose in a similar manner for single or fractionated doses, the TER for nonthermotolerant and thermotolerant cells was the same when related to the heat damage (i.e., amount of killing from heat alone). When the radiation response of cells heated and irradiated 6-120 h after the priming heat dose was compared with the response of cells receiving radiation only, changes in TER as a function of time after the initial priming heat dose were shown to involve: recovery of heat damage interacting with the subsequent radiation dose, thermotolerance for heat radiosensitization, and redistribution of cells surviving the first heat dose into radioresistant phases of the cell cycle. In fact, redistribution resulted in a minimal TER at 72 h for heat-radiation compared with radiation alone, instead of at 24 h where maximal thermotolerance for heat killing was observed [P. K. Holahan and W. C. Dewey, Radiat. Res. 106, 111 (1986)]. These observations are discussed relative to clinical considerations and similar results reported from in vivo experiments.

Animals↗

Evaluation of a role for intracellular Na+, K+, Ca2+, and Mg2+ in hyperthermic cell killing.

A dose of heat which renders 98% of a population of Chinese hamster ovary cells reproductively dead has no significant effect on their Na+, K+, or Mg2+ content by 28 h postheat. In contrast, the cellular Ca2+ content increases in a dose-dependent manner as observed at 22 h after heating for 15-35 min at 45 degrees C. However, the rates of both influx and efflux of Ca2+ were reduced by heating. Increasing the cellular Ca2+ content by incubating the cells in high extracellular Ca2+, either at the time of heating or for a period of 22 h following heat, does not potentiate the lethal effect of heat. Completely blocking the heat-induced increase in Ca2+ content by incubating the cells in medium containing a low Ca2+ concentration does not protect the cells. Therefore, we conclude that heat does not produce any significant changes in the Na+, K+, or Mg2+ content of cells and that the heat-induced increase in Ca2+ does not play an important role in hyperthermic cell killing.

Animals↗

Effect of pH and cell cycle progression on development and decay of thermotolerance.

Synchronous Chinese hamster ovary cells were heated in G1 and incubated at 37 degrees C at pH 6.75 or pH 7.4 before they were heated a second time. The magnitude and rate of development and decay of thermotolerance were greatly reduced at pH 6.75. This was also observed for asynchronous cells. Furthermore, the heat-induced delay in cell cycle progression was greatly enhanced at low pH and correlated with the reduced rate for development and decay of thermotolerance. However, studies with [3H]TdR to kill cells entering S phase showed that the decay of thermotolerance is relatively independent of the cell cycle. Therefore, low pH apparently slows many cell processes, including those associated with heat-induced cell cycle delay and the rate of development and decay of thermotolerance.

Animals↗

Protection of Chinese hamster ovary cells from hyperthermic killing by cycloheximide or puromycin.

Cycloheximide (CHM) and puromycin (PUR) were used at various concentrations up to maxima of 10 micrograms/ml and 100 micrograms/ml, respectively, which inhibited protein synthesis by 95% without any cytotoxicity. The drugs were added to the cells for a maximum period of 7 h, with various combinations for treatment before, during, and after heating. Maximum protection, i.e., a 10,000-fold increase in survival from 5 X 10(-6) to 5 X 10(-2) after 4 h at 43 degrees C, required both 1-2 h of treatment before heating and 1-2 h of treatment during heating. For treatments at 45.5 degrees C, the protection was less, i.e., a 100-fold increase in survival from 10(-5) to 10(-3). Little or no protection was observed if after treatment, the drug was removed before heating, or if the drug was added at the start of heating and left on for 5 min to 3 h after heating. For both drugs, the amount of protection increased as inhibition of protein synthesis increased. However, the amount of protection from the drugs was the same only at about 95% inhibition; at 60-85% inhibition, CHM afforded more protection than PUR. Therefore, the modes of action of the drugs might be common at high drug concentrations, but different when intermediate concentrations are used.

Animals↗

FACS analysis of a hyperthermia-induced alteration in Hoechst 33342 permeability and direct measurement of its relationship to cell survival.

Heat-induced alterations in CHO-10B cell Hoechst 33342 (Ho342) permeability in vitro were analyzed by flow cytometry. Immediately after 45.5 degrees C heating, uptake was decreased in a dose-dependent manner with cytotoxicity. Kinetic analysis indicated that a treatment that reduced cell survival to approximately 10%, reduced the maximal velocity, Vmax, to 53% of control and increased the dissociation constant, Km, to 156% of control. Also, little change in Ho342 efflux was found to occur from control up to 90 min after heating. Upon incubation at 37 degrees C after the heat treatment from 1 to 24 hr (depending on the severity of the dose) diffuse heterogeneity of Ho342 staining developed which was not evident immediately after heating. The altered staining was not due to the presence of trypan blue staining cells. Membrane permeabilization and nuclei isolation studies indicated that the lesion responsible was most likely a plasma membrane event. Induction of the heterogenous staining was not inhibited by either actinomycin D or hydroxyurea but was inhibited by incubation at 4 degrees C. An inverse correlation existed between Ho342 permeability and clonogenicity, with nearly a 10-fold difference in survival between the high and low fluorescence intensity sorted cells. Also, larger fractions of heat-sensitive S and G2M-phase cells were found in the highly fluorescent sorted fractions. These results are discussed in terms of the putative molecular events that may be involved in hyperthermic modulation of Ho342 permeability.

Animals↗

Comparative study of the effects of hyperthermia and BCNU on BCNU-sensitive and BCNU-resistant 9L rat brain tumor cells.

1,3-Bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea (BCNU)-sensitive and BCNU-resistant 9L rat brain tumor cells were treated with BCNU at graded temperatures between 37 and 44 degrees C. The cytotoxic effects of hyperthermia alone on both cell lines were the same. Treating both cell lines with BCNU at temperatures above 37 degrees C caused a progressive increase in cell kill. All survival curves for drug-sensitive cells had shoulders followed by a region of exponential cell kill; dose enhancement ratios calculated at the 10% survival level ranged from 1.7 to 3.0. Survival curves for drug-resistant cells were exponential without a shoulder; dose enhancement ratios ranged from 3.3 to 8.4. For each cell line, a similar amount of the increased cell kill could be explained on the basis of the increases concentration of reactive species produced by hydrolysis of BCNU at elevated temperatures. The amount of cell kill that cannot be explained on this basis, however, suggests that factors other than an increase in the concentration of reactive species at higher temperatures are involved in the enhanced cell killing. Possible mechanisms include a heat-induced change in the structure of DNA chromatin and the effect of isocyanate deactivation of repair enzymes, both of which could lead to an increase in the number of crosslinks formed and therefore to an increase in cytotoxicity.

Animals↗

DNA polymerase alpha and beta activities during the cell cycle and their role in heat radiosensitization in Chinese hamster ovary cells.

The levels of DNA polymerase alpha and beta activities were measured during the cell cycle using a total cell homogenate technique. The results indicate a decrease in the levels of both enzyme activities during the G1 phase and a gradual increase as cells enter the S phase. The recovery of DNA polymerase activities was measured after heating for 10 min at 45.5 degrees C during the G1 phase (1.5 hr after mitotic release) or S phase (8-9 hr after mitotic release). This treatment reduced the levels of DNA polymerase beta activity to 20-30% and DNA polymerase alpha activity to 40-50% of their control activity for both G1 and S phase. The activity of DNA polymerase beta recovered fully during 20-25 hr after heating for both G1 phase or S phase cells. There was no recovery of the activity of DNA polymerase alpha during this time. Survival was measured when cells were irradiated (4 Gy) at various times after hyperthermia (10 min at 45.5 degrees C), and for both G1 and S phase the interaction between heat and X rays disappeared by 20-25 hr after heating and the same increase was observed for the recovery of DNA polymerase beta activity. Furthermore, treatment with cycloheximide inhibited protein synthesis and prevented recovery from heat damage assayed in terms of both cell survival and beta polymerase activity. These results, in addition to experiments with heat protection by glycerol or thermotolerance induced with sodium arsenite or fractionated heat doses, suggest that beta polymerase may be an important enzyme involved in repairing X-ray-induced damage that can result in cell lethality.

Animals↗

An ultra-pure in vitro phase synchrony method employing centrifugal elutriation and viable flow cytometric cell sorting.

We present a method of synchronizing cells in G1-, S-, and G2M-phases employing sequential centrifugal elutriation and viable flow cytometric cell sorting of Hoechst-33342 stained Chinese hamster ovary cells. G1- and S-phase cells can be separated to greater than 99% homogeneity and G2-M to 70% purity. Most of the 30% contamination in the G2-M fraction was due to S-phase cells, whose reproductive integrity could be eliminated through the use of high specific activity 3H-TdR. There were minimal toxic effects or perturbations to growth following the selection procedures. The most significant limitation of this technique appears to be the rate of cell sorting, which, with current equipment, is approximately 3,000 cells per second.

Animals↗

The role in cancer therapy of inhibiting recovery from PLD induced by radiation or bleomycin.

Effects on survival of allowing and inhibiting potentially lethal damage recovery (PLDR) after X ray or bleomycin (bleo) exposure, especially at clinically applicable doses, were examined in plateau phase Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. Dose modifying factors (DMF's) between immediately explanted cells and those trypsinized 24 hours after various doses of X rays were 2.51 +/- 0.12 (mean +/- 2 S.E.) at 70% surviving fraction (SF), 2.03 +/- 0.085 at 40% and 1.71-1.79 at lower SF levels. Thus, at doses used clinically (1-4 Gy), the DMF by PLDR was more than 2.0, suggesting its importance in radiotherapy of cancers. Feeder layers were found to increase the SF, especially for replating immediately after bleo exposure. Among the inhibitors tested, 3'-deoxyguanosine at 3.7 mM and caffeine at 10.3 mM inhibited x and bleo PLDR (DMF of 1.0-1.2) when trypsinized 24 hours after treatment. However, interestingly, 3 aminobenzamide, a specific inhibitor of poly (ADP) ribose synthesis, even at 14.7 or 29.4 mM, was not as effective in suppressing both x and bleo PLDR, suggesting the role of repair processes independent of poly (ADP) ribose levels in PLDR in plateau phase cultures. Possibilities of clinical application of PLDR inhibitors as radio- and chemosensitizers are discussed.

Animals↗

Thermal dose determination in cancer therapy.

With the rapid development of clinical hyperthermia for the treatment of cancer either alone or in conjunction with other modalities, a means of measuring a thermal dose in terms which are clinically relevant to the biological effect is needed. A comparison of published data empirically suggests a basic relationship that may be used to calculate a "thermal dose." From a knowledge of the temperature during treatment as a function of time combined with a mathematical description of the time-temperature relationship, an estimate of the actual treatment calculated as an exposure time at some reference temperature can be determined. This could be of great benefit in providing a real-time accumulated dose during actual patient treatment. For the purpose of this study, a reference temperature of 43 degrees C has been arbitrarily chosen to convert all thermal exposures to "equivalent-minutes" at this temperature. This dose calculation can be compared to an integrated calculation of the "degree-minutes" to determine its prognostic ability. The time-temperature relationship upon which this equivalent dose calculation is based does not predict, nor does it require, that different tissues have the same sensitivity to heat. A computer program written in FORTRAN is included for performing calculations of both equivalent-minutes (t43) and degree-minutes (tdm43). Means are provided to alter the reference temperature, the Arrhenius "break" temperature and the time-temperature relationship both above and below the "break" temperature. In addition, the effect of factors such as step-down heating, thermotolerance, and physiological conditions on thermal dose calculations are discussed. The equations and methods described in this report are not intended to represent the only approach for thermal dose estimation; instead, they are intended to provide a simple but effective means for such calculations for clinical use and to stimulate efforts to evaluate data in terms of therapeutically useful thermal units.

Body Temperature↗

Hyperthermic survival of Chinese hamster ovary cells as a function of cellular population density at the time of plating.

The survival of synchronous G1 or asynchronous Chinese hamster ovary cells in vitro to heat treatment may depend on the cellular population density at the time of heating and/or as the cells are cultured after heating. The addition of lethally irradiated feeder cells may increase survival at 10(-3) by as much as 10- to 100-fold for a variety of conditions when cells are heated either in suspension culture or as monolayers with or without trypsinization. The protective effect associated with feeder cells appears to be associated with close cell-to-cell proximity. However, when cells are heated without trypsinization about 24 hr or later after plating, when adaptation to monolayer has occurred, the protective effect is reduced; i.e., addition of feeder cells enhances survival much less, for example, about 2- to 3-fold at 10(-2)-10(-3) survival. Also, the survival of a cell to heat is independent of whether the neighboring cell in a microcolony is destined to live or die. Finally, if protective effects associated with cell density do occur and are not controlled, serious artifacts can result as the interaction of heat and radiation is studied; for example, survival curves can be moved upward, and thus changed in shape as the number of cells plated is increased with an increase in the hyperthermic treatment or radiation dose following hyperthermia. Therefore, to understand mechanisms and to obtain information relevant to populations of cells in close proximity, such as those in vivo, these cellular population density effects should be considered and understood.

Animals↗

Interaction of heat with radiation and chemotherapy.

In using hyperthermia in the clinic, thermal dosimetry is essential and is discussed in terms of equating time-temperature relationships for an isoeffect to an equivalent time at a reference temperature, 43 degrees for example. In applying time-temperature-equivalence, the sequence between heat and radiation and between two heat treatments, radiation dose rate, linear energy transfer, and physiological parameters must be considered. Furthermore, thermal tolerance observed for both heat killing and heat radiosensitization, especially for doses of 400 rads or greater, may be considered as a thermal dose modifier. When hyperthermia is combined with drugs, most of the factors mentioned above are probably important and need careful evaluation, including the applicability of calculating equivalent time at a reference temperature. Examples are given for delayed heat sensitization after depletion of intracellular polyamines and for heat partially overcoming resistance to 1,3-bis-2-chloroethylnitrosourea in order to illustrate the importance of understanding heat effects on formation of reactive drug intermediates, permeability of drugs into cells, and damage to target molecules.

Animals↗

Effect of glycerol and low pH on heat-induced cell killing and loss of cellular DNA polymerase activities in Chinese hamster ovary cells.

A whole-cell assay technique for DNA polymerase alpha and beta was used to measure the activities of both enzymes in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells after hyperthermic treatment of 42.2 - 45.5 degrees C in acidic or basic environment and in the presence or absence of 5% glycerol. Cell survival was measured at the same time, and the DNA polymerase activities were correlated with survival. The results show a positive correlation between cell killing by heat and loss of DNA polymerase beta activity, both when cells were sensitized to heat by treatment at pH 6.7 with or without glycerol and when cells were protected from heat by treatment with 5% glycerol at pH 7.4 or 6.7. The results show a poor correlation between loss of DNA polymerase alpha activity and cell survival; i.e., compared to cell killing, the loss of DNA polymerase alpha activity was sensitized to heat more by acidic treatment without glycerol and was protected less from heat by glycerol treatment at normal physiological pH (pH 7.4). However, cell killing and loss of polymerase alpha activity did correlate well for sensitization to heat by acidic treatment in the presence of glycerol and for protection from heat by glycerol treatment at low pH. These results considered with other hyperthermia-polymerase studies suggest that heat effects on membranes can apparently result in changes in environmental conditions within the cell (secondary effects), which can in turn alter polymerase activities and/or the direct or secondary effect of heat on the polymerase enzymes. Furthermore, loss of polymerase beta activity serves as a better index of thermal damage resulting in cell death than loss of alpha activity.

Animals↗

Hyperthermic killing and hyperthermic radiosensitization in Chinese hamster ovary cells: effects of pH and thermal tolerance.

To quantitatively relate heat killing and heat radiosensitization, asynchronous or G1 Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells at pH 7.1 or 6.75 were heated and/or X-irradiated 10 min later. Since no progression of G1 cells into S phase occurred during the heat and radiation treatments, cell cycle artifacts were minimized. However, results obtained for asynchronous and G1 cells were similar. Hyperthermic radiosensitization was expressed as the thermal enhancement factor (TEF), defined as the ratio of the D0 of the radiation survival curve to that of the D0 of the radiation survival curve for heat plus radiation. The TEF increased continuously with increased heat killing at 45.5 degrees C, and for a given amount of heat killing, the amount of heat radiosensitization was the same for both pH's. When cells were heated chronically at 42.4 degrees C at pH 7.4, the TEF increased initially to 2.0-2.5 and then returned to near 1.0 during continued heating as thermal tolerance developed for both heat killing and heat radiosensitization. However, the shoulder (Dq) of the radiation survival curve for heat plus radiation did not manifest thermal tolerance; i.e., it decreased continuously with increased heat killing, independent of temperature, pH, or the development of thermotolerance. These results suggest that heat killing and heat radiosensitization have a target(s) in common (TEF results), along with either a different target(s) or a difference in the manifestation of heat damage (Dq results). For clinical considerations, the interaction between heat and radiation was expressed as (1) the thermal enhancement ratio (TER), which is the dose of X rays alone divided by the dose of X rays combined with heat to obtain an isosurvival, e.g., 10(-4), and (2) the thermal gain factor (TGF), the ratio of the TER at pH 6.75 to the TER at pH 7.4. Since low pH reduced the rate of development of thermal tolerance during heating at low temperatures, low pH enhanced heat killing more at 42-42.5 degrees C than at 45.5 degrees C where thermal tolerance did not develop. Therefore, the increase in the TGF after chronic heating at 42-42.5 degrees C was greater than after acute heating at 45.5 degrees C, due primarily to the increase in heat killing causing an even greater increase in heat radiosensitization. These findings agree with animal experiments suggesting that in the clinic, a therapeutic gain for tumor cells at low pH may be greater for temperatures of 42-42.5 degrees C than of 45.5 degrees C.

Animals↗