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PubMedDate not supplied

Phosphorylation of coformycin and 2'-deoxycoformycin, and substrate and inhibitor properties of the nucleosides and nucleotides in several enzyme systems.

Under conditions where 2'-deoxycoformycin is enzymatically phosphorylated by wheat shoot phosphotransferase to the 5'-phosphate in 15-20% yield, coformycin is a relatively poor substrate, and is phosphorylated only to the extent of less than or equal to 5%. However, chemical phosphorylation of coformycin by modifications of the Yoshikawa procedure led to isolation of coformycin-5'-phosphate in 20% overall yield. Coformycin-5'-phosphate was characterized by various criteria, including 1H NMR spectroscopy. Comparison of the spectrum with that of the parent nucleoside indicated that the nucleotide is predominantly, although not exclusively, in the conformation anti about the glycosidic bond. Like 2'-deoxycoformycin-5'-phosphate, coformycin-5'-phosphate was a feeble substrate of snake venom 5'-nucleotidase, and is hydrolyzed, quantitatively, at only 2% the rate for 5'-AMP. With 5'-AMP analogues as substrate, the 5'-phosphates of both coformycin and deoxycoformycin were poor inhibitors of the enzyme, with Ki values greater than 0.3 mM. The 5'-phosphates of both coformycin and deoxycoformycin do not significantly inhibit adenosine deaminase (Ki greater than 0.2 mM), but are potent inhibitors of adenylate deaminase (Ki less than or equal to 10(-9) M). Neither coformycin nor deoxycoformycin are inhibitors of mammalian purine nucleoside phosphorylase. The stabilities of coformycin, deoxycoformycin, and their 5'-phosphates, have been examined as a function of pH, and nature of the buffer medium. In particular, all exhibit instability in acid and neutral media, but are relatively stable in the vicinity of pH 9. Some biological aspects of the overall results are presented.

5'-Nucleotidase↗
PubMed1983

S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase activity, deoxyadenosine triphosphate accumulation, and competence of thymocyte and spleen leucocyte response to mitogens in coformycin-treated mice.

The inhibition of S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase and accumulation of dATP in thymus, spleen and other tissues of mice treated with the adenosine deaminase inhibitor coformycin were studied in parallel with the competence of thymocytes and spleen leucocytes to undergo mitogen-induced transformation. Newborn mice were lethally sensitive to daily injections of coformycin, 0.2 mg/kg, whereas adult mice were not. Developmental profiles of enzymes of nucleoside metabolism showed adenosine deaminase and purine nucleoside phosphorylase to be greatest in thymus around day 20 and to decrease for animals older than 60 days. The most notable change was a 3-fold increase in spleen leucocyte adenosine deaminase activity between days 10 and 30. Adenosine deaminase activity was reduced to less than 10% of normal in tissues of newborns treated with coformycin for 12-14 days. S-Adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase was also reduced to 5-40% of normal with no evidence of tissue specificity. Both thymocytes and erythrocytes of coformycin-treated mice accumulated dATP whereas spleen leucocytes did not. For coformycin-treated mice, spleen leucocyte and thymocyte response to concanavalin A (Con A) was reduced to 20 and 60% of controls respectively. Coformycin, 3.6 microM, also potentiated the in vitro toxicity of adenosine and deoxyadenosine toward thymocytes or spleen leucocytes by approximately an order of magnitude. Our observations are consistent with dATP being involved in impairment of thymocyte responsiveness; however, it appears unlikely that either dATP elevation or S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase inhibition is involved in the mechanism of impairment of spleen leucocyte response by coformycin.

Adenosylhomocysteinase↗
PubMed1980

Purine catabolism in isolated rat hepatocytes. Influence of coformycin.

1. The catabolism of purine nucleotides was investigated by both chemical and radiochemical methods in isolated rat hepatocytes, previously incubated with [(14)C]adenine. The production of allantoin reached 32+/-5nmol/min per g of cells (mean+/-s.e.m.) and as much as 30% of the radioactivity incorporated in the adenine nucleotides was lost after 1h. This rate of degradation is severalfold in excess over values previously reported to occur in the liver in vivo. An explanation for this enhancement of catabolism may be the decrease in the concentration of GTP. 2. In a high-speed supernatant of rat liver, adenosine deaminase was maximally inhibited by 0.1mum-coformycin. The activity of AMP deaminase, measured in the presence of its stimulator ATP in the same preparation, as well as the activity of the partially purified enzyme, measured after addition of its physiological inhibitors GTP and Pi, required 50mum-coformycin for maximal inhibition. 3. The production of allantoin by isolated hepatocytes was not influenced by the addition of 0.1mum-coformycin, but was decreased by concentrations of coformycin that were inhibitory for AMP deaminase. With 50mum-coformycin the production of allantoin was decreased by 85% and the formation of radioactive allantoin from [(14)C]adenine nucleotides was completely suppressed. 4. In the presence of 0.1mum-coformycin or in its absence, the addition of fructose (1mg/ml) to the incubation medium caused a rapid degradation of ATP, without equivalent increase in ADP and AMP, followed by transient increases in IMP and in the rate of production of allantoin; adenosine was not detectable. In the presence of 50mum-coformycin, the fructose-induced breakdown of ATP was not modified, but the depletion of the adenine nucleotide pool proceeded much more slowly and the rate of production of allantoin increased only slightly. No rise in IMP concentration could be detected, but AMP increased manyfold and reached values at which a participation of soluble 5'-nucleotidase in the catabolism of adenine nucleotides is most likely. 5. These results are in agreement with the hypothesis that the formation of allantoin is controlled by AMP deaminase. They constitute further evidence that 5'-nucleotidase is inactive on AMP, unless the concentration of this nucleotide rises to unphysiological values.

AMP Deaminase↗
PubMed1990

The rate constant describing slow-onset inhibition of yeast AMP deaminase by coformycin analogues is independent of inhibitor structure.

(R)- and (S)-2'-deoxycoformycin, (R)-coformycin, and the corresponding 5'-monophosphates were compared as inhibitors of yeast AMP deaminase. The overall inhibition constants ranged from 4.2 mM for (S)-2'-deoxycoformycin to 10 pM for (R)-coformycin 5'-monophosphate, a difference of 3.8 x 10(8) in affinities. (R)-Coformycin, (R)-2'-deoxycoformycin 5'-monophosphate, and (R)-coformycin 5'-monophosphate exhibited both rapid and slow-onset inhibition. The S inhibitors and (R)-2'-deoxycoformycin exhibited classical competitive inhibition but no time-dependent onset of inhibition. The results indicate that the presence of the 2'-hydroxyl and 5'-phosphate and the R stereochemistry at the C-8 position of the diazepine ring are necessary for the optimum interaction of inhibitors with yeast AMP deaminase. This differs from the results for rabbit muscle AMP deaminase [Frieden C., Kurz, L. C., & Gilbert, H. R. (1980) Biochemistry 19, 5303-5309] and calf intestinal adenosine deaminase [Schramm, V. L., & Baker, D. C. (1985) Biochemistry 24, 641-646], in which a tetrahedral hydroxyl at C-8 in the R stereochemistry is sufficient for slow-onset inhibition with the coformycins. The results suggest that the transition state contains a tetrahedral carbon with the R configuration as a result of the direct attack of an oxygen nucleophile at C-6 of AMP. Slow-onset inhibition of yeast AMP deaminase is consistent with the mechanism [formula: see text] in which the combination of E and I is rapidly reversible. For these inhibitors, Ki varied by a factor of 3 x 10(3), and the overall inhibition constant (Ki*) varied by a factor of 2 x 10(5).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

AMP Deaminase↗
PubMed1994

Electrostatic potential surfaces of the transition state for AMP deaminase and for (R)-coformycin, a transition state inhibitor.

The transition state for the hydrolysis of AMP by AMP deaminase has been characterized by heavy atom kinetic isotope effects (Merkler, D.J., Kline, P.C., Weiss, P., and Schramm, V.L. (1993) Biochemistry 32, 12993-13001). The experimentally established transition state includes a bond order of 0.8 to the attacking water nucleophile, a full bond order to the exocyclic 6-amino group, rehybridization of C-6 of the purine ring to sp3 and protonation of N-1 by Glu633. The transition state is one the path to formation of an unstable tetrahedral intermediate in which the exocyclic amine undergoes rapid protonation followed by its departure. In this mechanism, the highest energetic barrier on the reaction coordinate is the attack of the zinc-activated water. In a further test of this transition state structure, the electrostatic potential surface for the purine ring of the transition state has been determined by molecular orbital calculations and compared to that of the base of (R)-coformycin 5'-monophosphate, a slow onset, tight binding inhibitor of AMP deaminase that binds with an overall dissociation constant of 10(-11) M. The electrostatic potential surfaces of the aglycones of the transition state and (R)-coformycin are compared to the adenine ring of the substrate and to an alternative transition state structure in which the transition state is late, with fully bonded hydroxyl and fully protonated exocyclic amine. The results indicate a near-match of the electrostatic potential surfaces for the early transition state and (R)-coformycin. The electrostatic nature of the late transition state with a protonated amine leaving group differs both from the transition state determine by kinetic isotope effects and from that of (R)-coformycin analogues. The results provide evidence that the nature of the enzyme-stabilized transition state for adenine deamination involves an early transition state with a partially bonded hydroxyl group. The observed tight binding inhibition by (R)-coformycin analogues as transition state inhibitors results from the similarity of the partial charges on the inhibitors to that of the enzymatic transition state stabilized by AMP deaminase.

AMP Deaminase↗
PubMed1981

The potentiation of adenine toxicity to Chinese hamster cells by coformycin: suppression in mutants with altered regulation of purine biosynthesis or increased adenylate-deaminase activity.

When added to medium containing coformycin (2 microM or above), adenine is lethal to Chinese hamster fibroblasts at the concentration inhibiting de novo purine biosynthesis (Debatisse and Buttin, '77b). Rescue by hypoxanthine suggested that cells die of IMP starvation when the analog can turn off deamination of both adenosine and adenylate. As predicted from this hypothesis, two classes of variants resistant to the mixture of coformycin + adenine have been isolated: Class 1 variants have altered control of de novo IMP biosynthesis; they fall into two subclasses on the basis of their resistance to adenosine. Class 2 variants have a 6-10-fold increased level of AMP-deaminase (E.C.: 3.5.4.6); their growth in the selective medium is temperature-dependent, a property accounted for by the observation that cell growth in the presence of coformycin imposes a gradual thermodependent decay of specific AMP-deaminase activity in both wild-type and variant lines. This control by coformycin of AMP-deaminase activity is unaltered in mutants deficient in the four activities of adenosine-kinase. APRT, HGPRT and deoxycytidine-kinase. Most of the resistant variants are unstable and exhibit either increased or reduced resistance, depending on prolonged growth in selective or normal medium.

AMP Deaminase↗
PubMed1983

Coformycin inhibition of platelet AMP deaminase has no effect on thrombin-induced platelet secretion nor on glycolysis or glycogenolysis.

Thrombin-stimulated platelet secretion is accompanied by a 30% reduction in the steady state level of cytosolic ATP, a breakdown that proceeds through ADP, AMP, IMP, and inosine to hypoxanthine. The ATP to hypoxanthine conversion could be blocked at the stage of AMP deamination by incubation of platelet-rich plasma for 6 h with 200 microM coformycin, a transition-state analog inhibitor of AMP deaminase. Abolition of AMP deaminase activity had no effect on thrombin-induced secretion from the dense granules, alpha-granules, or acid hydrolases measured in gel-filtered platelets. Coformycin treatment had no effect on thrombin-stimulated lactate production, even when oxidative phosphorylation was blocked by antimycin A, nor on the rate of thrombin-stimulated glycogenolysis. In addition, although it was clear that the adenylate energy charge was maintained by activation of AMP deaminase following thrombin treatment, the adenylate energy charge was also maintained in coformycin-treated platelets, albeit after a short lag, by stimulated ATP production and equilibration through the adenylate kinase reaction. Hydrogen peroxide brings about similar adenylate degradation which could also be inhibited by coformycin. The results indicate that AMP deamination and secretion, although temporally related, are not coupled. The role of AMP deaminase appears to be to maintain the adenylate energy charge in the absence of stimulation of ATP production or to buffer the adenylate charge before ATP production is stimulated.

AMP Deaminase↗
PubMed1982

Potentiation of the myocardial actions of adenosine in the presence of coformycin, a specific inhibitor of adenosine deaminase.

The effects of coformycin, a highly potent and specific inhibitor of the intracellular enzyme adenosine deaminase and the influence of dipyridamole, an inhibitor of the cellular adenosine uptake mechanism, were studied on the adenosine-induced changes in the electrical and mechanical activity of isolated electrically driven left atria of guinea-pig hearts. Adenosine (0.1 mumol/l-1 mmol/l) by itself elicited a concentration-dependent decrease in the action potential duration and contractile force of atrial preparations. Coformycin, when applied in a concentration inducing a nearly complete inhibition of adenosine deaminase activity in intact atrial myocardium (7 mumol/l), enhanced the adenosine-induced reduction both in the duration of the intracellularly recorded action potential and in the contractile force of the atria, preferentially at higher concentrations of adenosine (10 mumol/l-1 mmol/l). The calculated half recovery time during wash-out (t1/2) was found to be about 6 times longer than that of controls (317.5 +/- 47 and 51.3 +/- 4.3 sec, respectively). In contrast with adenosine, the action of 2-chloroadenosine (an adenosine deaminase resistant purine derivative) on the atrial contractile force was not affected in the presence of coformycin. Dipyridamole (0.3 mumol/l) was capable of significantly potentiating the adenosine-induced depression of atrial mechanical activity, mainly at lower concentrations of adenosine (0.1-10 mumol/l). Preincubation of atrial preparations with a combination of coformycin and dipyridamole produced a strong enhancement in the adenosine-induced decrease of mechanical activity at all concentrations of adenosine. It is suggested that adenosine might exert its myocardial actions not only through the known extracellular, but also via possible intracellular purinoceptors.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed1984

Effects of hypoxia on the guinea-pig myocardium following inhibition of adenosine deaminase by coformycin.

The effect of moderate and severe hypoxia on the electrical and mechanical activity of isolated left atria of guinea-pigs was compared in the presence and absence of coformycin, a highly specific and tight-binding inhibitor of adenosine deaminase. The myocardial actions of hypoxia (reduction in the duration of intracellularly recorded action potentials and decrease in isometric tension, maximum velocity of contraction and relaxation as well as in time to peak tension) were significantly enhanced by coformycin, when applied in a concentration of 7 mumol/l producing nearly complete inhibition of adenosine deaminase in atrial muscle. These effects of coformycin were moderate during early hypoxia (0-5 min) and became pronounced during the late phase of oxygen deprivation (5-16 min). The results are in favour of the previous assumption that under hypoxic conditions the increased tissue level of adenosine might contribute to the functional impairment of the guinea-pig myocardium.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed1992

Effects of adenine arabinoside and coformycin on the kinetics of G2 chromatid aberrations in X-irradiated human lymphocytes.

The kinetics of chromatid aberrations have been studied in human lymphocytes exposed to X-rays in the G2 phase of the cell cycle and incubated with or without the nucleoside analogue 9-beta-D-arabinofuranosyladenine (ara A), known to inhibit the repair of DNA double-strand breaks. In the absence of ara A an exponential decrease in frequencies of chromatid breaks occurred which we interpret as repair. Few breaks were observed if samples were harvested immediately following irradiation. The frequency of chromatid breaks at 1 h after X-irradiation (442 per 100 cells/Gy) was similar to that previously observed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) K1 cells. However, the exponential decrease of chromatid breaks between X-irradiation and sampling occurred with a t1/2 of 0.87 h, a faster rate than we have previously observed in CHO K1 cells and was not inhibited by 200 microM ara A alone, in contrast with our previous findings in a human fibroblast line. However, in the presence of the ADA inhibitor coformycin, inhibition of break repair was already observed at an ara A concentration of 100 microM indicating that the apparent unresponsiveness to ara A of lymphocyte chromatid break rejoining results from the deamination of this nucleoside analogue. This deamination effect was confirmed by measurements of DNA synthesis which showed stable inhibition of synthesis by ara A only when coformycin was present. Frequencies of chromatid exchanges in irradiated cells remained constant except at the sampling time directly after irradiation, consistent with the view that chromosomal radiosensitivity remained constant throughout the G2 phase, except for the period immediately prior to mitosis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Chromatids↗
PubMed1983

Platelet AMP deaminase. Regulation by Mg-ATP2- and inorganic phosphate and inhibition by the transition state analog coformycin.

Kinetic studies with platelet AMP deaminase, at pH 7.0 and 100 mM NaC1, gave cooperative initial velocity curves with AMP as substrate, with Mg-ATP2- as an activator, and with Pi as an inhibitor. In the absence of Mg-ATP2-, the s0.5 for AMP was 4.5 mM with a Hill coefficient approaching 2.0. In the presence of saturating Mg-ATP2-, the s0.5 for AMP was reduced to 0.18 mM, the maximum velocity was increased by about 35%, and the Hill coefficient was 1.0. The half-activation constant for Mg-ATP2- varied from 0.7 to 0.07 mM as the concentration of AMP was varied from 0.1 to 5.0 mM and the Hill coefficient for Mg-ATP activation changed from 2.0 to 1.0 over the same range. Phosphate inhibition was competitive with AMP and with Mg-ATP2- (Ki = 2.0 mM) and reversed the activation by Mg-ATP2-. Coformycin inhibited the Mg-ATP-activated enzyme with a Ki less than 0.25 microM. Coformycin inhibition was slow, with a second order rate constant of 6.0 X 10(4) M-1 min-1, suggesting that the compound acts as a transition state analog according to Frieden, C., Kurz, L. C., and Gilbert, H. R. (1980) Biochemistry 19, 5303-5309. The kinetic properties of the enzyme indicate that substantial regulation can occur through changes in AMP concentration acting synergistically to enhance Mg-ATP2- binding and displace Pi from a single type of regulatory site.

AMP Deaminase↗
PubMed1976

Inhibition of maturation of human precursor lymphocytes by coformycin, an inhibitor of the enzyme adenosine deaminase.

High concentrations of adenosine are known to be toxic to fibroblasts and lymphocytes under conditions of in vitro culture (1,2). Normally, accumulation of adenosine nucleotides in all mammalian cells is prevented by the presence of adenosine deaminase, an aminohydrolase which converts adenosine to inosine (3). A genetically determined deficiency of adenosine deaminase has been associated with the autosomal recessive form of severe combined immunodeficiency, a syndrome in which precursor lymphocytes fail to mature into T cells and B cells (4-7). Erythrocytes of affected infants convert exogenous adenosine to AMP and ATP at an abnormally increased rate as a consequence of the enzyme defect, and ATP at an abnormally increased rate as a consequence of the enzyme defect, and fail to form inosine from the exogenous adenosine (8). These metabolic disturbances can be mimicked in normal erythrocytes by coformycin (8), a potent competitive inhibitor of adenosine deaminase (9, 10). In this study, the effects of coformycin were examined on the in vitro function of normal lymphocytes.

Adenosine Deaminase Inhibitors↗
PubMed1986

Isolation of mutant adenosine deaminase by coformycin affinity chromatography.

Adenosine deaminase is a purine salvage enzyme that catalyzes the deamination of adenosine and deoxyadenosine. Deficiency of the enzyme activity is associated with T-cell and B-cell dysfunction. Mutant adenosine deaminase has been isolated from heterozygous and homozygous deficient lymphoblast cell lines with the aid of an affinity matrix consisting of coformycin (a potent inhibitor of the enzyme) as the affinity ligand, bound to 3,3'-iminobispropylamine-derivatized Sepharose. Routinely, 80-90% of adenosine deaminase in crude cell homogenates could be bound to the material. Adenosine deaminase was specifically eluted by enzyme inhibitors or less efficiently by high substrate concentrations. Protein preparations isolated from several different deficient cell lines were highly purified and exhibited molecular weights identical to wild-type adenosine deaminase. This method produces a protein that is suitable for structural studies.

Adenine↗
PubMed1988

8-Ketodeoxycoformycin and 8-ketocoformycin as intermediates in the biosynthesis of 2'-deoxycoformycin and coformycin.

An enzyme has been isolated from cell-free extracts of Streptomyces antibioticus that can catalyze the reduction of 8-ketodeoxycoformycin (8-KetodCF) and 8-ketocoformycin (8-ketoCoF) to the naturally occurring nucleoside analogues 2'-deoxycoformycin (dCF) and coformycin (CoF), respectively. The partially purified reductase requires NADPH as the cofactor and stereospecifically reduces the 8-keto group of both ketonucleoside substrates to a hydroxyl group with the R configuration at C-8. This is the same configuration of the hydroxyl group as that of the dCF and CoF isolated from S. antibioticus. The reduction proceeds at the nucleoside level, and ATP is not required. The reductase is stereospecific for the NADPH cofactor in that it transfers the pro-S but not the pro-R hydrogen from C-4 of NADPH to the 8-keto group. The apparent Km for 8-ketodCF and 8-ketoCoF were 250 and 150 microM, respectively. These in vitro results, which show that 8-ketodCF and 8-ketoCoF may be intermediates in the biosynthesis of dCF and CoF, support and extend our earlier results from in vivo studies which established that adenosine and C-1 of D-ribose are the carbon-nitrogen precursors of dCF. A possible mechanism for the formation of dCF is presented.

Adenosine Deaminase Inhibitors↗
PubMed1996

Theoretical study of inhibition of adenosine deaminase by (8R)-coformycin and (8R)-deoxycoformycin.

Molecular dynamics and free energy simulations were performed to examine the binding of (8R)-deoxycoformycin and (8R)-coformycin to adenosine deaminase. The two inhibitors differ only at the 2' position of the sugar ring; the sugar moiety of conformycin is ribose, while it is deoxyribose for deoxycoformycin. The 100 ps molecular dynamics trajectories reveal that Asp 19 and His 17 interact strongly with the 5' hydroxyl group of the sugar moiety of both inhibitors and appear to play an important role in binding the sugar. The 2' and 3' groups of the sugars are near the protein-water interface and can be stabilized by either protein residues or water. The flexibility of the residues at the opening of the active site helps to explain the modest difference in binding of the two inhibitors and how substrates/inhibitors can enter an otherwise inaccessible binding site.

Adenosine Deaminase↗
PubMed1979

Levels of adenosine deaminase in some experimental animal tumours and the possible therapeutic effect of the ADA inhibitor 2-deoxy-coformycin.

The intracellular adenosine deaminase activities (ADA) in 12 different experimental animal tumours were measured. Unlike the leukaemic lymphoblasts of man, those of two spontaneous rat leukaemias did not have elevated levels of the enzyme. Very high levels were found in a rat plasma-cell tumour (IR 461) and an attempt was made to treat such tumours with the specific enzyme inhibitor, 2-deoxy-coformycin. The shortage of this drug prevented a systematic study, but a daily dose of 8 mg/kg had a significant inhibitory effect on the growth of tumours.

Adenosine Deaminase↗
PubMed1983

Differential effect of coformycin on the cell cycle traverse of normal and simian virus 40-transformed human fibroblasts.

Normal and simian virus 40-transformed human embryonic lung fibroblasts in culture were exposed to 3.5 microM coformycin (CF). This treatment resulted in almost complete inhibition of adenosine deaminase activity in both cell lines and retarded the progress of the fibroblasts through the cell cycle, as measured by the rate of cell proliferation. There was a marked difference, however, in the effect of CF on the traverse of different segments of the cell cycle. In normal fibroblasts, CF rapidly but transiently inhibited cell entry into visible stages of mitosis and delayed the progress through S and G2. In transformed fibroblasts, the effects of CF on the cell cycle included an early acceleration of the cell entry into visible mitosis and prolongation of this phase of the cell cycle. These results indicate that inhibition of adenosine deaminase can have different effects on the traverse of the critical segments of the cell cycle in normal and transformed cells.

Adenosine Deaminase Inhibitors↗
PubMed1995

Enhancement of the anti-HIV-1 activity of ddAdo by coformycin, EHNA and deaza-EHNA derivatives.

2',3'-dideoxyadenosine (ddAdo) and 2',3'-dideoxyinosine (ddIno) are potent and selective inhibitors of the replication of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV1) in several cell culture systems. Equipotent in terms of antiviral activity, both compounds selectively inhibit the reverse transcription of HIV-1 by virtue of their conversion into ddATP. In human lymphoid cells ddAdo is converted to the active metabolite, ddATP, but it also undergoes rapid deamination, via adenosine deaminase, to form ddIno. ddIno, like ddAdo, gives rise to dideoxynucleotides of the dideoxy-adenylate series (ddAMP, ddADP and ddATP), as well as to IMP and to adenylate ribonucleotides. With the main object of blocking the deamination of ddAdo, we studied its anti-HIV-1 activity in the presence of different adenosine deaminase inhibitors, namely Coformycin (CF), 9-(erythro-2-hydroxy-3-nonyl) adenine (EHNA) and some deaza-EHNA derivatives. In contrast with reports on 2'-deoxycoformycin (Cooney et al., 1987), the adenosine deaminase inhibitors tested by us showed a significant increase in the antiviral activity of ddAdo, but not of ddIno. Enhancement was obtained with EHNA and CF concentrations up to 250 and > 12,500 times lower than their respective maximum non toxic doses. In combination with EHNA or CF, ddAdo could be used at concentrations up to ten times lower than those required to obtain the same degree of inhibition when ddAdo (or ddIno) was used alone. The use of EHNA or CF in combination with ddAdo at concentrations that inhibit the multiplication of HIV-1, allowed uninfected cells to maintain their normal multiplication rates. In fact, in combination experiments, cytotoxic effects were evident only with doses of EHNA, or CF and ddAdo 10 to 100 or more times higher than those required to inhibit HIV-1 significantly. The in vivo implications of these results for anti-HIV chemotherapy are discussed.

Adenine↗