Sample records for alkylating agents induce

  1. Persistence of DNA adducts, hypermutation and acquisition of cellular resistance to alkylating agents in glioblastoma.

    PubMed

    Head, R J; Fay, M F; Cosgrove, L; Y C Fung, K; Rundle-Thiele, D; Martin, J H

    2017-12-02

    Glioblastoma is a lethal form of brain tumour usually treated by surgical resection followed by radiotherapy and an alkylating chemotherapeutic agent. Key to the success of this multimodal approach is maintaining apoptotic sensitivity of tumour cells to the alkylating agent. This initial treatment likely establishes conditions contributing to development of drug resistance as alkylating agents form the O 6 -methylguanine adduct. This activates the mismatch repair (MMR) process inducing apoptosis and mutagenesis. This review describes key juxtaposed drivers in the balance between alkylation induced mutagenesis and apoptosis. Mutations in MMR genes are the probable drivers for alkylation based drug resistance. Critical to this interaction are the dose-response and temporal interactions between adduct formation and MMR mutations. The precision in dose interval, dose-responses and temporal relationships dictate a role for alkylating agents in either promoting experimental tumour formation or inducing tumour cell death with chemotherapy. Importantly, this resultant loss of chemotherapeutic selective pressure provides opportunity to explore novel therapeutics and appropriate combinations to minimise alkylation based drug resistance and tumour relapse.

  2. mTOR target NDRG1 confers MGMT-dependent resistance to alkylating chemotherapy.

    PubMed

    Weiler, Markus; Blaes, Jonas; Pusch, Stefan; Sahm, Felix; Czabanka, Marcus; Luger, Sebastian; Bunse, Lukas; Solecki, Gergely; Eichwald, Viktoria; Jugold, Manfred; Hodecker, Sibylle; Osswald, Matthias; Meisner, Christoph; Hielscher, Thomas; Rübmann, Petra; Pfenning, Philipp-Niklas; Ronellenfitsch, Michael; Kempf, Tore; Schnölzer, Martina; Abdollahi, Amir; Lang, Florian; Bendszus, Martin; von Deimling, Andreas; Winkler, Frank; Weller, Michael; Vajkoczy, Peter; Platten, Michael; Wick, Wolfgang

    2014-01-07

    A hypoxic microenvironment induces resistance to alkylating agents by activating targets in the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway. The molecular mechanisms involved in this mTOR-mediated hypoxia-induced chemoresistance, however, are unclear. Here we identify the mTOR target N-myc downstream regulated gene 1 (NDRG1) as a key determinant of resistance toward alkylating chemotherapy, driven by hypoxia but also by therapeutic measures such as irradiation, corticosteroids, and chronic exposure to alkylating agents via distinct molecular routes involving hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1alpha, p53, and the mTOR complex 2 (mTORC2)/serum glucocorticoid-induced protein kinase 1 (SGK1) pathway. Resistance toward alkylating chemotherapy but not radiotherapy was dependent on NDRG1 expression and activity. In posttreatment tumor tissue of patients with malignant gliomas, NDRG1 was induced and predictive of poor response to alkylating chemotherapy. On a molecular level, NDRG1 bound and stabilized methyltransferases, chiefly O(6)-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT), a key enzyme for resistance to alkylating agents in glioblastoma patients. In patients with glioblastoma, MGMT promoter methylation in tumor tissue was not more predictive for response to alkylating chemotherapy in patients who received concomitant corticosteroids.

  3. mTOR target NDRG1 confers MGMT-dependent resistance to alkylating chemotherapy

    PubMed Central

    Weiler, Markus; Blaes, Jonas; Pusch, Stefan; Sahm, Felix; Czabanka, Marcus; Luger, Sebastian; Bunse, Lukas; Solecki, Gergely; Eichwald, Viktoria; Jugold, Manfred; Hodecker, Sibylle; Osswald, Matthias; Meisner, Christoph; Hielscher, Thomas; Rübmann, Petra; Pfenning, Philipp-Niklas; Ronellenfitsch, Michael; Kempf, Tore; Schnölzer, Martina; Abdollahi, Amir; Lang, Florian; Bendszus, Martin; von Deimling, Andreas; Winkler, Frank; Weller, Michael; Vajkoczy, Peter; Platten, Michael; Wick, Wolfgang

    2014-01-01

    A hypoxic microenvironment induces resistance to alkylating agents by activating targets in the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway. The molecular mechanisms involved in this mTOR-mediated hypoxia-induced chemoresistance, however, are unclear. Here we identify the mTOR target N-myc downstream regulated gene 1 (NDRG1) as a key determinant of resistance toward alkylating chemotherapy, driven by hypoxia but also by therapeutic measures such as irradiation, corticosteroids, and chronic exposure to alkylating agents via distinct molecular routes involving hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1alpha, p53, and the mTOR complex 2 (mTORC2)/serum glucocorticoid-induced protein kinase 1 (SGK1) pathway. Resistance toward alkylating chemotherapy but not radiotherapy was dependent on NDRG1 expression and activity. In posttreatment tumor tissue of patients with malignant gliomas, NDRG1 was induced and predictive of poor response to alkylating chemotherapy. On a molecular level, NDRG1 bound and stabilized methyltransferases, chiefly O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT), a key enzyme for resistance to alkylating agents in glioblastoma patients. In patients with glioblastoma, MGMT promoter methylation in tumor tissue was not more predictive for response to alkylating chemotherapy in patients who received concomitant corticosteroids. PMID:24367102

  4. Balancing repair and tolerance of DNA damage caused by alkylating agents.

    PubMed

    Fu, Dragony; Calvo, Jennifer A; Samson, Leona D

    2012-01-12

    Alkylating agents constitute a major class of frontline chemotherapeutic drugs that inflict cytotoxic DNA damage as their main mode of action, in addition to collateral mutagenic damage. Numerous cellular pathways, including direct DNA damage reversal, base excision repair (BER) and mismatch repair (MMR), respond to alkylation damage to defend against alkylation-induced cell death or mutation. However, maintaining a proper balance of activity both within and between these pathways is crucial for a favourable response of an organism to alkylating agents. Furthermore, the response of an individual to alkylating agents can vary considerably from tissue to tissue and from person to person, pointing to genetic and epigenetic mechanisms that modulate alkylating agent toxicity.

  5. SERIES: Genomic instability in cancer Balancing repair and tolerance of DNA damage caused by alkylating agents

    PubMed Central

    Fu, Dragony; Calvo, Jennifer A.; Samson, Leona D

    2013-01-01

    Alkylating agents comprise a major class of frontline chemotherapeutic drugs that inflict cytotoxic DNA damage as their main mode of action, in addition to collateral mutagenic damage. Numerous cellular pathways, including direct DNA damage reversal, base excision repair (BER), and mismatch repair (MMR) respond to alkylation damage to defend against alkylation-induced cell death or mutation. However, maintaining a proper balance of activity both within and between these pathways is crucial for an organism's favorable response to alkylating agents. Furthermore, an individual's response to alkylating agents can vary considerably from tissue to tissue and from person to person, pointing to genetic and epigenetic mechanisms that modulate alkylating agent toxicity. PMID:22237395

  6. Aag DNA Glycosylase Promotes Alkylation-Induced Tissue Damage Mediated by Parp1

    PubMed Central

    Calvo, Jennifer A.; Moroski-Erkul, Catherine A.; Lake, Annabelle; Eichinger, Lindsey W.; Shah, Dharini; Jhun, Iny; Limsirichai, Prajit; Bronson, Roderick T.; Christiani, David C.; Meira, Lisiane B.; Samson, Leona D.

    2013-01-01

    Alkylating agents comprise a major class of front-line cancer chemotherapeutic compounds, and while these agents effectively kill tumor cells, they also damage healthy tissues. Although base excision repair (BER) is essential in repairing DNA alkylation damage, under certain conditions, initiation of BER can be detrimental. Here we illustrate that the alkyladenine DNA glycosylase (AAG) mediates alkylation-induced tissue damage and whole-animal lethality following exposure to alkylating agents. Aag-dependent tissue damage, as observed in cerebellar granule cells, splenocytes, thymocytes, bone marrow cells, pancreatic β-cells, and retinal photoreceptor cells, was detected in wild-type mice, exacerbated in Aag transgenic mice, and completely suppressed in Aag −/− mice. Additional genetic experiments dissected the effects of modulating both BER and Parp1 on alkylation sensitivity in mice and determined that Aag acts upstream of Parp1 in alkylation-induced tissue damage; in fact, cytotoxicity in WT and Aag transgenic mice was abrogated in the absence of Parp1. These results provide in vivo evidence that Aag-initiated BER may play a critical role in determining the side-effects of alkylating agent chemotherapies and that Parp1 plays a crucial role in Aag-mediated tissue damage. PMID:23593019

  7. Effects of Antiparasite Chemotherapeutic Agents on Immune Functions.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1984-05-01

    OF ALKYLATING AGENTS AGAINST CELLS PARTICIPATING IN SUPPRESSION OF ANTIBODY RESPONSES* RONALD D. PAUL, ABOUL GHAFFARt and M. MICHAEL SIGEL Department... alkylating agents on the induction and expression of specific suppressor cell activity induced by supraoptimal immunization (SO[) with (4x 109) SRBC was...including 1982b). different subsets of T cells (Cantor & Gershon, A number of alkylating agents which are used as 1979). It is therefore necessary to

  8. Detection and identification of alkylating agents by using a bioinspired "chemical nose".

    PubMed

    Hertzog-Ronen, Carmit; Borzin, Elena; Gerchikov, Yulia; Tessler, Nir; Eichen, Yoav

    2009-10-12

    Alkylating agents are simple and reactive molecules that are commonly used in many and diverse fields such as organic synthesis, medicine, and agriculture. Some highly reactive alkylating species are also being used as blister chemical-warfare agents. The detection and identification of alkylating agents is not a trivial issue because of their high reactivity and simple structure. Herein, we report on a new multispot luminescence-based approach to the detection and identification of alkylating agents. In order to demonstrate the potential of the approach, seven pi-conjugated oligomers and polymers bearing nucleophilic pyridine groups, 1-7, were adsorbed onto a solid support and exposed to vapors of alkylators 8-15. The alkylation-induced color-shift patterns of the seven-spot array allow clear discrimination of the different alkylators. The spots are sensitive to minute concentrations of alkylators and, because the detection is based on the formation of new covalent bonds, these spots saturate at about 50 ppb.

  9. [Alkylating agents].

    PubMed

    Pourquier, Philippe

    2011-11-01

    With the approval of mechlorethamine by the FDA in 1949 for the treatment of hematologic malignancies, alkylating agents are the oldest class of anticancer agents. Even though their clinical use is far beyond the use of new targeted therapies, they still occupy a major place in specific indications and sometimes represent the unique option for the treatment of refractory diseases. Here, we are reviewing the major classes of alkylating agents and their mechanism of action, with a particular emphasis for the new generations of alkylating agents. As for most of the chemotherapeutic agents used in the clinic, these compounds are derived from natural sources. With a complex but original mechanism of action, they represent new interesting alternatives for the clinicians, especially for tumors that are resistant to conventional DNA damaging agents. We also briefly describe the different strategies that have been or are currently developed to potentiate the use of classical alkylating agents, especially the inhibition of pathways that are involved in the repair of DNA lesions induced by these agents. In this line, the development of PARP inhibitors is a striking example of the recent regain of interest towards the "old" alkylating agents.

  10. Chemotherapy-induced pulmonary hypertension: role of alkylating agents.

    PubMed

    Ranchoux, Benoît; Günther, Sven; Quarck, Rozenn; Chaumais, Marie-Camille; Dorfmüller, Peter; Antigny, Fabrice; Dumas, Sébastien J; Raymond, Nicolas; Lau, Edmund; Savale, Laurent; Jaïs, Xavier; Sitbon, Olivier; Simonneau, Gérald; Stenmark, Kurt; Cohen-Kaminsky, Sylvia; Humbert, Marc; Montani, David; Perros, Frédéric

    2015-02-01

    Pulmonary veno-occlusive disease (PVOD) is an uncommon form of pulmonary hypertension (PH) characterized by progressive obstruction of small pulmonary veins and a dismal prognosis. Limited case series have reported a possible association between different chemotherapeutic agents and PVOD. We evaluated the relationship between chemotherapeutic agents and PVOD. Cases of chemotherapy-induced PVOD from the French PH network and literature were reviewed. Consequences of chemotherapy exposure on the pulmonary vasculature and hemodynamics were investigated in three different animal models (mouse, rat, and rabbit). Thirty-seven cases of chemotherapy-associated PVOD were identified in the French PH network and systematic literature analysis. Exposure to alkylating agents was observed in 83.8% of cases, mostly represented by cyclophosphamide (43.2%). In three different animal models, cyclophosphamide was able to induce PH on the basis of hemodynamic, morphological, and biological parameters. In these models, histopathological assessment confirmed significant pulmonary venous involvement highly suggestive of PVOD. Together, clinical data and animal models demonstrated a plausible cause-effect relationship between alkylating agents and PVOD. Clinicians should be aware of this uncommon, but severe, pulmonary vascular complication of alkylating agents. Copyright © 2015 American Society for Investigative Pathology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. Development of Novel Bifunctional Compounds that Induce Apoptosis in Prostate Cancer Cells

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2006-02-01

    were different from those of other alkylating agents used in chemotherapy. The apoptotic responses of prostate cancer cells suggested that the 11β... alkylating DNA Damaging Agent Tethered to an Androgen Receptor Ligand. Chemistry & Biology 12; 779-787. Personnel Supported Dr. Robert Croy...our work was the design of DNA-damag- ing agents that disrupt both DNA repair and signaling pathways in prostate tumor cells. A DNA alkylator (N,N

  12. ATM regulates 3-Methylpurine-DNA glycosylase and promotes therapeutic resistance to alkylating agents

    PubMed Central

    Agnihotri, Sameer; Burrell, Kelly; Buczkowicz, Pawel; Remke, Marc; Golbourn, Brian; Chornenkyy, Yevgen; Gajadhar, Aaron; Fernandez, Nestor A.; Clarke, Ian D.; Barszczyk, Mark S.; Pajovic, Sanja; Ternamian, Christian; Head, Renee; Sabha, Nesrin; Sobol, Robert W.; Taylor, Michael D; Rutka, James T.; Jones, Chris; Dirks, Peter B.; Zadeh, Gelareh; Hawkins, Cynthia

    2014-01-01

    Alkylating agents are a frontline therapy for the treatment of several aggressive cancers including pediatric glioblastoma, a lethal tumor in children. Unfortunately, many tumors are resistant to this therapy. We sought to identify ways of sensitizing tumor cells to alkylating agents while leaving normal cells unharmed; increasing therapeutic response while minimizing toxicity. Using a siRNA screen targeting over 240 DNA damage response genes, we identified novel sensitizers to alkylating agents. In particular the base excision repair (BER) pathway, including 3-methylpurine-DNA glycosylase (MPG), as well as ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) were identified in our screen. Interestingly, we identified MPG as a direct novel substrate of ATM. ATM-mediated phosphorylation of MPG was required for enhanced MPG function. Importantly, combined inhibition or loss of MPG and ATM resulted in increased alkylating agent-induced cytotoxicity in vitro and prolonged survival in vivo. The discovery of the ATM-MPG axis will lead to improved treatment of alkylating agent-resistant tumors. PMID:25100205

  13. Influence of some DNA-alkylating drugs on thermal stability, acid and osmotic resistance of the membrane of whole human erythrocytes and their ghosts.

    PubMed

    Ivanov, I T; Gadjeva, V

    2000-09-01

    Human erythrocytes and their resealed ghosts were alkylated under identical conditions using three groups of alkylating antitumor agents: mustards, triazenes and chloroethyl nitrosoureas. Osmotic fragility, acid resistance and thermal stability of membranes were changed only in alkylated ghosts in proportion to the concentration of the alkylating agent. All the alkylating agents decreased acid resistance in ghosts. The clinically used drugs sarcolysine, dacarbazine and lomustine all decreased osmotic fragility and thermal stability of ghost membranes depending on their lipophilicity. DM-COOH did not decrease osmotic fragility and thermal stability of ghost membranes, while NEM increased thermal stability of membranes. The preliminary but not subsequent treatment of ghosts with DM-COOH fully abolished the alkylation-induced thermal labilization of ghost membrane proteins while NEM had a partial effect only. The present study gives direct evidence that alkylating agents, having a high therapeutic activity against malignant growth, bind covalently to proteins of cellular membranes.

  14. ALKBH7 drives a tissue and sex-specific necrotic cell death response following alkylation-induced damage

    PubMed Central

    Jordan, Jennifer J; Chhim, Sophea; Margulies, Carrie M; Allocca, Mariacarmela; Bronson, Roderick T; Klungland, Arne; Samson, Leona D; Fu, Dragony

    2017-01-01

    Regulated necrosis has emerged as a major cell death mechanism in response to different forms of physiological and pharmacological stress. The AlkB homolog 7 (ALKBH7) protein is required for regulated cellular necrosis in response to chemotherapeutic alkylating agents but its role within a whole organism is unknown. Here, we show that ALKBH7 modulates alkylation-induced cellular death through a tissue and sex-specific mechanism. At the whole-animal level, we find that ALKBH7 deficiency confers increased resistance to MMS-induced toxicity in male but not female mice. Moreover, ALKBH7-deficient mice exhibit protection against alkylation-mediated cytotoxicity in retinal photoreceptor and cerebellar granule cells, two cell types that undergo necrotic death through the initiation of the base excision repair pathway and hyperactivation of the PARP1/ARTD1 enzyme. Notably, the protection against alkylation-induced cerebellar degeneration is specific to ALKBH7-deficient male but not female mice. Our results uncover an in vivo role for ALKBH7 in mediating a sexually dimorphic tissue response to alkylation damage that could influence individual responses to chemotherapies based upon alkylating agents. PMID:28726787

  15. ATM regulates 3-methylpurine-DNA glycosylase and promotes therapeutic resistance to alkylating agents.

    PubMed

    Agnihotri, Sameer; Burrell, Kelly; Buczkowicz, Pawel; Remke, Marc; Golbourn, Brian; Chornenkyy, Yevgen; Gajadhar, Aaron; Fernandez, Nestor A; Clarke, Ian D; Barszczyk, Mark S; Pajovic, Sanja; Ternamian, Christian; Head, Renee; Sabha, Nesrin; Sobol, Robert W; Taylor, Michael D; Rutka, James T; Jones, Chris; Dirks, Peter B; Zadeh, Gelareh; Hawkins, Cynthia

    2014-10-01

    Alkylating agents are a first-line therapy for the treatment of several aggressive cancers, including pediatric glioblastoma, a lethal tumor in children. Unfortunately, many tumors are resistant to this therapy. We sought to identify ways of sensitizing tumor cells to alkylating agents while leaving normal cells unharmed, increasing therapeutic response while minimizing toxicity. Using an siRNA screen targeting over 240 DNA damage response genes, we identified novel sensitizers to alkylating agents. In particular, the base excision repair (BER) pathway, including 3-methylpurine-DNA glycosylase (MPG), as well as ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM), were identified in our screen. Interestingly, we identified MPG as a direct novel substrate of ATM. ATM-mediated phosphorylation of MPG was required for enhanced MPG function. Importantly, combined inhibition or loss of MPG and ATM resulted in increased alkylating agent-induced cytotoxicity in vitro and prolonged survival in vivo. The discovery of the ATM-MPG axis will lead to improved treatment of alkylating agent-resistant tumors. Inhibition of ATM and MPG-mediated BER cooperate to sensitize tumor cells to alkylating agents, impairing tumor growth in vitro and in vivo with no toxicity to normal cells, providing an ideal therapeutic window. ©2014 American Association for Cancer Research.

  16. Alkylating agent induced NRF2 blocks endoplasmic reticulum stress-mediated apoptosis via control of glutathione pools and protein thiol homeostasis

    PubMed Central

    Zanotto-Filho, Alfeu; Masamsetti, V. Pragathi; Loranc, Eva; Tonapi, Sonal S.; Gorthi, Aparna; Bernard, Xavier; Gonçalves, Rosângela Mayer; Moreira, José C. F.; Chen, Yidong; Bishop, Alexander J. R.

    2016-01-01

    Alkylating agents are a commonly used cytotoxic class of anticancer drugs. Understanding the mechanisms whereby cells respond to these drugs is key to identify means to improve therapy while reducing toxicity. By integrating genome-wide gene expression profiling, protein analysis and functional cell validation, we herein demonstrated a direct relationship between NRF2 and Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) stress pathways in response to alkylating agents, which is coordinated by the availability of glutathione (GSH) pools. GSH is essential for both drug detoxification and protein thiol homeostasis within the ER, thus inhibiting ER stress induction and promoting survival; an effect independent of its antioxidant role. NRF2 accumulation induced by alkylating agents resulted in increased GSH synthesis via GCLC/GCLM enzyme, and interfering with this NRF2 response by either NRF2 knockdown or GCLC/GCLM inhibition with buthionine sulfoximine (BSO) caused accumulation of damaged proteins within the ER, leading to PERK-dependent apoptosis. Conversely, upregulation of NRF2, through KEAP1 depletion or NRF2-myc overexpression, or increasing GSH levels with N-acetylcysteine (NAC) or glutathione-ethyl-ester (GSH-E), decreased ER stress and abrogated alkylating agents-induced cell death. Based on these results, we identified a subset of lung and head-and-neck carcinomas with mutations in either KEAP1 or NRF2/NFE2L2 genes that correlate with NRF2 targets overexpression and poor survival. In KEAP1 mutant cancer cells, NRF2 knockdown and GSH depletion increased cell sensitivity via ER stress induction in a mechanism specific to alkylating drugs. Overall, we show that the NRF2-GSH influence on ER homeostasis implicates defects in NRF2-GSH or ER stress machineries as affecting alkylating therapy toxicity. PMID:27638861

  17. Studies on the Mechanism of Action of Hydrazine-Induced Methylation of DNA Guanne

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1984-10-03

    potent methylating agent , diazomethane (-CH -N+-N). Several in vivo studies were carried out to determine the role of aldehydes in the alkylation of DNA...methylating agent available to interact with DNA. If such a mechanism occurs, it may explain why disulfiram appears to inhibit the alkylation of DNA...a much slower/poorer alkylating agent for DNA. Effect of the 1-Carbon Pool on DNA Methylation in Hydrazine Toxicity: In Vitro In vitro studies were

  18. Mechanisms of chemoresistance to alkylating agents in malignant glioma.

    PubMed

    Sarkaria, Jann N; Kitange, Gaspar J; James, C David; Plummer, Ruth; Calvert, Hilary; Weller, Michael; Wick, Wolfgang

    2008-05-15

    Intrinsic or acquired chemoresistance to alkylating agents is a major cause of treatment failure in patients with malignant brain tumors. Alkylating agents, the mainstay of treatment for brain tumors, damage the DNA and induce apoptosis, but the cytotoxic activity of these agents is dependent on DNA repair pathways. For example, O6-methylguanine DNA adducts can cause double-strand breaks, but this is dependent on a functional mismatch repair pathway. Thus, tumor cell lines deficient in mismatch repair are resistant to alkylating agents. Perhaps the most important mechanism of resistance to alkylating agents is the DNA repair enzyme O6-methylguanine methyltransferase, which can eliminate the cytotoxic O6-methylguanine DNA adduct before it causes harm. Another mechanism of resistance to alkylating agents is the base excision repair (BER) pathway. Consequently, efforts are ongoing to develop effective inhibitors of BER. Poly(ADP-ribose)polymerase plays a pivotal role in BER and is an important therapeutic target. Developing effective strategies to overcome chemoresistance requires the identification of reliable preclinical models that recapitulate human disease and which can be used to facilitate drug development. This article describes the diverse mechanisms of chemoresistance operating in malignant glioma and efforts to develop reliable preclinical models and novel pharmacologic approaches to overcome resistance to alkylating agents.

  19. Alkylating agent (MNU)-induced mutation in space environment

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ohnishi, T.; Takahashi, A.; Ohnishi, K.; Takahashi, S.; Masukawa, M.; Sekikawa, K.; Amano, T.; Nakano, T.; Nagaoka, S.

    2001-01-01

    In recent years, some contradictory data about the effects of microgravity on radiation-induced biological responses in space experiments have been reported. We prepared a damaged template DNA produced with an alkylating agent (N-methyl-N-nitroso urea; MNU) to measure incorrect base-incorporation during DNA replication in microgravity. We examined whether mutation frequency is affected by microgravity during DNA replication for a DNA template damaged by an alkylating agent. Using an in vitro enzymatic reaction system, DNA synthesis by Taq polymerase or polymerase III was done during a US space shuttle mission (Discovery, STS-91). After the flight, DNA replication and mutation frequencies were measured. We found that there was almost no effect of microgravity on DNA replication and mutation frequency. It is suggested that microgravity might not affect at the stage of substrate incorporation in induced-mutation frequency.

  20. O(6)-methylguanine DNA-methyltransferase (MGMT) overexpression in melanoma cells induces resistance to nitrosoureas and temozolomide but sensitizes to mitomycin C.

    PubMed

    Passagne, Isabelle; Evrard, Alexandre; Depeille, Philippe; Cuq, Pierre; Cupissol, Didier; Vian, Laurence

    2006-03-01

    Alkylating agents play an important role in the chemotherapy of malignant melanomas. The activity of alkylating agents depends on their capacity to form alkyl adducts with DNA, in some cases causing cross-linking of DNA strands. However, the use of these agents is limited by cellular resistance induced by the DNA repair enzyme O(6)-methylguanine DNA-methyltransferase (MGMT) which removes alkyl groups from alkylated DNA strands. To determine to what extent the expression of MGMT in melanoma cells induces resistance to alkylating agents, the human cell line CAL77 Mer- (i.e., MGMT deficient) were transfected with pcMGMT vector containing human MGMT cDNA. Several clones expressing MGMT at a high level were selected to determine their sensitivity to chemotherapeutic drugs. Melanoma-transfected cells were found to be significantly less sensitive to nitrosoureas (carmustine, fotemustine, streptozotocin) and temozolomide with an increase of IC(50) values between 3 and 14 when compared to parent cells. No difference in cell survival rates between MGMT-proficient and -deficient cells was observed for melphalan, chlorambucil, busulphan, thiotepa and cisplatin which preferentially induce N(7) guanine lesions. Surprisingly, MGMT overexpression increased the sensitivity of CAL77 cells to mitomycin C by approximately 10-fold. Treatment of clonal cell lines with buthionine-[S,R]-sulfoximine (BSO), an inhibitor of gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase which depletes cellular glutathione, completely reversed this unexpected increase in sensitivity to mitomycin C. This observation suggests that glutathione is involved in the sensitivity of MGMT-transfected cells to mitomycin C and may act synergistically with MGMT via an unknown mechanism.

  1. 'Petite' mutagenesis and mitotic crossing-over in yeast by DNA-targeted alkylating agents.

    PubMed

    Ferguson, L R; Turner, P M; Gourdie, T A; Valu, K K; Denny, W A

    1989-12-01

    Although the biological properties (cytotoxicity, mutagenicity and carcinogenicity) of alkylating agents result from their bonding interactions with DNA, such compounds generally do not show any special binding affinity for DNA. A series of acridine-linked aniline mustards of widely-varying alkylator reactivity have been designed as DNA-directed alkylating agents. We have considered whether such DNA targeting has an effect on mutagenic properties by evaluating this series of drugs in comparison with their untargeted counterparts for toxic, recombinogenic and mutagenic properties in Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain D5. The simple untargeted aniline mustards are effective inducers of mitotic crossing-over in this strain, but resemble other reported alkylators in being rather inefficient inducers of the "petite" or mitochondrial mutation in yeast. However, the majority of the DNA-targeted mustards were very efficient petite mutagens, while showing little evidence of mitotic crossing-over or other nuclear events. The 100% conversion of cells into petites and the lack of a differential between growing and non-growing cells are similar to the effects of the well characterised mitochondrial mutagen ethidium bromide. These data suggest very different modes of action between the DNA-targeted alkylators and their non-targeted counterparts.

  2. Alkylating Agent-Induced NRF2 Blocks Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress-Mediated Apoptosis via Control of Glutathione Pools and Protein Thiol Homeostasis.

    PubMed

    Zanotto-Filho, Alfeu; Masamsetti, V Pragathi; Loranc, Eva; Tonapi, Sonal S; Gorthi, Aparna; Bernard, Xavier; Gonçalves, Rosângela Mayer; Moreira, José C F; Chen, Yidong; Bishop, Alexander J R

    2016-12-01

    Alkylating agents are a commonly used cytotoxic class of anticancer drugs. Understanding the mechanisms whereby cells respond to these drugs is key to identify means to improve therapy while reducing toxicity. By integrating genome-wide gene expression profiling, protein analysis, and functional cell validation, we herein demonstrated a direct relationship between NRF2 and Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) stress pathways in response to alkylating agents, which is coordinated by the availability of glutathione (GSH) pools. GSH is essential for both drug detoxification and protein thiol homeostasis within the ER, thus inhibiting ER stress induction and promoting survival, an effect independent of its antioxidant role. NRF2 accumulation induced by alkylating agents resulted in increased GSH synthesis via GCLC/GCLM enzyme, and interfering with this NRF2 response by either NRF2 knockdown or GCLC/GCLM inhibition with buthionine sulfoximine caused accumulation of damaged proteins within the ER, leading to PERK-dependent apoptosis. Conversely, upregulation of NRF2, through KEAP1 depletion or NRF2-myc overexpression, or increasing GSH levels with N-acetylcysteine or glutathione-ethyl-ester, decreased ER stress and abrogated alkylating agents-induced cell death. Based on these results, we identified a subset of lung and head-and-neck carcinomas with mutations in either KEAP1 or NRF2/NFE2L2 genes that correlate with NRF2 target overexpression and poor survival. In KEAP1-mutant cancer cells, NRF2 knockdown and GSH depletion increased cell sensitivity via ER stress induction in a mechanism specific to alkylating drugs. Overall, we show that the NRF2-GSH influence on ER homeostasis implicates defects in NRF2-GSH or ER stress machineries as affecting alkylating therapy toxicity. Mol Cancer Ther; 15(12); 3000-14. ©2016 AACR. ©2016 American Association for Cancer Research.

  3. Atorvastatin Downregulates In Vitro Methyl Methanesulfonate and Cyclophosphamide Alkylation-Mediated Cellular and DNA Injuries

    PubMed Central

    Christoni, Larissa S. A.; Justo, Graça; Soeiro, Maria N. C.

    2018-01-01

    Statins are 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors, and this class of drugs has been studied as protective agents against DNA damages. Alkylating agents (AAs) are able to induce alkylation in macromolecules, causing DNA damage, as DNA methylation. Our objective was to evaluate atorvastatin (AVA) antimutagenic, cytoprotective, and antigenotoxic potentials against DNA lesions caused by AA. AVA chemopreventive ability was evaluated using antimutagenicity assays (Salmonella/microsome assay), cytotoxicity, cell cycle, and genotoxicity assays in HepG2 cells. The cells were cotreated with AVA and the AA methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) or cyclophosphamide (CPA). Our datum showed that AVA reduces the alkylation-mediated DNA damage in different in vitro experimental models. Cytoprotection of AVA at low doses (0.1–1.0 μM) was observed after 24 h of cotreatment with MMS or CPA at their LC50, causing an increase in HepG2 survival rates. After all, AVA at 10 μM and 25 μM had decreased effect in micronucleus formation in HepG2 cells and restored cell cycle alterations induced by MMS and CPA. This study supports the hypothesis that statins can be chemopreventive agents, acting as antimutagenic, antigenotoxic, and cytoprotective components, specifically against alkylating agents of DNA. PMID:29849914

  4. Glutathione Depletion Induced by c-Myc Downregulation Triggers Apoptosis on Treatment with Alkylating Agents1

    PubMed Central

    Biroccio, Annamaria; Benassi, Barbara; Fiorentino, Francesco; Zupi, Gabriella

    2004-01-01

    Abstract Here we investigate the mechanism(s) involved in the c-Myc-dependent drug response of melanoma cells. By using three M14-derived c-Myc low-expressing clones, we demonstrate that alkylating agents, cisplatin and melphalan, trigger apoptosis in the c-Myc antisense transfectants, but not in the parental line. On the contrary, topoisomerase inhibitors, adriamycin and camptothecin, induce apoptosis to the same extent regardless of c-Myc expression. Because we previously demonstrated that c-Myc downregulation decreases glutathione (GSH) content, we evaluated the role of GSH in the apoptosis induced by the different drugs. In control cells treated with one of the alkylating agents or the others, GSH depletion achieved by l-buthionine-sulfoximine preincubation opens the apoptotic pathway. The apoptosis proceeded through early Bax relocalization, cytochrome c release, and concomitant caspase-9 activation, whereas reactive oxygen species production and alteration of mitochondria membrane potential were late events. That GSH was determining in the c-Myc-dependent drug-induced apoptosis was demonstrated by altering the intracellular GSH content of the c-Myc low-expressing cells up to the level of controls. Indeed, GSH ethyl ester-mediated increase of GSH abrogated apoptosis induced by cisplatin and melphalan by inhibition of Bax/cytochrome c redistribution. The relationship among c-Myc, GSH content, and the response to alkylating agent has been also evaluated in the M14 Myc overexpressing clones as well as in the melanoma JR8 c-Myc antisense transfectants. All together, these results demonstrate that GSH plays a key role in governing c-Myc-dependent drug-induced apoptosis. PMID:15153331

  5. Nitric oxide donors attenuate clongenic potential in rat C6 glioma cells treated with alkylating chemotherapeutic agents.

    PubMed

    Yang, Jir-Jei; Yin, Jiu-Haw; Yang, Ding-I

    2007-05-11

    1,3-Bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea (BCNU) kills tumor cells via multiple actions including alkylation and carbamoylation. Previously, we have reported that formation of S-nitrosoglutathione (GSNO) in glioma cells overexpressing inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) contributed to nitric oxide (NO)-dependent carbamoylating chemoresistance against BCNU. To further characterize the effects of NO on alkylating cytotoxicity, colony formation assay was applied to evaluate the effects of various NO donors on rat C6 glioma cells challenged with alkylating agents. We demonstrate that NO donors including GSNO, diethylamine NONOate (DEA/NO), and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) substantially reduced the extent of colony formation in glioma cells treated with alkylating agents, namely methyl methanesulfonate (MMS), N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU), and N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU). Without alkylating agents these NO-releasing agents alone had no effects on clongenic potential of rat C6 glioma cells. Among these three NO donors used, the effectiveness in potentiating alkylating cytotoxicity is in the order of "GSNO>DEA/NO>SNP" when applied at the same dosages. GSNO also exerted similar synergistic actions reducing the extents of colony formation when co-administrated with 1,2-bis(methylsulfonyl)-1-(2-chloroethyl)-hydrazine (compound #1), another alkylating agent that mimics the chloroethylating action of BCNU. Together with our previous findings, we propose that NO donors may be used as adjunct chemotherapy with alkylating agents for such malignant brain tumors as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). In contrast, production of NO as a result of iNOS induction, such as that occurring after surgical resection of brain tumors, may compromise the efficacy of carbamoylating chemotherapy.

  6. Reichardt's dye and its reactions with the alkylating agents 4-chloro-1-butanol, ethyl methanesulfonate, 1-bromobutane and Fast Red B - a potentially useful reagent for the detection of genotoxic impurities in pharmaceuticals.

    PubMed

    Corrigan, Damion K; Whitcombe, Michael J; McCrossen, Sean; Piletsky, Sergey

    2009-04-01

    Alkylating agents are potentially genotoxic impurities that may be present in drug products. These impurities occur in pharmaceuticals as by-products from the synthetic steps involved in drug production, as impurities in starting materials or from in-situ reactions that take place in the final drug product. Currently, analysis for genotoxic impurities is typically carried out using either HPLC/MS or GC/MS. These techniques require specialist expertise, have long analysis times and often use sample clean-up procedures. Reichardt's dye is well known for its solvatochromic properties. In this paper the dye's ability to undergo alkylation is reported. The reaction between Reichardt's dye and alkylating agents such as 4-chloro-1-butanol and ethyl methanesulfonate was monitored spectrophotometrically at 618 nm in acetonitrile and 624 nm in N,N-dimethylformamide. Changes in absorption were observed using low levels of alkylating agent (5-10 parts per million). Alkylation of the dye with 4-chloro-1-butanol and ethyl methanesulfonate was confirmed. Reichardt's dye, and its changing UV absorption, was examined in the presence of paracetamol (10 and 100 mg/ml). Whilst the alkylation-induced changes in UV absorption were not as pronounced as with standard solutions, detection of alkylation was still possible. Using standard solutions and in the presence of a drug matrix, Reichardt's dye shows promise as a reagent for detection of low levels of industrially important alkylating agents.

  7. Cross-Linking Interferes With Assessing Sulfur Mustard-Induced DNA Damage in Human Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes Using the Comet Assay

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2004-01-01

    of SM to impede the migration of H,0 2 -damaged mal ian cell lethality with bifunctional alkylating agents . Chemr. Biol. Iriterui. 38:75-86.DNA is an...3100 Ricketts Point Road, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland 21010-5400 N-3 position of adenine, and alkylation leads to depurination of Sulfur...mustard (SM) is a blistering agent that produces DNA DNA strands. Subsequent breakage of phosphodiester bonds at strand breaks. To detect SM-induced DNA

  8. Glutamine deficiency induces DNA alkylation damage and sensitizes cancer cells to alkylating agents through inhibition of ALKBH enzymes.

    PubMed

    Tran, Thai Q; Ishak Gabra, Mari B; Lowman, Xazmin H; Yang, Ying; Reid, Michael A; Pan, Min; O'Connor, Timothy R; Kong, Mei

    2017-11-01

    Driven by oncogenic signaling, glutamine addiction exhibited by cancer cells often leads to severe glutamine depletion in solid tumors. Despite this nutritional environment that tumor cells often experience, the effect of glutamine deficiency on cellular responses to DNA damage and chemotherapeutic treatment remains unclear. Here, we show that glutamine deficiency, through the reduction of alpha-ketoglutarate, inhibits the AlkB homolog (ALKBH) enzymes activity and induces DNA alkylation damage. As a result, glutamine deprivation or glutaminase inhibitor treatment triggers DNA damage accumulation independent of cell death. In addition, low glutamine-induced DNA damage is abolished in ALKBH deficient cells. Importantly, we show that glutaminase inhibitors, 6-Diazo-5-oxo-L-norleucine (DON) or CB-839, hypersensitize cancer cells to alkylating agents both in vitro and in vivo. Together, the crosstalk between glutamine metabolism and the DNA repair pathway identified in this study highlights a potential role of metabolic stress in genomic instability and therapeutic response in cancer.

  9. Glutamine deficiency induces DNA alkylation damage and sensitizes cancer cells to alkylating agents through inhibition of ALKBH enzymes

    PubMed Central

    Tran, Thai Q.; Ishak Gabra, Mari B.; Lowman, Xazmin H.; Yang, Ying; Reid, Michael A.; Pan, Min; O’Connor, Timothy R.

    2017-01-01

    Driven by oncogenic signaling, glutamine addiction exhibited by cancer cells often leads to severe glutamine depletion in solid tumors. Despite this nutritional environment that tumor cells often experience, the effect of glutamine deficiency on cellular responses to DNA damage and chemotherapeutic treatment remains unclear. Here, we show that glutamine deficiency, through the reduction of alpha-ketoglutarate, inhibits the AlkB homolog (ALKBH) enzymes activity and induces DNA alkylation damage. As a result, glutamine deprivation or glutaminase inhibitor treatment triggers DNA damage accumulation independent of cell death. In addition, low glutamine-induced DNA damage is abolished in ALKBH deficient cells. Importantly, we show that glutaminase inhibitors, 6-Diazo-5-oxo-L-norleucine (DON) or CB-839, hypersensitize cancer cells to alkylating agents both in vitro and in vivo. Together, the crosstalk between glutamine metabolism and the DNA repair pathway identified in this study highlights a potential role of metabolic stress in genomic instability and therapeutic response in cancer. PMID:29107960

  10. DNA Damage Induced by Alkylating Agents and Repair Pathways

    PubMed Central

    Kondo, Natsuko; Takahashi, Akihisa; Ono, Koji; Ohnishi, Takeo

    2010-01-01

    The cytotoxic effects of alkylating agents are strongly attenuated by cellular DNA repair processes, necessitating a clear understanding of the repair mechanisms. Simple methylating agents form adducts at N- and O-atoms. N-methylations are removed by base excision repair, AlkB homologues, or nucleotide excision repair (NER). O6-methylguanine (MeG), which can eventually become cytotoxic and mutagenic, is repaired by O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase, and O6MeG:T mispairs are recognized by the mismatch repair system (MMR). MMR cannot repair the O6MeG/T mispairs, which eventually lead to double-strand breaks. Bifunctional alkylating agents form interstrand cross-links (ICLs) which are more complex and highly cytotoxic. ICLs are repaired by complex of NER factors (e.g., endnuclease xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group F-excision repair cross-complementing rodent repair deficiency complementation group 1), Fanconi anemia repair, and homologous recombination. A detailed understanding of how cells cope with DNA damage caused by alkylating agents is therefore potentially useful in clinical medicine. PMID:21113301

  11. Isolation and characterization of Escherichia coli K-12 mutants unable to induce the adaptive response to simple alkylating agents.

    PubMed Central

    Jeggo, P

    1979-01-01

    When Esherichia coli cells are exposed to a low level of simple alkylating agents, they induce the adaptive response which renders them more resistant to the killing and the mutagenic effects of the same or other alkylating agents. This paper describes the isolation of one strain that was deficient in mutagenic adaptation and five that were deficient in both mutagenic and killing adaptation, confirming previous suggestions that killing and mutagenic adaptation are, at least to some extent, separable. These six strains have been called Ada mutants. They were more sensitive to the killing and mutagenic effects of N-methy-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) than the unadapted Ada+ parent. Thus, the adaptation pathway is responsible for circumventing some alkylation-induced damage even in cells that are preinduced. The increase in mutation frequency seen in Ada cells treated with MNNG was the same whether the cells were lexA+ or lexA, showing that the extra mutations found in Ada- strains do not depend upon the SOS pathway. Ada strains accumulated more O6-methyl guanine lesions than the Ada+ parent on prolonged exposure to MNNG, and this supports the idea that O6-methyl guanine is the most important lesion for MNNG-induced mutagenesis. The ada mutations have been shown to map in the 47 to 53-min region of the E. coli chromosome. PMID:383692

  12. Activation of the chemosensing transient receptor potential channel A1 (TRPA1) by alkylating agents.

    PubMed

    Stenger, Bernhard; Zehfuss, Franziska; Mückter, Harald; Schmidt, Annette; Balszuweit, Frank; Schäfer, Eva; Büch, Thomas; Gudermann, Thomas; Thiermann, Horst; Steinritz, Dirk

    2015-09-01

    The transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) cation channel is expressed in different tissues including skin, lung and neuronal tissue. Recent reports identified TRPA1 as a sensor for noxious substances, implicating a functional role in the molecular toxicology. TRPA1 is activated by various potentially harmful electrophilic substances. The chemical warfare agent sulfur mustard (SM) is a highly reactive alkylating agent that binds to numerous biological targets. Although SM is known for almost 200 years, detailed knowledge about the pathophysiology resulting from exposure is lacking. A specific therapy is not available. In this study, we investigated whether the alkylating agent 2-chloroethyl-ethylsulfide (CEES, a model substance for SM-promoted effects) and SM are able to activate TRPA1 channels. CEES induced a marked increase in the intracellular calcium concentration ([Ca(2+)]i) in TRPA1-expressing but not in TRPA1-negative cells. The TRP-channel blocker AP18 diminished the CEES-induced calcium influx. HEK293 cells permanently expressing TRPA1 were more sensitive toward cytotoxic effects of CEES compared with wild-type cells. At low CEES concentrations, CEES-induced cytotoxicity was prevented by AP18. Proof-of-concept experiments using SM resulted in a pronounced increase in [Ca(2+)]i in HEK293-A1-E cells. Human A549 lung epithelial cells, which express TRPA1 endogenously, reacted with a transient calcium influx in response to CEES exposure. The CEES-dependent calcium response was diminished by AP18. In summary, our results demonstrate that alkylating agents are able to activate TRPA1. Inhibition of TRPA1 counteracted cellular toxicity and could thus represent a feasible approach to mitigate SM-induced cell damage.

  13. A novel acetylation cycle of transcription co-activator Yes-associated protein that is downstream of Hippo pathway is triggered in response to SN2 alkylating agents.

    PubMed

    Hata, Shoji; Hirayama, Jun; Kajiho, Hiroaki; Nakagawa, Kentaro; Hata, Yutaka; Katada, Toshiaki; Furutani-Seiki, Makoto; Nishina, Hiroshi

    2012-06-22

    Yes-associated protein (YAP) is a transcriptional co-activator that acts downstream of the Hippo signaling pathway and regulates multiple cellular processes. Although cytoplasmic retention of YAP is known to be mediated by Hippo pathway-dependent phosphorylation, post-translational modifications that regulate YAP in the nucleus remain unclear. Here we report the discovery of a novel cycle of acetylation/deacetylation of nuclear YAP induced in response to S(N)2 alkylating agents. We show that after treatment of cells with the S(N)2 alkylating agent methyl methanesulfonate, YAP phosphorylation mediated by the Hippo pathway is markedly reduced, leading to nuclear translocation of YAP and its acetylation. This YAP acetylation occurs on specific and highly conserved C-terminal lysine residues and is mediated by the nuclear acetyltransferases CBP (CREB binding protein) and p300. Conversely, the nuclear deacetylase SIRT1 is responsible for YAP deacetylation. Intriguingly, we found that YAP acetylation is induced specifically by S(N)2 alkylating agents and not by other DNA-damaging stimuli. These results identify a novel YAP acetylation cycle that occurs in the nucleus downstream of the Hippo pathway. Intriguingly, our findings also indicate that YAP acetylation is involved in responses to a specific type of DNA damage.

  14. A Novel Acetylation Cycle of Transcription Co-activator Yes-associated Protein That Is Downstream of Hippo Pathway Is Triggered in Response to SN2 Alkylating Agents*

    PubMed Central

    Hata, Shoji; Hirayama, Jun; Kajiho, Hiroaki; Nakagawa, Kentaro; Hata, Yutaka; Katada, Toshiaki; Furutani-Seiki, Makoto; Nishina, Hiroshi

    2012-01-01

    Yes-associated protein (YAP) is a transcriptional co-activator that acts downstream of the Hippo signaling pathway and regulates multiple cellular processes. Although cytoplasmic retention of YAP is known to be mediated by Hippo pathway-dependent phosphorylation, post-translational modifications that regulate YAP in the nucleus remain unclear. Here we report the discovery of a novel cycle of acetylation/deacetylation of nuclear YAP induced in response to SN2 alkylating agents. We show that after treatment of cells with the SN2 alkylating agent methyl methanesulfonate, YAP phosphorylation mediated by the Hippo pathway is markedly reduced, leading to nuclear translocation of YAP and its acetylation. This YAP acetylation occurs on specific and highly conserved C-terminal lysine residues and is mediated by the nuclear acetyltransferases CBP (CREB binding protein) and p300. Conversely, the nuclear deacetylase SIRT1 is responsible for YAP deacetylation. Intriguingly, we found that YAP acetylation is induced specifically by SN2 alkylating agents and not by other DNA-damaging stimuli. These results identify a novel YAP acetylation cycle that occurs in the nucleus downstream of the Hippo pathway. Intriguingly, our findings also indicate that YAP acetylation is involved in responses to a specific type of DNA damage. PMID:22544757

  15. N-methylpurine DNA glycosylase inhibits p53-mediated cell cycle arrest and coordinates with p53 to determine sensitivity to alkylating agents

    PubMed Central

    Song, Shanshan; Xing, Guichun; Yuan, Lin; Wang, Jian; Wang, Shan; Yin, Yuxin; Tian, Chunyan; He, Fuchu; Zhang, Lingqiang

    2012-01-01

    Alkylating agents induce genome-wide base damage, which is repaired mainly by N-methylpurine DNA glycosylase (MPG). An elevated expression of MPG in certain types of tumor cells confers higher sensitivity to alkylation agents because MPG-induced apurinic/apyrimidic (AP) sites trigger more strand breaks. However, the determinant of drug sensitivity or insensitivity still remains unclear. Here, we report that the p53 status coordinates with MPG to play a pivotal role in such process. MPG expression is positive in breast, lung and colon cancers (38.7%, 43.4% and 25.3%, respectively) but negative in all adjacent normal tissues. MPG directly binds to the tumor suppressor p53 and represses p53 activity in unstressed cells. The overexpression of MPG reduced, whereas depletion of MPG increased, the expression levels of pro-arrest gene downstream of p53 including p21, 14-3-3σ and Gadd45 but not proapoptotic ones. The N-terminal region of MPG was specifically required for the interaction with the DNA binding domain of p53. Upon DNA alkylation stress, in p53 wild-type tumor cells, p53 dissociated from MPG and induced cell growth arrest. Then, AP sites were repaired efficiently, which led to insensitivity to alkylating agents. By contrast, in p53-mutated cells, the AP sites were repaired with low efficacy. To our knowledge, this is the first direct evidence to show that a DNA repair enzyme functions as a selective regulator of p53, and these findings provide new insights into the functional linkage between MPG and p53 in cancer therapy. PMID:22801474

  16. N-methylpurine DNA glycosylase inhibits p53-mediated cell cycle arrest and coordinates with p53 to determine sensitivity to alkylating agents.

    PubMed

    Song, Shanshan; Xing, Guichun; Yuan, Lin; Wang, Jian; Wang, Shan; Yin, Yuxin; Tian, Chunyan; He, Fuchu; Zhang, Lingqiang

    2012-08-01

    Alkylating agents induce genome-wide base damage, which is repaired mainly by N-methylpurine DNA glycosylase (MPG). An elevated expression of MPG in certain types of tumor cells confers higher sensitivity to alkylation agents because MPG-induced apurinic/apyrimidic (AP) sites trigger more strand breaks. However, the determinant of drug sensitivity or insensitivity still remains unclear. Here, we report that the p53 status coordinates with MPG to play a pivotal role in such process. MPG expression is positive in breast, lung and colon cancers (38.7%, 43.4% and 25.3%, respectively) but negative in all adjacent normal tissues. MPG directly binds to the tumor suppressor p53 and represses p53 activity in unstressed cells. The overexpression of MPG reduced, whereas depletion of MPG increased, the expression levels of pro-arrest gene downstream of p53 including p21, 14-3-3σ and Gadd45 but not proapoptotic ones. The N-terminal region of MPG was specifically required for the interaction with the DNA binding domain of p53. Upon DNA alkylation stress, in p53 wild-type tumor cells, p53 dissociated from MPG and induced cell growth arrest. Then, AP sites were repaired efficiently, which led to insensitivity to alkylating agents. By contrast, in p53-mutated cells, the AP sites were repaired with low efficacy. To our knowledge, this is the first direct evidence to show that a DNA repair enzyme functions as a selective regulator of p53, and these findings provide new insights into the functional linkage between MPG and p53 in cancer therapy.

  17. Antioxidant and antigenotoxic role of recombinant human erythropoeitin against alkylating agents: cisplatin and mitomycin C in cultured Vero cells.

    PubMed

    Rjiba-Touati, Karima; Ayed-Boussema, Imen; Soualeh, Nidhal; Achour, Abdellatif; Bacha, Hassen; Abid, Salwa

    2013-08-01

    Cisplatin (CDDP) and mitomycin C (MMC), two alkylating agents used against various solid tumours, are a common source of acute kidney injury. Thus, strategies for minimizing CDDP and MMC toxicity are of a clinical interest. In this study, we aimed to investigate the protective role of recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEPO) against oxidative stress and genotoxicity induced by CDDP and MMC in cultured Vero cells. Three types of treatments were performed: (i) cells were treated with rhEPO 24 h before exposure to CDDP/MMC (pre-treatment), (ii) cells were treated with rhEPO and CDDP/MMC simultaneously (co-treatment), (iii) cells were treated with rhEPO 24 h after exposure to CDDP/MMC (post-treatment). Our results showed that rhEPO decreased the reactive oxygen species levels, the malondialdehyde levels and ameliorated glutathione (reduced and oxidized glutathione) modulation induced by CDDP and MMC in cultured Vero cells. Furthermore, rhEPO administration prevented alkylating agents-induced DNA damage accessed by comet test. Altogether, our results suggested a protective role of rhEPO, against CDDP- and MMC-induced oxidative stress and genotoxicity, especially in pre-treatment condition.

  18. Distinct pathways for repairing mutagenic lesions induced by methylating and ethylating agents

    PubMed Central

    Negishi, Tomoe

    2013-01-01

    DNA alkylation damage can be repaired by nucleotide excision repair (NER), base excision repair (BER) or by direct removal of alkyl groups from modified bases by O 6-alkylguanine DNA alkyltransferase (AGT; E.C. 2.1.1.63). DNA mismatch repair (MMR) is also likely involved in this repair. We have investigated alkylation-induced mutagenesis in a series of NER- or AGT-deficient Escherichia coli strains, alone or in combination with defects in the MutS, MutL or MutH components of MMR. All strains used contained the Fʹprolac from strain CC102 (FʹCC102) episome capable of detecting specifically lac GC to AT reverse mutations resulting from O 6-alkylguanine. The results showed the repair of O 6-methylguanine to be performed by AGT ≫ MMR > NER in order of importance, whereas the repair of O 6-ethylguanine followed the order NER > AGT > MMR. Studies with double mutants showed that in the absence of AGT or NER repair pathways, the lack of MutS protein generally increased mutant frequencies for both methylating and ethylating agents, suggesting a repair or mutation avoidance role for this protein. However, lack of MutL or MutH protein did not increase alkylation-induced mutagenesis under these conditions and, in fact, reduced mutagenesis by the N-alkyl-N-nitrosoureas MNU and ENU. The combined results suggest that little or no alkylation damage is actually corrected by the mutHLS MMR system; instead, an as yet unspecified interaction of MutS protein with alkylated DNA may promote the involvement of a repair system other than MMR to avoid a mutagenic outcome. Furthermore, both mutagenic and antimutagenic effects of MMR were detected, revealing a dual function of the MMR system in alkylation-exposed cells. PMID:23446177

  19. Alkylating chemotherapy may exert a uniquely deleterious effect upon neo-antigen-targeting anticancer vaccination

    PubMed Central

    Litterman, Adam J; Dudek, Arkadiusz Z; Largaespada, David A

    2013-01-01

    Alkylating chemotherapy exerts both antineoplastic and immunostimulatory effects. However, in addition to depleting regulatory T cells (Treg), alkylating agents also mediate a long lasting antiproliferative effect on responder lymphocytes. Our recent findings indicate that this antiproliferative effect profoundly impairs vaccination-induced immune responses, especially in the case of vaccines that target specific tumor-associated neo-antigens that do not require Treg depletion. PMID:24251080

  20. Intramolecular homolytic displacements. 30. Functional decarbonylative transformations of aldehydes via homolytically induced decomposition of unsaturated peroxyacetals

    PubMed

    Degueil-Castaing; Moutet; Maillard

    2000-06-30

    Homolytically induced decompositions of unsaturated peroxyacetals, synthesized from aldehydes, gave alkoxyalkoxyl radicals that yielded alkyl radicals by rapid beta-scission. The latter radicals could react with several types of "transfer agents" to smoothly bring about homolytic decarbonylative functional group transformations of aldehydes into halides, hydrocarbons, xanthates, alkanenitriles, 2-alkyl-3-chloromaleic anhydrides, 1-phenylalk-1-ynes, and ethyl 2-alkylpropenoates.

  1. Radiation-induced transmethylation and transsulfuration in the system DNA-methionine

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Köhnlein, W.; Merwitz, O.; Ohneseit, P.

    Evidence is presented for the radiation-induced transmethylation and transsulfuration in a DNA-methionine model system. The extent of such alkylation of DNA is found to be comparable with that of alkylating agents. Therefore, both processes could be initial steps in radiation carcinogenesis. The protective effect of methionine on DNA strand breaks, due to scavenging of OH radicals, causes the formation of methyl and thiyl radicals.

  2. Research on DNA methylation of human osteosarcoma cell MGMT and its relationship with cell resistance to alkylating agents.

    PubMed

    Guo, Jun; Cui, Qiu; Jiang, WeiHao; Liu, Cheng; Li, DingFeng; Zeng, Yanjun

    2013-08-01

    The objective of this study was to explore the O(6)-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) gene methylation status and its protein expression, as well as the effects of demethylating agent 5-Aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5-Aza-CdR) on MGMT gene expression and its resistance to alkylating agents, and to elucidate MGMT expression mechanism and significance in osteosarcoma. The human osteosarcoma cell lines Saos-2 and MG-63 were collected and treated with 5-Aza-CdR for 6 days. The cells not treated with 5-Aza-CdR were set as a negative control. The genomic DNA was extracted from the Saos-2 and MG-63 cells using methylation-specific PCR to detect the promoter CpG island methylation status of the MGMT gene. Cell sensitivity to alkylating agents before and after drug administration was detected by the MTT method. The variation in MGMT gene mRNA and protein was detected by reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) and Western blotting. The MGMT promoter gene of normal Saos-2 cells was methylated, with reduced MGMT mRNA and protein expression; the MGMT mRNA and protein expression of Saos-2 cells treated with 5-Aza-CdR was obviously enhanced, and its sensitivity to alkylating agents was reversed. Meanwhile, with promoter CpG island unmethylation of the MGMT gene, MGMT protein was expressed in the normal MG-63 cells and the MG-63 cells treated with 5-Aza-CdR, and both showed resistance to alkylating agents. The methylation status of the MGMT gene promoter in human osteosarcoma cells reflected the cells' ability to induce MGMT protein expression and can be used as a molecular marker to project the sensitivity of cancer tissues to alkylating agent drugs.

  3. Polymerization of ethylene through reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT).

    PubMed

    Dommanget, Cédric; D'Agosto, Franck; Monteil, Vincent

    2014-06-23

    The present paper reports the first example of a controlled radical polymerization of ethylene using reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) in the presence of xanthates (Alkyl-OC(=S)S-R) as controlling agents under relative mild conditions (70 °C, <200 bars). The specific reactivity of the produced alkyl-type propagating radicals induces a side fragmentation reaction of the stabilizing O-alkyl Z group of the controlling agents. This fragmentation, rarely observed in RAFT, was proven by NMR analyses. In addition, semicrystalline copolymers of ethylene and vinyl acetate were also prepared with a similar level of control. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  4. Dephosphorylation of receptor tyrosine kinases as target of regulation by radiation, oxidants or alkylating agents.

    PubMed Central

    Knebel, A; Rahmsdorf, H J; Ullrich, A; Herrlich, P

    1996-01-01

    Several non-physiologic agents such as radiation, oxidants and alkylating agents induce ligand-independent activation of numerous receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) and of protein tyrosine kinases at the inner side of the plasma membrane (e.g. Dévary et al., 1992; Sachsenmaier et al., 1994; Schieven et al., 1994; Coffer et al., 1995). Here we show additional evidence for the activation of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), and we show activation of v-ErbB, ErbB2 and platelet-derived growth factor receptor. As a common principle of action the inducing agents such as UVC, UVB, UVA, hydrogen peroxide and iodoacetamide inhibit receptor tyrosine dephosphorylation in a thiol-sensitive and, with the exception of the SH-alkylating agent, reversible manner. EGFR dephosphorylation can also be modulated by these non-physiologic agents in isolated plasma membranes in the presence of Triton X-100. Further, substrate (EGFR) and phosphatase have been separated: a membrane preparation of cells that have been treated with epidermal growth factor (EGF) and whose dephosphorylating enzymes have been permanently destroyed by iodoacetamide can be mixed with a membrane preparation from untreated cells which re-establishes EGFR dephosphorylation. This dephosphorylation can be modulated in vitro by UV and thiol agents. We conclude that RTKs exhibit significant spontaneous protein kinase activity; several adverse agents target (an) essential SH-group(s) carried by (a) membrane-bound protein tyrosine phosphatase(s). Images PMID:8895576

  5. Induction by alkylating agents of sister chromatid exchanges and chromatid breaks in Fanconi's anemia.

    PubMed

    Latt, S A; Stetten, G; Juergens, L A; Buchanan, G R; Gerald, P S

    1975-10-01

    Sister chromatid exchanges, which may reflect chromosome repair in response to certain types of DNA damage, provide a means of investigating the increased chromosome fragility characteristic of Fanconi's anemia. By a recently developed technique using 33258 Hoechst and 5-bromodeoxyuridine, it was observed that the baseline frequency of sister chromatid exchanges in phytohemagglutinin-stimulated lymphocytes from four males with Fanconi's anemia differed little from that of normal lymphocytes. However, addition of the bifunctional alkylating agent mitomycin C (0.01 or 0.03 mug/ml) to the Fanconi's anemia cells during culture induces less than half of the increase in exchanges found in identically treated normal lymphocytes. This reduced increment in exchanges in accompanied by a partial suppression of mitosis and a marked increase in chromatid breaks and rearrangements. Many of these events occur at sites of incomplete chromatid interchange. The increase in sister chromatid exchanges induced in Fanconi's anemia lymphocytes by the monofunctional alkylating agent ethylmethane sulfonate (0.25 mg/ml) was slightly less than that in normal cells. Lymphocytes from two sets of parents of the patients with Fanconi's anemia exhibited a normal response to alkylating agents, while dermal fibroblasts from two different patients with Fanconi's anemia reacted to mitomycin C with an increase in chromatid breaks, but a nearly normal increment of sister chromatid exchanges. The results suggest that chromosomal breaks and rearrangements in Fanconi's anemia lymphocytes may result from a defect in a form of repair of DNA damage.

  6. Active oligonucleotides incorporating alkylating an agent as potential sequence- and base selective modifier of gene expression.

    PubMed

    Sasaki, S

    2001-04-01

    A number of cross-linking (alkylating) agents have been developed and incorporated into the oligonulceotides for sequence selective control of gene expression. Recently, potential application of such active oligonucleotides has been expanding from use for improvement of inhibition efficiency to new biotechnology that may enable chemical alteration of genetic information. These interests in active oligonucleotides have encouraged the generation of new cross-linking agents that exhibit high efficiency for application of either in vitro or in vivo. This mini review summarizes structures of alkylating agents, in particular, a new basic skeleton for cross-linking, a 2'-deoxyribose derivative of 2-amino-6-vinylpurine that has been recently developed by the author's group. The 2-amino-6-vinylpurine has been shown to form a complex with cytidine under acidic conditions, and brings the vinyl and the amino reactive groups into proximity to achieve efficient alkylation. A new strategy was designed so that the reactivity of 2-amino-6-vinylpurine can be induced from the corresponding phenylsulfoxide derivative within a duplex with the complementary strand. The validity of the new strategy has been proven by achievement of cytidine-selective cross-linking with remarkably efficiency.

  7. Cytotoxic and apoptotic effects of bortezomib and gefitinib compared to alkylating agents on human glioblastoma cells.

    PubMed

    Pédeboscq, Stéphane; L'Azou, Béatrice; Passagne, Isabelle; De Giorgi, Francesca; Ichas, François; Pometan, Jean-Paul; Cambar, Jean

    2008-01-01

    Glioblastoma is a malignant astrocytic tumor with a median survival of about 12 months for which new therapeutic strategies are required. We therefore examined the cytotoxicity of anticancer drugs with different mechanisms of action on two human glioblastoma cell lines expressing various levels of EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor). Apoptosis induced by these anticancer agents was evaluated by flow cytometry. The cytotoxicity of alkylating drugs followed a dose-effect curve and cytotoxicity index values were lower with carboplatin than with BCNU and temozolomide. Anti-EGFR gefitinib (10 microM) cytotoxicity on DBTRG.05-MG expressing high levels of EGFR was significantly higher than on U87-MG expressing low levels of EGFR. Carboplatin and temozolomide cytotoxicity was potentiated with the addition of gefitinib on DBTRG.05-MG. Among the anticancer agents tested, the proteasome inhibitor bortezomib was the most cytotoxic with very low IC50 on the two cell lines. Moreover, all anticancer drugs tested induced apoptosis in a concentration-dependent manner. Bortezomib proved to be a more potent inductor of apoptosis than gefitinib and alkylating agents. These results show the efficacy of bortezomib and of the association between conventional chemotherapy and gefitinib on glioblastoma cells and therefore suggest the interest of these molecules in the treatment of glioblastoma.

  8. Influence of DNA Repair on Nonlinear Dose-Responses for Mutation

    PubMed Central

    Johnson, George E.

    2013-01-01

    Recent evidence has challenged the default assumption that all DNA-reactive alkylating agents exhibit a linear dose-response. Emerging evidence suggests that the model alkylating agents methyl- and ethylmethanesulfonate and methylnitrosourea (MNU) and ethylnitrosourea observe a nonlinear dose-response with a no observed genotoxic effect level (NOGEL). Follow-up mechanistic studies are essential to understand the mechanism of cellular tolerance and biological relevance of such NOGELs. MNU is one of the most mutagenic simple alkylators. Therefore, understanding the mechanism of mutation induction, following low-dose MNU treatment, sets precedence for weaker mutagenic alkylating agents. Here, we tested MNU at 10-fold lower concentrations than a previous study and report a NOGEL of 0.0075 µg/ml (72.8nM) in human lymphoblastoid cells, quantified through the hypoxanthine (guanine) phosphoribosyltransferase assay (OECD 476). Mechanistic studies reveal that the NOGEL is dependent upon repair of O6-methylguanine (O6MeG) by the suicide enzyme O6MeG-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT). Inactivation of MGMT sensitizes cells to MNU-induced mutagenesis and shifts the NOGEL to the left on the dose axis. PMID:23288051

  9. Influence of DNA repair on nonlinear dose-responses for mutation.

    PubMed

    Thomas, Adam D; Jenkins, Gareth J S; Kaina, Bernd; Bodger, Owen G; Tomaszowski, Karl-Heinz; Lewis, Paul D; Doak, Shareen H; Johnson, George E

    2013-03-01

    Recent evidence has challenged the default assumption that all DNA-reactive alkylating agents exhibit a linear dose-response. Emerging evidence suggests that the model alkylating agents methyl- and ethylmethanesulfonate and methylnitrosourea (MNU) and ethylnitrosourea observe a nonlinear dose-response with a no observed genotoxic effect level (NOGEL). Follow-up mechanistic studies are essential to understand the mechanism of cellular tolerance and biological relevance of such NOGELs. MNU is one of the most mutagenic simple alkylators. Therefore, understanding the mechanism of mutation induction, following low-dose MNU treatment, sets precedence for weaker mutagenic alkylating agents. Here, we tested MNU at 10-fold lower concentrations than a previous study and report a NOGEL of 0.0075 µg/ml (72.8nM) in human lymphoblastoid cells, quantified through the hypoxanthine (guanine) phosphoribosyltransferase assay (OECD 476). Mechanistic studies reveal that the NOGEL is dependent upon repair of O(6)-methylguanine (O(6)MeG) by the suicide enzyme O(6)MeG-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT). Inactivation of MGMT sensitizes cells to MNU-induced mutagenesis and shifts the NOGEL to the left on the dose axis.

  10. Sensitization of melanoma cells to alkylating agent-induced DNA damage and cell death via orchestrating oxidative stress and IKKβ inhibition.

    PubMed

    Tse, Anfernee Kai-Wing; Chen, Ying-Jie; Fu, Xiu-Qiong; Su, Tao; Li, Ting; Guo, Hui; Zhu, Pei-Li; Kwan, Hiu-Yee; Cheng, Brian Chi-Yan; Cao, Hui-Hui; Lee, Sally Kin-Wah; Fong, Wang-Fun; Yu, Zhi-Ling

    2017-04-01

    Nitrosourea represents one of the most active classes of chemotherapeutic alkylating agents for metastatic melanoma. Treatment with nitrosoureas caused severe systemic side effects which hamper its clinical use. Here, we provide pharmacological evidence that reactive oxygen species (ROS) induction and IKKβ inhibition cooperatively enhance nitrosourea-induced cytotoxicity in melanoma cells. We identified SC-514 as a ROS-inducing IKKβ inhibitor which enhanced the function of nitrosoureas. Elevated ROS level results in increased DNA crosslink efficiency triggered by nitrosoureas and IKKβ inhibition enhances DNA damage signals and sensitizes nitrosourea-induced cell death. Using xenograft mouse model, we confirm that ROS-inducing IKKβ inhibitor cooperates with nitrosourea to reduce tumor size and malignancy in vivo. Taken together, our results illustrate a new direction in nitrosourea treatment, and reveal that the combination of ROS-inducing IKKβ inhibitors with nitrosoureas can be potentially exploited for melanoma therapy. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Synergistic effects of N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (an alkylating agent with a low Swain-Scott substrate constant) and X-rays in the stamen hairs of Tradescantia clone BNL 4430.

    PubMed

    Shima, N; Ichikawa, S

    1997-01-01

    The mutagenic interaction between N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) and X-rays was tested in the stamen hairs of Tradescantia clone BNL 4430, a blue/pink heterozygote. ENU, a monofunctional alkylating agent with a low Swain-Scott substrate constant (s) of 0.26, exhibited a strong cytotoxicity. ENU-induced somatic pink mutation frequency per 10(4) hair-cell divisions increased with increasing ENU dose, with a slope of 1.243 on a log-log graph, the slope value being similar to that for X-ray-induced mutation frequency. Three out of five combined treatments with ENU and X-rays produced mutation frequencies significantly higher than those expected from the additive effects of the two mutagens. Clear synergistic effects were detected when relatively higher X-ray doses were applied, resembling those confirmed earlier between methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) and X-rays, although the s value for ENU is very much smaller than that (0.88) for MMS. It is therefore concluded that mutagenic interactions between alkylating agents and X-rays do not have any clear relationship with the s values.

  12. A comparison of the cytogenetic alterations and global DNA hypomethylation induced by the benzene metabolite, hydroquinone, with those induced by melphalan and etoposide

    PubMed Central

    Ji, Z; Zhang, L; Peng, V.; Ren, X; McHale, CM; Smith, MT

    2015-01-01

    Specific cytogenetic alterations and changes in DNA methylation are involved in leukemogenesis. Benzene, an established human leukemogen, is known to induce cytogenetic changes through its active metabolites including hydroquinone (HQ), but the specific alterations have not been fully characterized. Global DNA hypomethylation was reported in a population exposed to benzene, but has not been confirmed in vitro. In this study, we examined cytogenetic changes in chromosomes 5, 7, 8, 11 and 21, and global DNA methylation in human TK6 lymphoblastoid cells treated with HQ for 48 h, and compared the HQ-induced alterations with those induced by two well-known leukemogens, melphalan, an alkylating agent, and etoposide, a DNA topoisomerase II inhibitor. We found that rather than inducing cytogenetic alterations distinct from those induced by melphalan and etoposide, HQ induced alterations characteristic of each agent. HQ induced global DNA hypomethylation at a level intermediate to melphalan (no effect) and etoposide (potent effect). These results suggest that HQ may act similar to an alkylating agent and also similar to a DNA topoisomerase II inhibitor in living cells, both of which may be potential mechanisms of benzene toxicity. In addition to cytogenetic changes, global DNA hypomethylation may be another mechanism underlying the leukemogenicity of benzene. PMID:20339439

  13. Detection of Alkylating Agents using Electrical and Mechanical Means

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gerchikov, Yulia; Borzin, Elena; Gannot, Yair; Shemesh, Ariel; Meltzman, Shai; Hertzog-Ronen, Carmit; Tal, Shay; Stolyarova, Sara; Nemirovsky, Yael; Tessler, Nir; Eichen, Yoav

    2011-08-01

    Alkylating agents are reactive molecules having at least one polar bond between a carbon atom and a good leaving group. These often simple molecules are frequently used in organic synthesis, as sterilizing agents in agriculture and even as anticancer agents in medicine. Unfortunately, for over a century, some of the highly reactive alkylating agents are also being used as blister chemical warfare agents. Being relatively simple to make, the risk is that these will be applied by terrorists as poor people warfare agents. The detection and identification of such alkylating agents is not a simple task because of their high reactivity and simple structure of the reactive site. Here we report on new approaches to the detection and identification of such alkylating agents using electrical (organic field effect transistors) and mechanical (microcantilevers) means.

  14. Reevaluation of the effect of ellagic acid on N-methyl-N-nitrosourea DNA alkylation and mutagenicity

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Lord, H.L.; Josephy, P.D.; Snieckus, V.A.

    N-Methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) is a reactive, mutagenic methylating agent. MNU methylates DNA at various sites, including guanine N{sup 7}, guanine O{sup 6}, and adenine N{sup 3}. Dixit and Gold ((1986) Proc. Natl, Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 83, 8039-8043) reported that ellagic acid, a phenolic natural product, inhibited the mutagenicity of MNU in Salmonella typhimurium strain TA 100, inhibited salmon sperm DNA alkylation by ({sup 3}H)MNU, and also greatly reduced the ratio of guanine O{sup 6} to guanine N{sup 7} alkylation. We have examined the MNU-induced alkylation of calf thymus DNA and evaluated the effect of ellagic acid on this binding. Ellagic acidmore » had only a slight effect on total alkylation and did not alter the ratio of methylation at guanine-O{sup 6} and -N{sup 7} positions. In further experiments, ellagic acid did not significantly inhibit MNU mutagenicity. These findings do not support the potential use of ellagic acid as an inhibitor of biological damage induced by nitrosoureas.« less

  15. Thioimidazolium Ionic Liquids as Tunable Alkylating Agents.

    PubMed

    Guterman, Ryan; Miao, Han; Antonietti, Markus

    2018-01-19

    Alkylating ionic liquids based on the thioimidazolium structure combine the conventional properties of ionic liquids, including low melting point and nonvolatility, with the alkylating function. Alkyl transfer occurs exclusively from the S-alkyl position, thus allowing for easy derivatization of the structure without compromising specificity. We apply this feature to tune the electrophilicty of the cation to profoundly affect the reactivity of these alkylating ionic liquids, with a caffeine-derived compound possessing the highest reactivity. Anion choice was found to affect reaction rates, with iodide anions assisting in the alkylation reaction through a "shuttling" process. The ability to tune the properties of the alkylating agent using the toolbox of ionic liquid chemistry highlights the modular nature of these compounds as a platform for alkylating agent design and integration in to future systems.

  16. HeLa Cells Containing a Truncated Form of DNA Polymerase Beta are More Sensitized to Alkylating Agents than to Agents Inducing Oxidative Stress.

    PubMed

    Khanra, Kalyani; Chakraborty, Anindita; Bhattacharyya, Nandan

    2015-01-01

    The present study was aimed at determining the effects of alkylating and oxidative stress inducing agents on a newly identified variant of DNA polymerase beta (polβ Δ208-304) specific for ovarian cancer. Pol β Δ208-304 has a deletion of exons 11-13 which lie in the catalytic part of enzyme. We compared the effect of these chemicals on HeLa cells and HeLa cells stably transfected with this variant cloned into in pcDNAI/neo vector by MTT, colony forming and apoptosis assays. Polβ Δ208-304 cells exhibited greater sensitivity to an alkylating agent and less sensitivity towards H2O2 and UV when compared with HeLa cells alone. It has been shown that cell death in Pol β Δ208-304 transfected HeLa cells is mediated by the caspase 9 cascade. Exon 11 has nucleotidyl selection activity, while exons 12 and 13 have dNTP selection activity. Hence deletion of this part may affect polymerizing activity although single strand binding and double strand binding activity may remain same. The lack of this part may adversely affect catalytic activity of DNA polymerase beta so that the variant may act as a dominant negative mutant. This would represent clinical significance if translated into a clinical setting because resistance to radiation or chemotherapy during the relapse of the disease could be potentially overcome by this approach.

  17. Small molecule inhibitors of ERCC1-XPF protein-protein interaction synergize alkylating agents in cancer cells.

    PubMed

    Jordheim, Lars Petter; Barakat, Khaled H; Heinrich-Balard, Laurence; Matera, Eva-Laure; Cros-Perrial, Emeline; Bouledrak, Karima; El Sabeh, Rana; Perez-Pineiro, Rolando; Wishart, David S; Cohen, Richard; Tuszynski, Jack; Dumontet, Charles

    2013-07-01

    The benefit of cancer chemotherapy based on alkylating agents is limited because of the action of DNA repair enzymes, which mitigate the damage induced by these agents. The interaction between the proteins ERCC1 and XPF involves two major components of the nucleotide excision repair pathway. Here, novel inhibitors of this interaction were identified by virtual screening based on available structures with use of the National Cancer Institute diversity set and a panel of DrugBank small molecules. Subsequently, experimental validation of the in silico screening was undertaken. Top hits were evaluated on A549 and HCT116 cancer cells. In particular, the compound labeled NSC 130813 [4-[(6-chloro-2-methoxy-9-acridinyl)amino]-2-[(4-methyl-1-piperazinyl)methyl

  18. Targeting neddylation induces DNA damage and checkpoint activation and sensitizes chronic lymphocytic leukemia B cells to alkylating agents.

    PubMed

    Paiva, C; Godbersen, J C; Berger, A; Brown, J R; Danilov, A V

    2015-07-09

    Microenvironment-mediated upregulation of the B-cell receptor (BCR) and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling in CLL cells resident in the lymph node and bone marrow promotes apoptosis evasion and clonal expansion. We recently reported that MLN4924 (pevonedistat), an investigational agent that inhibits the NEDD8-activating enzyme (NAE), abrogates stromal-mediated NF-κB pathway activity and CLL cell survival. However, the NAE pathway also assists degradation of multiple other substrates. MLN4924 has been shown to induce DNA damage and cell cycle arrest, but the importance of this mechanism in primary neoplastic B cells has not been studied. Here we mimicked the lymph node microenvironment using CD40 ligand (CD40L)-expressing stroma and interleukin-21 (IL-21) to find that inducing proliferation of the primary CLL cells conferred enhanced sensitivity to NAE inhibition. Treatment of the CD40-stimulated CLL cells with MLN4924 resulted in deregulation of Cdt1, a DNA replication licensing factor, and cell cycle inhibitors p21 and p27. This led to DNA damage, checkpoint activation and G2 arrest. Alkylating agents bendamustine and chlorambucil enhanced MLN4924-mediated DNA damage and apoptosis. These events were more prominent in cells stimulated with IL-21 compared with CD40L alone, indicating that, following NAE inhibition, the culture conditions were able to direct CLL cell fate from an NF-κB inhibition to a Cdt1 induction program. Our data provide insight into the biological consequences of targeting NAE in CLL and serves as further rationale for studying the clinical activity of MLN4924 in CLL, particularly in combination with alkylating agents.

  19. Targeting neddylation induces DNA damage and checkpoint activation and sensitizes chronic lymphocytic leukemia B cells to alkylating agents

    PubMed Central

    Paiva, C; Godbersen, J C; Berger, A; Brown, J R; Danilov, A V

    2015-01-01

    Microenvironment-mediated upregulation of the B-cell receptor (BCR) and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling in CLL cells resident in the lymph node and bone marrow promotes apoptosis evasion and clonal expansion. We recently reported that MLN4924 (pevonedistat), an investigational agent that inhibits the NEDD8-activating enzyme (NAE), abrogates stromal-mediated NF-κB pathway activity and CLL cell survival. However, the NAE pathway also assists degradation of multiple other substrates. MLN4924 has been shown to induce DNA damage and cell cycle arrest, but the importance of this mechanism in primary neoplastic B cells has not been studied. Here we mimicked the lymph node microenvironment using CD40 ligand (CD40L)-expressing stroma and interleukin-21 (IL-21) to find that inducing proliferation of the primary CLL cells conferred enhanced sensitivity to NAE inhibition. Treatment of the CD40-stimulated CLL cells with MLN4924 resulted in deregulation of Cdt1, a DNA replication licensing factor, and cell cycle inhibitors p21 and p27. This led to DNA damage, checkpoint activation and G2 arrest. Alkylating agents bendamustine and chlorambucil enhanced MLN4924-mediated DNA damage and apoptosis. These events were more prominent in cells stimulated with IL-21 compared with CD40L alone, indicating that, following NAE inhibition, the culture conditions were able to direct CLL cell fate from an NF-κB inhibition to a Cdt1 induction program. Our data provide insight into the biological consequences of targeting NAE in CLL and serves as further rationale for studying the clinical activity of MLN4924 in CLL, particularly in combination with alkylating agents. PMID:26158513

  20. Molecular design of sequence specific DNA alkylating agents.

    PubMed

    Minoshima, Masafumi; Bando, Toshikazu; Shinohara, Ken-ichi; Sugiyama, Hiroshi

    2009-01-01

    Sequence-specific DNA alkylating agents have great interest for novel approach to cancer chemotherapy. We designed the conjugates between pyrrole (Py)-imidazole (Im) polyamides and DNA alkylating chlorambucil moiety possessing at different positions. The sequence-specific DNA alkylation by conjugates was investigated by using high-resolution denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). The results showed that polyamide chlorambucil conjugates alkylate DNA at flanking adenines in recognition sequences of Py-Im polyamides, however, the reactivities and alkylation sites were influenced by the positions of conjugation. In addition, we synthesized conjugate between Py-Im polyamide and another alkylating agent, 1-(chloromethyl)-5-hydroxy-1,2-dihydro-3H-benz[e]indole (seco-CBI). DNA alkylation reactivies by both alkylating polyamides were almost comparable. In contrast, cytotoxicities against cell lines differed greatly. These comparative studies would promote development of appropriate sequence-specific DNA alkylating polyamides against specific cancer cells.

  1. [Combi-molecules: a global approach towards better chemoselectivity and chemosensitivity].

    PubMed

    Matheson, Stéphanie; Qiu, Qiyu; Brahimi, Fouad; Dudouit, Fabienne; Banerjee, Ranjita; Rachid, Zakaria; Jean-Claude, Bertrand J

    2004-12-01

    It is now known that tumour cells possess many signaling pathways to repair damage inflicted by alkylating agents. However, most of these cytotoxic agents only target DNA and this does not suffice to induce sustained antiproliferative activity. Furthermore, the efficacy of antitumour alkylating agents is hampered by a lack of selectivity for tumour tissues. To circumvent these problems, we recently designed a novel strategy termed combi-targeting that sought to synthesize compounds capable of not only damaging DNA, but also blocking signaling associated with aggressive proliferation. The first prototypes described herein can block signaling associated with the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and significantly damage DNA. In addition to their binary EGFR/DNA targeting properties, we demonstrated that their effects are selective for cells to which EGFR has conferred a proliferative advantage. These novel agents with mixed targeting properties are termed "combi-molecules".

  2. Photo-triggered fluorescent theranostic prodrugs as DNA alkylating agents for mechlorethamine release and spatiotemporal monitoring.

    PubMed

    Cao, Yanting; Pan, Rong; Xuan, Weimin; Wei, Yongyi; Liu, Kejian; Zhou, Jiahong; Wang, Wei

    2015-06-28

    We describe a new theranostic strategy for selective delivery and spatiotemporal monitoring of mechlorethamine, a DNA alkylating agent. A photo-responsive prodrug is designed and composed of a photolabile o-nitrophenylethyl group, a DNA alkylating mechlorethamine drug and a coumarin fluorophore. Masking of the "N" in mechlorethamine in a positively charged state in the prodrug renders it inactive, non-toxic, selective and non-fluorescent. Indeed, the stable prodrug shows negligible cytotoxicity towards normal cells with and without UV activation and is completely non-fluorescent. However, upon photo-irradiation, the active mechlorethamine is released and induces efficient DNA cross-links, accompanied by a strong fluorescence enhancement (152 fold). Furthermore, DNA cross-linking activity from the release can be transformed into anticancer activity observed in in vitro studies of tumor cells. Importantly, the drug release progress and the movement can be conveniently monitored by fluorescence spectroscopy. The mechanistic study proves that the DNA cross-linking activity is mainly due to the release of DNA alkylating mechlorethamine. Altogether, the studies show the power of the theranostic strategy for efficient therapy in cancer treatment.

  3. Synthesis and DNA cleavage activity of Bis-3-chloropiperidines as alkylating agents.

    PubMed

    Zuravka, Ivonne; Roesmann, Rolf; Sosic, Alice; Wende, Wolfgang; Pingoud, Alfred; Gatto, Barbara; Göttlich, Richard

    2014-09-01

    Nitrogen mustards are an important class of bifunctional alkylating agents routinely used in chemotherapy. They react with DNA as electrophiles through the formation of highly reactive aziridinium ion intermediates. The antibiotic 593A, with potential antitumor activity, can be considered a naturally occurring piperidine mustard containing a unique 3-chloropiperidine ring. However, the total synthesis of this antibiotic proved to be rather challenging. With the aim of designing simplified analogues of this natural product, we developed an efficient bidirectional synthetic route to bis-3-chloropiperidines joined by flexible, conformationally restricted, or rigid diamine linkers. The key step involves an iodide-catalyzed double cyclization of unsaturated bis-N-chloroamines to simultaneously generate both piperidine rings. Herein we describe the synthesis and subsequent evaluation of a series of novel nitrogen-bridged bis-3-chloropiperidines, enabling the study of the impact of the linker structure on DNA alkylation properties. Our studies reveal that the synthesized compounds possess DNA alkylating abilities and induce strand cleavage, with a strong preference for guanine residues. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  4. Synergy of irofulven in combination with other DNA damaging agents: synergistic interaction with altretamine, alkylating, and platinum-derived agents in the MV522 lung tumor model.

    PubMed

    Kelner, Michael J; McMorris, Trevor C; Rojas, Rafael J; Estes, Leita A; Suthipinijtham, Pharnuk

    2008-12-01

    Irofulven (MGI 114, NSC 683863) is a semisynthetic derivative of illudin S, a natural product present in the Omphalotus illudins (Jack O'Lantern) mushroom. This novel agent produces DNA damage, that in contrast to other agents, is predominately ignored by the global genome repair pathway of the nucleotide excision repair (NER)(2) system. The aim of this study was to determine the antitumor activity of irofulven when administered in combination with 44 different DNA damaging agents, whose damage is in general detected and repaired by the genome repair pathway. The human lung carcinoma MV522 cell line and its corresponding xenograft model were used to evaluate the activity of irofulven in combination with different DNA damaging agents. Two main classes of DNA damaging agents, platinum-derived agents, and select bifunctional alkylating agents, demonstrated in vivo synergistic or super-additive interaction with irofulven. DNA helicase inhibiting agents also demonstrated synergy in vitro, but an enhanced interaction with irofulven could not be demonstrated in vivo. There was no detectable synergistic activity between irofulven and agents capable of inducing DNA cleavage or intercalating into DNA. These results indicate that the antitumor activity of irofulven is enhanced when combined with platinum-derived agents, altretamine, and select alkylating agents such as melphalan or chlorambucil. A common factor between these agents appears to be the production of intrastrand DNA crosslinks. The synergistic interaction between irofulven and other agents may stem from the nucleotide excision repair system being selectively overwhelmed at two distinct points in the pathway, resulting in prolonged stalling of transcription forks, and subsequent initiation of apoptosis.

  5. Synthesis and evaluation of novel caged DNA alkylating agents bearing 3,4-epoxypiperidine structure.

    PubMed

    Kawada, Yuji; Kodama, Tetsuya; Miyashita, Kazuyuki; Imanishi, Takeshi; Obika, Satoshi

    2012-07-14

    Previously, we reported that the 3,4-epoxypiperidine structure, whose design was based on the active site of DNA alkylating antitumor antibiotics, azinomycins A and B, possesses prominent DNA cleavage activity. In this report, novel caged DNA alkylating agents, which were designed to be activated by UV irradiation, were synthesized by the introduction of four photo-labile protecting groups to a 3,4-epoxypiperidine derivative. The DNA cleavage activity and cytotoxicity of the caged DNA alkylating agents were examined under UV irradiation. Four caged DNA alkylating agents showed various degrees of bioactivity depending on the photosensitivity of the protecting groups.

  6. The Fanconi anemia pathway sensitizes to DNA alkylating agents by inducing JNK-p53-dependent mitochondrial apoptosis in breast cancer cells.

    PubMed

    Zhao, Lin; Li, Yanlin; He, Miao; Song, Zhiguo; Lin, Shu; Yu, Zhaojin; Bai, Xuefeng; Wang, Enhua; Wei, Minjie

    2014-07-01

    The Fanconi anemia/BRCA (FA/BRCA) DNA damage repair pathway plays a pivotal role in the cellular response to DNA alkylating agents and greatly influences drug response in cancer treatment. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the FA/BRCA pathway reversed resistance have received limited attention. In the present study, we investigated the effect of Fanconi anemia complementation group F protein (FANCF), a critical factor of the FA/BRCA pathway, on cancer cell apoptosis induced by DNA alkylating agents such as mitomycin c (MMC). We found that FANCF shRNA potentiated MMC-induced cytotoxicity and apoptosis in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. At a mechanistic level, FANCF shRNA downregulated the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 and upregulated the pro-apoptotic protein Bax, accompanied by release of cyt-c and smac into the cytosol in MMC-treated cells. Furthermore, activation of caspase-3 and -9, other than caspase-8, cleavage of poly(ADP ribose) polymerase (PARP), and a decrease of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) indicated that involvement of the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway in FANCF silencing of MMC-treated breast cancer cells. A decrease in IAP family proteins XIAP and survivin were also observed following FANCF silencing in MMC-treated breast cancer cells. Notably, FANCF shRNA was able to increase p53 levels through activation of the JNK pathway in MMC-treated breast cancer cells. Furthermore, p53 inhibition using pifithrin-α abolished the induction of caspase-3 and PARP by FANCF shRNA and MMC, indicating that MMC-induced apoptosis is substantially enhanced by FANCF shRNA via p53-dependent mechanisms. To our knowledge, we provide new evidence for the potential application of FANCF as a chemosensitizer in breast cancer therapy.

  7. Comparative Biochemistry and Metabolism. Part 1. Carcinogenesis

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1982-08-01

    1968), Nitrosamine-induced carcino- genesis. The alkylation of nucleic acids of the rat by N-methvl- N- nitrosourea , dimethylnitrosamine...inorganic reducing agent , hydrazine, is toxic and weakly carcinogenic. In earlier studies it was found that oral administration of a toxic dose of...metabolically activated to a methylatinj agent . Liver DNA from mice and hamsters contained considerably more 7-methyl- guanine and 0 6-methylguanine

  8. Alkyl ether lipids, ion channels and lipid raft reorganization in cancer therapy.

    PubMed

    Jaffrès, Paul-Alain; Gajate, Consuelo; Bouchet, Ana Maria; Couthon-Gourvès, Hélène; Chantôme, Aurélie; Potier-Cartereau, Marie; Besson, Pierre; Bougnoux, Philippe; Mollinedo, Faustino; Vandier, Christophe

    2016-09-01

    Synthetic alkyl lipids, such as the ether lipids edelfosine (1-O-octadecyl-2-O-methyl-rac-glycero-3-phosphocholine) and ohmline (1-O-hexadecyl-2-O-methyl-rac-glycero-3-β-lactose), are forming a class of antitumor agents that target cell membranes to induce apoptosis and to decrease cell migration/invasion, leading to the inhibition of tumor and metastasis development. In this review, we present the structure-activity relationship of edelfosine and ohmline, and we point out differences and similarities between these two amphiphilic compounds. We also discuss the mechanisms of action of these synthetic alkyl ether lipids (involving, among other structures and molecules, membrane domains, Fas/CD95 death receptor signaling, and ion channels), and highlight a key role for lipid rafts in the underlying process. The reorganization of lipid raft membrane domains induced by these alkyl lipids affects the function of death receptors and ion channels, thus leading to apoptosis and/or inhibition of cancer cell migration. The possible therapeutic use of these alkyl lipids and the clinical perspectives for these lipids in prevention or/and treatment of tumor development and metastasis are also discussed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Pseudomonas putida AlkA and AlkB Proteins Comprise Different Defense Systems for the Repair of Alkylation Damage to DNA – In Vivo, In Vitro, and In Silico Studies

    PubMed Central

    Mielecki, Damian; Saumaa, Signe; Wrzesiński, Michał; Maciejewska, Agnieszka M.; Żuchniewicz, Karolina; Sikora, Anna; Piwowarski, Jan; Nieminuszczy, Jadwiga; Kivisaar, Maia; Grzesiuk, Elżbieta

    2013-01-01

    Alkylating agents introduce cytotoxic and/or mutagenic lesions to DNA bases leading to induction of adaptive (Ada) response, a mechanism protecting cells against deleterious effects of environmental chemicals. In Escherichia coli, the Ada response involves expression of four genes: ada, alkA, alkB, and aidB. In Pseudomonas putida, the organization of Ada regulon is different, raising questions regarding regulation of Ada gene expression. The aim of the presented studies was to analyze the role of AlkA glycosylase and AlkB dioxygenase in protecting P. putida cells against damage to DNA caused by alkylating agents. The results of bioinformatic analysis, of survival and mutagenesis of methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) or N-methyl-N’-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) treated P. putida mutants in ada, alkA and alkB genes as well as assay of promoter activity revealed diverse roles of Ada, AlkA and AlkB proteins in protecting cellular DNA against alkylating agents. We found AlkA protein crucial to abolish the cytotoxic but not the mutagenic effects of alkylans since: (i) the mutation in the alkA gene was the most deleterious for MMS/MNNG treated P. putida cells, (ii) the activity of the alkA promoter was Ada-dependent and the highest among the tested genes. P. putida AlkB (PpAlkB), characterized by optimal conditions for in vitro repair of specific substrates, complementation assay, and M13/MS2 survival test, allowed to establish conservation of enzymatic function of P. putida and E. coli AlkB protein. We found that the organization of P. putida Ada regulon differs from that of E. coli. AlkA protein induced within the Ada response is crucial for protecting P. putida against cytotoxicity, whereas Ada prevents the mutagenic action of alkylating agents. In contrast to E. coli AlkB (EcAlkB), PpAlkB remains beyond the Ada regulon and is expressed constitutively. It probably creates a backup system that protects P. putida strains defective in other DNA repair systems against alkylating agents of exo- and endogenous origin. PMID:24098441

  10. Rituximab, alkylating agents or combination therapy for gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma: a monocentric non-randomised observational study.

    PubMed

    Amiot, A; Lévy, M; Copie-Bergman, C; Dupuis, J; Szablewski, V; Le Baleur, Y; Baia, M; Belhadj, K; Sobhani, I; Leroy, K; Haioun, C; Delchier, J-C

    2014-03-01

    There is no consensus on the standard treatment of gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma for Helicobacter pylori-negative patients and for patients with persistent disease despite H. pylori eradication. To evaluate the comparative efficacy and safety of alkylating agents and rituximab alone or in combination. In this monocentric retrospective study, which included 106 patients who had not been previously treated with anti-cancer agents, we evaluated the efficacy and safety of oral alkylating agents monotherapy (n = 48), rituximab monotherapy (n = 28) and the therapy combining both drugs (n = 30). Evaluations were performed at weeks 6 (W6), 25 (W25), and 52 (W52) and after 2 years (W104). After a median follow-up period of 4.9 years (range 0.4-17.2 years), complete remission and overall response were significantly higher in patients in the combination therapy group at W104 (92% and 100% respectively) compared with patients treated with alkylating agents alone (66% and 68%) and rituximab alone (64% and 73%). The 5-year progression-free survival probabilities were 68%, 70% and 89% in patients treated with alkylating agents alone, rituximab alone and combination therapy respectively. Haematological adverse events were reported in 32 (30%) patients (mostly grade 1) and were more frequent in the two groups receiving alkylating agents (P = 0.05 and P < 0.001). No toxicity-related death was reported. The use of anti-cancer systemic therapy is safe and efficient in gastric MALT lymphoma. In this retrospective study, the combination of rituximab plus chlorambucil seems more efficient than rituximab or alkylating agents alone. Rituximab has a better safety profile than regimens containing alkylating agents. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  11. The Scarlet Letter of Alkylation: A Mini Review of Selective Alkylating Agents

    PubMed Central

    Oronsky, Bryan T; Reid, Tony; Knox, Susan J; Scicinski, Jan J

    2012-01-01

    If there were a stigma scale for chemotherapy, alkylating agents would be ranked at the top of the list. The chemical term alkylation is associated with nonselective toxicity, an association that dates back to the use of nitrogen mustards during World War I as chemical warfare agents. That this stigma persists and extends to compounds that, through selectivity, attempt to “tame” the indiscriminate destructive potential of alkylation is the subject of this review. Selective alkylation, as it is referred to herein, constitutes an extremely nascent and dynamic field in oncology. The pharmacodynamic response to this selective strategy depends on a delicate kinetic balance between specificity and the rate and extent of binding. Three representative compounds are presented: RRx-001, 3-bromopyruvate, and TH-302. The main impetus for the development of these compounds has been the avoidance of the serious complications of traditional alkylating agents; therefore, it is the thesis of this review that they should not experience stigma by association. PMID:22937173

  12. Speciation of Reactive Sulfur Species and their Reactions with Alkylating Agents: Do we have any clue about what is present inside the cell?

    PubMed

    Bogdándi, Virág; Ida, Tomoaki; Sutton, Thomas R; Bianco, Christopher; Ditrói, Tamás; Koster, Grielof; Henthorn, Hillary A; Minnion, Magda; Toscano, John P; van der Vliet, Albert; Pluth, Michael D; Feelisch, Martin; Fukuto, Jon M; Akaike, Takaaki; Nagy, Péter

    2018-06-17

    Posttranslational modifications of cysteine (Cys) residues represent a major aspect of redox biology, and their reliable detection is key in providing mechanistic insights. The metastable character of these modifications and cell lysis-induced artifactual oxidation render current state-of-the-art protocols to rely on alkylation-based stabilization of labile Cys derivatives before cell/tissue rupture. An untested assumption in these procedures is that for all Cys derivatives alkylation rates are faster than their dynamic interchange. However, when the interconversion of Cys derivatives is not rate-limiting, then electrophilic labeling is under Curtin-Hammett control and hence the final alkylated mixture may not represent the speciation that prevailed before alkylation. We here present evidence that in the majority of cases, the speciation of alkylated polysulfide/thiol derivatives indeed depends on the experimental conditions. Our results reveal that alkylation perturbs sulfur speciation in both a concentration- and time-dependent manner, and that strong alkylating agents can cleave polysulfur chains. Moreover, we show that labeling of sulfenic acids with dimedone also affects Cys speciation, suggesting that part of the endogenous pool of products previously believed to represent sulfenic acid species may in fact represent polysulfides. These observations were obtained using buffered aqueous solutions of inorganic-, organic-, cysteine-, glutathione- and GAPDH-polysulfide species. Additional experiments in human plasma and serum revealed that monobromobimane can extract sulfide from the endogenous sulfur pool by shifting speciation equilibria, suggesting caution should be exercised when interpreting experimental results using this tool. We highlight methodological caveats potentially arising from these pitfalls and conclude that current derivatization strategies often fail to adequately capture physiologic speciation of sulfur species. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

  13. Genetic abnormalities in leukemia secondary to treatment in patients with Hodgkin's disease.

    PubMed

    Salas, Consuelo; Pérez-Vera, Patricia; Frías, Sara

    2011-01-01

    Hodgkin's disease has been treated mainly with two chemotherapy schedules, MOPP (nitrogen mustard, Oncovin, procarbazine and prednisone), which includes alkylating agents, and ABVD (adriamycin, bleomycin, vinblastine and dacarbazine), which includes topoisomerase II inhibitors, either with or without radiation therapy. Due to the types of agents used, patients with Hodgkin's disease often develop secondary leukemias. The alkylating agents included in the MOPP scheme were the first drugs associated with the development of therapy-related myelodysplastic syndrome (t-MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (t-AML); both entities are the result of the clonal selection of cells with accumulated genomic lesions induced by antineoplastic therapy. In patients who developed t-MDS and t-AML, eight alternative routes with specific cytogenetic and molecular changes have been identified, and the routes are related to the type of therapy, alkylating agents or DNA topoisomerase II inhibitors. At the cytogenetic level, patients treated with alkylating agents show deletion 5q/monosomy 5 and deletion 7q/monosomy 7; in contrast, those who were treated with topoisomerase II inhibitors show 11q23 translocations involving the MLL gene. At the molecular level, there are two types of mutations: Class I, which alter the RAS-BRAF signal transduction pathways and increase cell proliferation; Class II, which disrupt genes that encode transcription factors and NPM1 that are involved in cell differentiation, and the inactivation of p53 tumor suppressor gene. Knowledge of the genetic alterations in these conditions is important for the classification, treatment and prognosis of patients as well as essential for increasing the knowledge of the biology of these diseases, which leads to identifying potential therapeutic targets.

  14. The clinical pharmacology of alkylating agents in high-dose chemotherapy.

    PubMed

    Huitema, A D; Smits, K D; Mathôt, R A; Schellens, J H; Rodenhuis, S; Beijnen, J H

    2000-08-01

    Alkylating agents are widely used in high-dose chemotherapy regimens in combination with hematological support. Knowledge about the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of these agents administered in high doses is critical for the safe and efficient use of these regimens. The aim of this review is to summarize the clinical pharmacology of the alkylating agents (including the platinum compounds) in high-dose chemotherapy. Differences between conventional and high doses will be discussed.

  15. Protection Against the Acute and Delayed Toxicity of Mustards and Mustard-Like Compounds

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1987-02-01

    environ- mental agents can be more important than modification at the major alkylation sites, an important inicial objective of this work was to identify...position of guanine in DNA. A mechanism has been discovered for certain antitumor agents which leads to DNA cross-linking following alkylation of the O...been discovered. Simple monofunctional alkylating agents , including methylating agents , appear to cause cross-link- ing through the reactions of the

  16. Enantiomerically Pure Acetals in Organic Synthesis: Resolutions and Diastereoselective Alkylations of Alpha-Hydroxy Esters

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1990-01-01

    sensitivity of the alkylating agent to the reaction conditions. In either case , a decision was made to use 5-iodo-2- methyl -l-pentene as the alkylating ...agent, and the reaction conditions. In most cases the diastereomeric products of the alkylation were also separated by column chromatography. This...equatorially substituted product. Oxidation of the alcohol to the ketone followed by treatment with an alkyl Grignard reagent gave only the product which

  17. Sorbate-nitrite interactions: acetonitrile oxide as an alkylating agent.

    PubMed

    Pérez-Prior, M Teresa; Gómez-Bombarelli, Rafael; González-Pérez, Marina; Manso, José A; García-Santos, M Pilar; Calle, Emilio; Casado, Julio

    2009-07-01

    Because chemical species with DNA-damaging and mutagenic activity are formed in sorbate-nitrite mixtures and because sorbic acid sometimes coexists with nitrite occurring naturally or incorporated as a food additive, the study of sorbate-nitrite interactions is important. Here, the alkylating potential of the products resulting from such interactions was investigated. Drawn were the following conclusions: (i) Acetonitrile oxide (ACNO) is the compound responsible for the alkylating capacity of sorbate-nitrite mixtures; (ii) ACNO alkylates 4-(p-nitrobenzyl)pyridine (NBP), a trap for alkylating agents with nucleophilic characteristics similar to those of DNA bases, forming an adduct (AD; epsilon = 1.4 x 10(4) M(-1) cm(-1); lambda = 519 nm); (iii) the NBP alkylation reaction complies with the rate equation, r = d[AD]/dt = k(alk)(ACNO)[ACNO][NBP]-k(hyd)(AD)[AD], k(alk)(ACNO) being the NBP alkylation rate constant for ACNO and k(hyd)(AD) the rate constant for the adduct hydrolysis reaction; (iv) the small fraction of ACNO forming the adduct with NBP, as well as the small magnitude of the quotient (k(alk) (ACNO)/k(hyd)(ACNO)) as compared with those reported for other alkylating agents, such as some lactones and N-alkyl-N-nitrosoureas, reveals the ACNO effective alkylating capacity to be less significant; (v) the low value of the NBP-ACNO adduct life (defined as the total amount of adduct present along the progression of the NBP alkylation per unit of alkylating agent concentration) points to the high instability of this adduct; and (vi) the obtained results are in accordance with the low carcinogenicity of ACNO.

  18. When alcohol is the answer: trapping, identifying and quantifying simple alkylating species in aqueous environments

    PubMed Central

    Penketh, P. G.; Shyam, K.; Baumann, R. P; Zhu, Rui; Ishiguro, K.; Sartorelli, A. C.; Ratner, E. S.

    2016-01-01

    Alkylating agents are a significant class of environmental carcinogens as well as commonly used anticancer therapeutics. Traditional alkylating activity assays have utilized the colorimetric reagent 4-(4-nitrobenzyl)pyridine (4NBP). However, 4NBP based assays have a relatively low sensitivity towards harder, more oxophilic alkylating species and are not well suited for the identification of the trapped alkyl moiety due to adduct instability. Herein we describe a method using water as the trapping agent which permits the trapping of simple alkylating electrophiles with a comparatively wide range of softness/hardness and permits the identification of donated simple alkyl moieties. PMID:27188264

  19. Inflammation-Induced Cell Proliferation Potentiates DNA Damage-Induced Mutations In Vivo

    PubMed Central

    Kiraly, Orsolya; Gong, Guanyu; Olipitz, Werner; Muthupalani, Sureshkumar; Engelward, Bevin P.

    2015-01-01

    Mutations are a critical driver of cancer initiation. While extensive studies have focused on exposure-induced mutations, few studies have explored the importance of tissue physiology as a modulator of mutation susceptibility in vivo. Of particular interest is inflammation, a known cancer risk factor relevant to chronic inflammatory diseases and pathogen-induced inflammation. Here, we used the fluorescent yellow direct repeat (FYDR) mice that harbor a reporter to detect misalignments during homologous recombination (HR), an important class of mutations. FYDR mice were exposed to cerulein, a potent inducer of pancreatic inflammation. We show that inflammation induces DSBs (γH2AX foci) and that several days later there is an increase in cell proliferation. While isolated bouts of inflammation did not induce HR, overlap between inflammation-induced DNA damage and inflammation-induced cell proliferation induced HR significantly. To study exogenously-induced DNA damage, animals were exposed to methylnitrosourea, a model alkylating agent that creates DNA lesions relevant to both environmental exposures and cancer chemotherapy. We found that exposure to alkylation damage induces HR, and importantly, that inflammation-induced cell proliferation and alkylation induce HR in a synergistic fashion. Taken together, these results show that, during an acute bout of inflammation, there is a kinetic barrier separating DNA damage from cell proliferation that protects against mutations, and that inflammation-induced cell proliferation greatly potentiates exposure-induced mutations. These studies demonstrate a fundamental mechanism by which inflammation can act synergistically with DNA damage to induce mutations that drive cancer and cancer recurrence. PMID:25647331

  20. Comparative Biochemistry and Metabolism. Part 1. Carcinogenesis

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1981-10-01

    qualitatively equivalent to administration of a strong alkylating agent ; this may add another consideration to Roberts’ hypothesis, but ultimately the effect...Removal, Arch. Pathol. 12:186-202. Karran, P., T. Lindahl and B. Griffin, (1979), Adaptive Responses to Alkylating Agents Involves Alterative In Situ of...the Adaptive Response to Alkylating Agents , Nature (Lond.) 280:74-76. Ruchirawat, M., (1974), Relationship Between Metabolism and Toxicity of

  1. Parp1 activation in mouse embryonic fibroblasts promotes Pol β-dependent cellular hypersensitivity to alkylation damage

    PubMed Central

    Jelezcova, Elena; Trivedi, Ram N.; Wang, Xiao-hong; Tang, Jiang-bo; Brown, Ashley R.; Goellner, Eva M.; Schamus, Sandy; Fornsaglio, Jamie L.; Sobol, Robert W.

    2010-01-01

    Alkylating agents induce cell death in wild-type (WT) mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) by multiple mechanisms, including apoptosis, autophagy and necrosis. DNA polymerase β (Pol β) knockout (KO) MEFs are hypersensitive to the cytotoxic effect of alkylating agents, as compared to WT MEFs. To test the hypothesis that Parp1 is preferentially activated by methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) exposure of Pol β KO MEFs, we have examined the relationship between Pol β expression, Parp1 activation and cell survival following MMS exposure in a series of WT and Pol β deficient MEF cell lines. Consistent with our hypothesis, we observed elevated Parp1 activation in Pol β KO MEFs as compared to matched WT MEFs. Both the MMS-induced activation of Parp1 and the MMS-induced cytoxicity of Pol β KO MEFs are attenuated by pre-treatment with the Parp1/Parp2 inhibitor PJ34. Further, elevated Parp1 activation is observed following knockdown (KD) of endogenous Pol β, as compared to WT cells. Pol β KD MEFs are hypersensitive to MMS and both the MMS-induced hypersensitivity and Parp1 activation is prevented by pre-treatment with PJ34. In addition, the MMS-induced cellular sensitivity of Pol β KO MEFs is reversed when Parp1 is also deleted (Pol β/Parp1 double KO MEFs) and we observe no MMS sensitivity differential between Pol β/Parp1 double KO MEFs and those that express recombinant mouse Pol β. These studies suggest that Parp1 may function as a sensor of BER to initiate cell death when BER is aborted or fails. Parp1 may therefore function in BER as a tumor suppressor by initiating cell death and preventing the accumulation of cells with chromosomal damage due to a BER defect. PMID:20096707

  2. The molecular biology of environmental aromatic hydrocarbons

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Weiss, S.B.

    The induction of mutations in living cells by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) has been recognized for many years. Although the mechanism for this occurrence has been examined by numerous investigators, the precise nature and type of mutations induced is still unclear. Earlier investigations of DNA damage and repair were primarily examined by the random alkylation of bacterial and mammalian DNAs, in vivo, using a variety of different PAH agents. This procedure is still used today. Though informative, such studies have not offered any explanation of the mechanism by which PAH agents induce carcinogenesis. We have attempted to examine the repairmore » of PAH-damaged DNA using small DNA oligomer constructs as targets for site-specific alkylation. DNA constructs containing a single BPDE alkylated site in each duplex strand were ligated into M13 RF DNA and used to transfect E. coli. Progeny M13 DNA was isolated from E. coli colonies grown on agar plates containing IPTG and Xgal. DNA sequence analysis of the isolated progeny M13 DNA, at the site of construct insertion, was found to contain large deletions and illegitimate recombinants. These sequence rearrangements occurred in either recA{sup +} or recA{sup -} host cells suggesting that SOS processing was not involved in the deletions and the recombinants observed. The mechanism by which BPDE induces illegitimate recombinants has not been resolved, however, it is possible that the closely spaced adducts activate the recombinant machinery in our DNA-damaged cells. 1 ref., 6 figs., 1 tab.« less

  3. When alcohol is the answer: Trapping, identifying and quantifying simple alkylating species in aqueous environments.

    PubMed

    Penketh, Philip G; Shyam, Krishnamurthy; Baumann, Raymond P; Zhu, Rui; Ishiguro, Kimiko; Sartorelli, Alan C; Ratner, Elena S

    2016-09-01

    Alkylating agents are a significant class of environmental carcinogens as well as commonly used anticancer therapeutics. Traditional alkylating activity assays have utilized the colorimetric reagent 4-(4-nitrobenzyl)pyridine (4NBP). However, 4NBP based assays have a relatively low sensitivity towards harder, more oxophilic alkylating species and are not well suited for the identification of the trapped alkyl moiety due to adduct instability. Herein we describe a method using water as the trapping agent which permits the trapping of simple alkylating electrophiles with a comparatively wide range of softness/hardness and permits the identification of donated simple alkyl moieties. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Suppression of alkylating agent induced cell transformation and gastric ulceration by low-dose alkylating agent pretreatment

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Onodera, Akira, E-mail: onodera@pharm.kobegakuin.ac.jp; Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kobegakuin University, 1-1-3 Minatojima, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-8586; Kawai, Yuichi

    2013-06-14

    Highlights: •Low-dose MNNG pretreatment suppresses high-dose MNNG induced in vitro transformation. •Gastric ulcers induced by high-dose MNNG decreased after low-dose MNNG pretreatment. •Efficacy of low-dose MNNG related to resistance of mutation and oxidative stress. -- Abstract: Exposure to mild stress by chemicals and radiation causes DNA damage and leads to acquired stress resistance. Although the linear no-threshold (LNT) model of safety assessment assumes risk from any dose, evidence from radiological research demonstrates a conflicting hormetic phenomenon known as the hormesis effect. However, the mechanisms underlying radiation hormesis have not yet been clarified, and little is known about the effects ofmore » low doses of chemical carcinogens. We analyzed the efficacy of pretreatment with low doses of the alkylating agent N-methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) on the subsequent induction of cell transformation and gastric ulceration by high-dose MNNG. We used an in vitro Balb/3T3 A31-1-1 cell transformation test and monitored the formation of gastric ulcers in 5-week-old male ICR mice that were administered MNNG in drinking water. The treatment concentrations of MNNG were determined by the cell survival rate and past reports. For low-dose in vitro and in vivo experiments, MNNG was used at 0.028 μM, and 2.8 μg/mL, respectively. The frequency of cell transformation induced by 10 μm MNNG was decreased by low-dose MNNG pretreatment to levels similar to that of spontaneous transformation. In addition, reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mutation frequencies induced by 10 μm MNNG were decreased by low-dose MNNG pretreatment. Importantly, low-dose MNNG pretreatment had no effect on cell proliferation. In vivo studies showed that the number of gastric ulcers induced by 1 mg/mL MNNG decreased after low-dose MNNG pretreatment. These data indicate that low-dose pretreatment with carcinogens may play a beneficial role in the prevention of chemical toxicity under specified conditions.« less

  5. Alkylsilyl Peroxides as Alkylating Agents in the Copper-Catalyzed Selective Mono-N-Alkylation of Primary Amides and Arylamines.

    PubMed

    Sakamoto, Ryu; Sakurai, Shunya; Maruoka, Keiji

    2017-07-06

    The copper-catalyzed selective mono-N-alkylation of primary amides or arylamines using alkylsilyl peroxides as alkylating agents is reported. The reaction proceeds under mild reaction conditions and exhibits a broad substrate scope with respect to the alkylsilyl peroxides, as well as to the primary amides and arylamines. Mechanistic studies suggest that the present reaction should proceed through a free-radical process that includes alkyl radicals generated from the alkylsilyl peroxides. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  6. Cytologic Effects of Air Force Chemicals

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1979-08-01

    mitomycin C (MMC, Sigma), a well known bifunctional DNA alkylating agent . Figure 3 shows typical metaphase spreads of a rat lymphocyte and a rat bone...monofunctional DNA alkylating agents and well known mutagens, are shown in Figures 7 and 8, respectively. Fig- ure 9 shows the induction of micronuclei by MMC...a bifunctional alkyl - ating agent . These three chemicals serve as positive controls for the in vitro exposures. In all three figures, the general

  7. Activation of Poly(ADP-Ribose) Polymerase by Sulfur Mustard in Hela Cell Cultures

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1993-05-13

    i O : DUTiC-TID INTRODUCTION Sulfur mustard ( 2,2’-dichlorodiethyl sulfide or HD) is a bifunctional alkylating agent which reacts with a wide variety...of biological molecules. It is a strong alkylating agent of purine bases in DNA (Kohn 1983). Early studies strongly implicate DNA as a principal...cells have previously demonstrated stimulation of PADPRP activity following exposure to a monofunctional alkylating agent , methylnitrosourea (MNU

  8. From old alkylating agents to new minor groove binders.

    PubMed

    Puyo, Stéphane; Montaudon, Danièle; Pourquier, Philippe

    2014-01-01

    Alkylating agents represent the oldest class of anticancer agents with the approval of mechloretamine by the FDA in 1949. Even though their clinical use is far beyond the use of new targeted therapies, they still occupy a major place in the treatment of specific malignancies, sometimes representing the unique option for the treatment of refractory tumors. Here, we are reviewing the major classes of alkylating agents, with a particular focus on the latest generations of compounds that specifically target the minor groove of the DNA. These naturally occurring derivatives have a unique mechanism of action that explains the recent regain of interest in developing new classes of alkylating agents that could be used in combination with other anticancer drugs to enhance tumor response in the clinic. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. L-β-N-methylamino-l-alanine (BMAA) nitrosation generates a cytotoxic DNA damaging alkylating agent: An unexplored mechanism for neurodegenerative disease.

    PubMed

    Potjewyd, G; Day, P J; Shangula, S; Margison, G P; Povey, A C

    2017-03-01

    L-β-N-methylamino-l-alanine (BMAA) is a non-proteinic amino acid, that is neurotoxic in vitro and in animals, and is implicated in the causation of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and parkinsonism-dementia complex (ALS-PDC) on Guam. Given that natural amino acids can be N-nitrosated to form toxic alkylating agents and the structural similarity of BMAA to other amino acids, our hypothesis was that N-nitrosation of BMAA might result in a toxic alkylating agent, providing a novel mechanistic hypothesis for BMAA action. We have chemically nitrosated BMAA with sodium nitrite to produce nitrosated BMAA (N-BMAA) which was shown to react with the alkyl-trapping agent, 4-(p-nitrobenzyl)pyridine, cause DNA strand breaks in vitro and was toxic to the human neuroblastoma cell line SH-SY5Y under conditions in which BMAA itself was minimally toxic. Our results indicate that N-BMAA is an alkylating agent and toxin suggesting a plausible and previously unrecognised mechanism for the neurotoxic effects of BMAA. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. Oncometabolite D-2-Hydroxyglutarate Inhibits ALKBH DNA Repair Enzymes and Sensitizes IDH Mutant Cells to Alkylating Agents.

    PubMed

    Wang, Pu; Wu, Jing; Ma, Shenghong; Zhang, Lei; Yao, Jun; Hoadley, Katherine A; Wilkerson, Matthew D; Perou, Charles M; Guan, Kun-Liang; Ye, Dan; Xiong, Yue

    2015-12-22

    Chemotherapy of a combination of DNA alkylating agents, procarbazine and lomustine (CCNU), and a microtubule poison, vincristine, offers a significant benefit to a subset of glioma patients. The benefit of this regimen, known as PCV, was recently linked to IDH mutation that occurs frequently in glioma and produces D-2-hydroxyglutarate (D-2-HG), a competitive inhibitor of α-ketoglutarate (α-KG). We report here that D-2-HG inhibits the α-KG-dependent alkB homolog (ALKBH) DNA repair enzymes. Cells expressing mutant IDH display reduced repair kinetics, accumulate more DNA damages, and are sensitized to alkylating agents. The observed sensitization to alkylating agents requires the catalytic activity of mutant IDH to produce D-2-HG and can be reversed by the deletion of mutant IDH allele or overexpression of ALKBH2 or AKLBH3. Our results suggest that impairment of DNA repair may contribute to tumorigenesis driven by IDH mutations and that alkylating agents may merit exploration for treating IDH-mutated cancer patients. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  11. 3-bromopyruvate: a new targeted antiglycolytic agent and a promise for cancer therapy.

    PubMed

    Ganapathy-Kanniappan, S; Vali, M; Kunjithapatham, R; Buijs, M; Syed, L H; Rao, P P; Ota, S; Kwak, B K; Loffroy, R; Geschwind, J F

    2010-08-01

    The pyruvate analog, 3-bromopyruvate, is an alkylating agent and a potent inhibitor of glycolysis. This antiglycolytic property of 3-bromopyruvate has recently been exploited to target cancer cells, as most tumors depend on glycolysis for their energy requirements. The anticancer effect of 3-bromopyruvate is achieved by depleting intracellular energy (ATP) resulting in tumor cell death. In this review, we will discuss the principal mechanism of action and primary targets of 3-bromopyruvate, and report the impressive antitumor effects of 3-bromopyruvate in multiple animal tumor models. We describe that the primary mechanism of 3-bromopyruvate is via preferential alkylation of GAPDH and that 3-bromopyruvate mediated cell death is linked to generation of free radicals. Research in our laboratory also revealed that 3-bromopyruvate induces endoplasmic reticulum stress, inhibits global protein synthesis further contributing to cancer cell death. Therefore, these and other studies reveal the tremendous potential of 3-bromopyruvate as an anticancer agent.

  12. Organotin-Induced Hemolysis, Shape Transformation and Intramembranous Aggregates in Human Erythrocytes

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1987-01-01

    tributyltin , triethyltin, tripropyltin. 3. Abbreviations: DBT, dibutylin dichloride; MBT, butyltinchloride dihydroxide; SnCl2, stannous chloride; TBT , tri...compounds induce membrane lysis at low concentrations (Byington et al., 1974). Tri-n-butvltin ( TBT ) is a very effective hemolytic agent, causing membrane...based on numbers of butyl chains or numbers of carbon atoms in alkyl chains. TBT has been shown to produce 60-70 nm diameter, tin-containing

  13. Chlorambucil

    MedlinePlus

    ... Chlorambucil is in a class of medications called alkylating agents. It works by slowing or stopping the growth ... pharmacist if you are allergic to chlorambucil, other alkylating agents such as bendamustine (Treanda), busulfan (Myleran, Busulfex), carmustine ( ...

  14. Sensitive Bioanalytical Methods for Mustard Gas Exposure Diagnosis

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2006-11-01

    8217-dichlorodiethyl sulfide) is an alkylating vesicating agent . The injuries resulting from SM exposure are mainly characterized by epithelial damage of the...for SM and NM and was not seen for the other alkylating agents tested. We also found that 200 μM SM or NM degraded the integrin β4 unit of α6β4. An...similarly as nonspecific bifunctional alkylating agents , reacting with a host of compounds that are vital to living cells (Smith et al., 1998

  15. Effect of alkyl glycerophosphate on the activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma and glucose uptake in C2C12 cells

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Tsukahara, Tamotsu, E-mail: ttamotsu@shinshu-u.ac.jp; Haniu, Hisao; Matsuda, Yoshikazu

    Highlights: •Alkyl-LPA specifically interacts with PPARγ. •Alkyl-LPA treatments induces lipid accumulation in C2C12 cells. •Alkyl-LPA enhanced glucose uptake in C2C12 cells. •Alkyl-LPA-treated C2C12 cells express increased amounts of GLUT4 mRNA. •Alkyl-LPA is a novel therapeutic agent that can be used for the treatment of obesity and diabetes. -- Abstract: Studies on the effects of lipids on skeletal muscle cells rarely examine the effects of lysophospholipids. Through our recent studies, we identified select forms of phospholipids, such as alkyl-LPA, as ligands for the intracellular receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ). PPARγ is a nuclear hormone receptor implicated in many human diseases,more » including diabetes and obesity. We previously showed that alkyl-LPA is a specific agonist of PPARγ. However, the mechanism by which the alkyl-LPA–PPARγ axis affects skeletal muscle cells is poorly defined. Our objective in the present study was to determine whether alkyl-LPA and PPARγ activation promotes glucose uptake in skeletal muscle cells. Our findings indicate that PPARγ1 mRNA is more abundant than PPARγ2 mRNA in C2C12 cells. We showed that alkyl-LPA (3 μM) significantly activated PPARγ and increased intracellular glucose levels in skeletal muscle cells. We also showed that incubation of C2C12 cells with alkyl-LPA led to lipid accumulation in the cells. These findings suggest that alkyl-LPA activates PPARγ and stimulates glucose uptake in the absence of insulin in C2C12 cells. This may contribute to the plasma glucose-lowering effect in the treatment of insulin resistance.« less

  16. Modulation of O6-alkylating agent induced clastogenicity by enhanced DNA repair capacity of bone marrow cells.

    PubMed

    Chinnasamy, N; Fairbairn, L J; Laher, J; Willington, M A; Rafferty, J A

    1998-08-07

    The murine bone marrow micronucleus assay has been used to examine (1) the potentiation of fotemustine and streptozotocin induced-clastogenicity by the O6-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase (ATase) inactivator O6-benzylguanine (O6-beG) and (2) the level of protection afforded against this potentiation by retrovirus-mediated expression of an O6-beG-resistant mutant of human ATase (haTPA/GA) in mouse bone marrow. Both fotemustine and streptozotocin induced significantly higher levels of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes (p < 0.001 for the highest doses studied) compared to those seen in vehicle-treated animals. The number of micronuclei produced by either agent was dramatically elevated by pretreatment with O6-beG (p < 0.001). Furthermore, in myeloablated mice reconstituted with bone marrow expressing the O6-beG-resistant hATPA/GA as a result of retroviral gene transfer, the frequency of micronucleus formation following exposure of mice to otherwise clastogenic doses of fotemustine or streptozotocin, in the presence of O6-beG, wash highly significantly reduced (p < 0.001 for both agents) relative to that in mock transduced controls. These data clearly implicate O6-chloroethyl- and O6-methylguanine as clastogenic lesions in vivo and establish ATase as a major protective mechanism operating to reduce the frequency of such damage. The potentiation of drug induced clastogenicity by O6-beG suggests that the clinical use of this inactivator in combination with O6-alkylating agents, could substantially increase the risk of therapy related malignancy. Nevertheless the use of hATPA/GA as a protective mechanism via gene therapy may overcome this risk.

  17. Aryl sulfonate based anticancer alkylating agents.

    PubMed

    Sheikh, Hamdullah Khadim; Arshad, Tanzila; Kanwal, Ghazala

    2018-05-01

    This research work revolves around synthesis of antineoplastic alkylating sulfonate esters with dual alkylating sites for crosslinking of the DNA strands. These molecules were evaluated as potential antineoplastic cross linking alkylating agents by reaction with the nucleoside of Guanine DNA nucleobase at both ends of the synthesized molecule. Synthesis of the alkylating molecules and the crosslinking with the guanosine nucleoside was monitored by MALDITOF mass spectroscopy. The synthesized molecule's crosslinking or adduct forming rate with the nucleoside was compared with that of 1,4 butane disulfonate (busulfan), in form of time taken for the appearance of [M+H] + . It was found that aryl sulfonate leaving group was causing higher rate of nucleophilic attack by the Lewis basic site of the nucleobase. Furthermore, the rate was also found to be a function of electron withdrawing or donating nature of the substituent on the aryl ring. Compound with strong electron withdrawing substituent on the para position of the ring reacted fastest. Hence, new alkylating agents were synthesized with optimized or desired reactivity.

  18. Sensitization of human carcinoma cells to alkylating agents by small interfering RNA suppression of 3-alkyladenine-DNA glycosylase.

    PubMed

    Paik, Johanna; Duncan, Tod; Lindahl, Tomas; Sedgwick, Barbara

    2005-11-15

    One of the major cytotoxic lesions generated by alkylating agents is DNA 3-alkyladenine, which can be excised by 3-alkyladenine DNA glycosylase (AAG). Inhibition of AAG may therefore result in increased cellular sensitivity to chemotherapeutic alkylating agents. To investigate this possibility, we have examined the role of AAG in protecting human tumor cells against such agents. Plasmids that express small interfering RNAs targeted to two different regions of AAG mRNA were transfected into HeLa cervical carcinoma cells and A2780-SCA ovarian carcinoma cells. Stable derivatives of both cell types with low AAG protein levels were sensitized to alkylating agents. Two HeLa cell lines with AAG protein levels reduced by at least 80% to 90% displayed a 5- to 10-fold increase in sensitivity to methyl methanesulfonate, N-methyl-N-nitrosourea, and the chemotherapeutic drugs temozolomide and 1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea. These cells showed no increase in sensitivity to UV light or ionizing radiation. After treatment with methyl methanesulfonate, AAG knockdown HeLa cells were delayed in S phase but accumulated in G2-M. Our data support the hypothesis that ablation of AAG activity in human tumor cells may provide a useful strategy to enhance the efficacy of current chemotherapeutic regimens that include alkylating agents.

  19. O6-Methylguanine DNA Methyltransferase Status Does Not Predict Response or Resistance to Alkylating Agents in Well-Differentiated Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors.

    PubMed

    Raj, Nitya; Klimstra, David S; Horvat, Natally; Zhang, Liying; Chou, Joanne F; Capanu, Marinela; Basturk, Olca; Do, Richard Kinh Gian; Allen, Peter J; Reidy-Lagunes, Diane

    2017-07-01

    Alkylating agents have activity in well-differentiated pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (WD panNETs). In glioblastoma multiforme, decreased activity of O-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) predicts response; in panNETs, MGMT relevance is unknown. We identified patients with WD panNETs treated with alkylating agents, determined best overall response by Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors (RECIST) 1.1, and performed MGMT activity testing. Fifty-six patients were identified; 26 (46%) of the 56 patients experienced partial response, 24 (43%) of 56 experienced stable disease, and 6 (11%) of 56 experienced progression of disease. O-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase status was available for 36 tumors. For tumors with partial response, 10 (67%) of 15 were MGMT deficient, and 5 (33%) of 15 were MGMT intact. For tumors with stable disease, 7 (47%) of 15 were MGMT deficient, and 8 (53%) of 15 were MGMT intact. For tumors with progression of disease, 3 (50%) of 6 were MGMT deficient, and 3 (50%) of 6 were MGMT intact. We observed response and resistance to alkylating agents in MGMT-deficient and MGMT-intact tumors. O-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase status should not guide alkylating agent therapy in WD panNETs.

  20. Nucleotide excision repair is a potential therapeutic target in multiple myeloma

    PubMed Central

    Szalat, R; Samur, M K; Fulciniti, M; Lopez, M; Nanjappa, P; Cleynen, A; Wen, K; Kumar, S; Perini, T; Calkins, A S; Reznichenko, E; Chauhan, D; Tai, Y-T; Shammas, M A; Anderson, K C; Fermand, J-P; Arnulf, B; Avet-Loiseau, H; Lazaro, J-B; Munshi, N C

    2018-01-01

    Despite the development of novel drugs, alkylating agents remain an important component of therapy in multiple myeloma (MM). DNA repair processes contribute towards sensitivity to alkylating agents and therefore we here evaluate the role of nucleotide excision repair (NER), which is involved in the removal of bulky adducts and DNA crosslinks in MM. We first evaluated NER activity using a novel functional assay and observed a heterogeneous NER efficiency in MM cell lines and patient samples. Using next-generation sequencing data, we identified that expression of the canonical NER gene, excision repair cross-complementation group 3 (ERCC3), significantly impacted the outcome in newly diagnosed MM patients treated with alkylating agents. Next, using small RNA interference, stable knockdown and overexpression, and small-molecule inhibitors targeting xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group B (XPB), the DNA helicase encoded by ERCC3, we demonstrate that NER inhibition significantly increases sensitivity and overcomes resistance to alkylating agents in MM. Moreover, inhibiting XPB leads to the dual inhibition of NER and transcription and is particularly efficient in myeloma cells. Altogether, we show that NER impacts alkylating agents sensitivity in myeloma cells and identify ERCC3 as a potential therapeutic target in MM. PMID:28588253

  1. Synthesis and Performance of a Biomimetic Indicator for Alkylating Agents.

    PubMed

    Provencher, Philip A; Love, Jennifer A

    2015-10-02

    4-(4-Nitrobenzyl)pyridine (NBP) is a colorimetric indicator compound for many types of carcinogenic alkylating agents. Because of the similar reactivity of NBP and guanine in DNA, NBP serves as a DNA model. NBP assays are used in the toxicological screening of pharmaceutical compounds, detection of chemical warfare agents, environmental hygiene technology, preliminary toxicology tests, mutagenicity of medicinal compounds, and other chemical analyses. Nevertheless, the use of NBP as a DNA model suffers from the compound's low water solubility, its lack of reactive oxygen sites, and dissimilar steric encumbrance compared to DNA. We report herein the design and synthesis of NBP derivatives that address some of these issues. These derivatives have been tested in solution and found to be superior in the colorimetric assay of the alkylating anticancer drug cyclophosphamide. The derivatives have also been integrated into a polymeric silica material which changes color upon the exposure to dangerous alkylating agents, such as iodomethane vapor, without the need for an exogenous base. This material modernizes the NBP assay from a time-consuming laboratory analysis to a real-time solid state sensor, which requires neither solvent nor additional reagents and can detect both gas- and solution-phase alkylating agents.

  2. [Mutagenic and antimutagenic properties of bemitil].

    PubMed

    Seredenin, S B; Bobkov, Iu G; Durnev, A D; Dubovskaia, O Iu

    1986-07-01

    Complex research of the genetic activity of a new 2-mercaptobenzimidazole derivative bemythyl has shown that the drug failed to induce recessive, age-related lethal mutations in drosophila, dominant lethal mutations in germ mammalian cells and chromosomal damage in murine bone marrow cells and human peripheral blood cell cultures. The experiments on mice have demonstrated that therapeutic bemythyl doses caused a two-fold decrease in the level of aberrant cells induced by alkylating agents--fotrin and fopurin.

  3. Toxicity, Mutagenicity, and Mutational Spectra of Vinyl Chloride, 2- Chloroethylene Oxide, and Chloracetaldehyde in a Human Lymphoblastoid Line Expressing Cytochrome P450IIE1.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1992-01-01

    concluded that CEO was the alkylating agent involved in conversion of adenosine to l,N 6 -ethenoadenosine. 1,N6 - Ethenoadenosine was not produced by CEO...guanines as nearest neighbors upon the alkylation of a guanine residue in DNA. N-methyl-N- nitrosourea (MNU) was reacted with a synthetic polynucleotide...the alkylating agent MNNG or the intercalating agent ICR-191. In the study they determined that mutants comprising at least one percent of the total

  4. Absence of cross-resistance between two alkylating agents: BCNU vs bifunctional galactitol.

    PubMed

    Institóris, E; Szikla, K; Otvös, L; Gál, F

    1989-01-01

    Dianhydrogalactitol (DAG) increased the life span of both BCNU-sensitive and -resistant L1210 tumor-bearing mice. However, the BCNU-resistant strain showed slightly lower sensitivity against DAG, which could be overcome by an increase in drug dose of ca. 20%. The somewhat lower sensitivity was proportional to a slightly reduced DNA cross-linking formation induced by DAG in BCNU-resistant cells. The amount of DNA cross-links was determined by measurement of the 1,6-di(guaninyl)-galactitol content of DNA. The slight reduction in cross-links is not attributable to DNA repair but rather to other factors that seem to prevent the formation of DNA-drug adducts. The absence of cross-resistance is explained by different kinds of DNA damage caused by the two alkylating agents and the presumably different defense mechanisms developed by cells against these lesions.

  5. [Multiple organ failure presumably due to alkylating agents used as preconditioning drugs for autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation in an acute promyelocytic leukemia].

    PubMed

    Ida, Tori; Hashimoto, Shigeo; Suzuki, Nobuaki; Ebe, Yusuke; Yano, Toshio; Sato, Naoko; Koike, Tadashi

    2016-01-01

    A 52-year-old male was diagnosed as having acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) in 2006. He received induction chemotherapy including all-trans retinoic acid and initially achieved a complete remission (CR). After several courses of consolidation therapy combining anthracyclines and cytarabine, he maintained CR. In 2009, an APL relapse was diagnosed, and he was treated with arsenic trioxide. Since he achieved a second CR, he underwent autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (auto-PBSCT) with a conditioning regimen consisting of busulfan and melphalan. At four months after auto-PBSCT, he developed a pneumothorax and acute respiratory failure. He died despite intensive therapy. Autopsy findings included various atypical and apoptotic cells in his pulmonary tissue. These changes were confirmed in multiple organs throughout the body, suggesting them to be drug-induced. The findings in this case suggested multiple organ failure due to alkylating agents.

  6. Antigenotoxic effects of Citrus aurentium L. fruit peel oil on mutagenicity of two alkylating agents and two metals in the Drosophila wing spot test.

    PubMed

    Demir, Eşref; Kocaoğlu, Serap; Cetin, Huseyin; Kaya, Bülent

    2009-07-01

    Antigenotoxic effects of Citrus aurentium L. (Rutaceae) fruit peel oil (CPO) in combination with mutagenic metals and alkylating agents were studied using the wing spot test of D. melanogaster. The four reference mutagens, potassium dichromate (K2Cr2O7), cobalt chloride (CoCl2), ethylmethanesulfonate (EMS), and N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) were clearly genotoxic. CPO alone at doses from 0.1 to 0.5% in Tween 80 was not mutagenic and did not enhance the mutagenic effect of the reference mutagens. However, antigenotoxic effects of CPO were clearly demonstrated in chronic cotreatments with mutagens and oil, by a significant decrease in wing spots induced by all four mutagens. The D. melanogaster wing spot test was found to be a suitable assay for detecting antigenotoxic effects in vivo. Copyright 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  7. Alkylating agents for Waldenstrom's macroglobulinaemia.

    PubMed

    Yang, Kun; Tan, Jianlong; Wu, Taixiang

    2009-01-21

    Waldenstrom's macroglobulinaemia (WM) is an uncommon B-cell lymphoproliferative disorder characterized by bone marrow infiltration and production of monoclonal immunoglobulin. Uncertainty remains if alkylating agents, such as chlorambucil, melphalan or cyclophosphamide, are an effective form of management. To assess the effects and safety of the alkylating agents on Waldenstrom's macroglobulinaemia (WM). We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (Issue 1, 2008), MEDLINE (1966 to 2008), EMBASE (1980 to 2008), the Chinese Biomedical Base (1982 to 2008) and reference lists of articles.We also handsearched relevant conference proceedings from 1990 to 2008. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing alkylating agents given concomitantly with radiotherapy, splenectomy, plasmapheresis, stem-cell transplantation in patients with a confirmed diagnosis of WM. Two authors independently assessed trial quality and extracted data. We contacted study authors for additional information. We collected adverse effects information from the trials. One trial involving 92 participants with pretreated/relapsed WM compared the effect of fludarabine versus the combination of cyclophosphamide (the alkylating agent), doxorubicin and prednisone (CAP). Compared to CAP, the Hazard ratio (HR) for deaths of treatment with fludarabine was estimated to be 1.04, with a standard error of 0.30 (95% CI 0.58 to 1.48) and it indicated that the mean difference of median survival time was -4.00 months, and 16.00 months for response duration. The relative risks (RR) of response rate was 2.80 (95% CI 1.10 to 7.12). There were no statistically difference in overall survival rate and median survival months, while on the basis of response rate and response duration, fludarabine seemed to be superior to CAP for pretreated/relapsed patients with macroglobulinaemia. Although alkylating agents have been used for decades they have never actually been tested in a proper randomised trial. This review demonstrated that there is currently no evidence to suggest that alkylating agents are effective in treating Waldenstrom's macroglobulinaemia.

  8. Glioblastoma and chemoresistance to alkylating agents: Involvement of apoptosis, autophagy, and unfolded protein response.

    PubMed

    Hombach-Klonisch, Sabine; Mehrpour, Maryam; Shojaei, Shahla; Harlos, Craig; Pitz, Marshall; Hamai, Ahmed; Siemianowicz, Krzysztof; Likus, Wirginia; Wiechec, Emilia; Toyota, Brian D; Hoshyar, Reyhane; Seyfoori, Amir; Sepehri, Zahra; Ande, Sudharsana R; Khadem, Forough; Akbari, Mohsen; Gorman, Adrienne M; Samali, Afshin; Klonisch, Thomas; Ghavami, Saeid

    2018-04-01

    Despite advances in neurosurgical techniques and radio-/chemotherapy, the treatment of brain tumors remains a challenge. This is particularly true for the most frequent and fatal adult brain tumor, glioblastoma (GB). Upon diagnosis, the average survival time of GB patients remains only approximately 15months. The alkylating drug temozolomide (TMZ) is routinely used in brain tumor patients and induces apoptosis, autophagy and unfolded protein response (UPR). Here, we review these cellular mechanisms and their contributions to TMZ chemoresistance in brain tumors, with a particular emphasis on TMZ chemoresistance in glioma stem cells and GB. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Mutagenic synergism detected between dimethyl sulfate and X-rays but not found between N-methyl-N-nitrosourea and X-rays in the stamen hairs of Tradescantia clone BNL 4430.

    PubMed

    Shima, N; Ichikawa, S

    1995-09-01

    Mutagenic interactions with X-rays of two monofunctional alkylating agents, dimethyl sulfate (DMS) and N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU), were studied in the stamen hairs of Tradescantia clone BNL 4430, a blue/pink heterozygote. The young inflorescence-bearing shoots with roots cultivated in the nutrient solution circulating growth chamber were used as tester plants. Synergism between two different mutagens was judged to have occurred when the mutation frequency observed after applying the two mutagens concurrently was statistically significantly higher than the mutation frequency expected from the additive effects of the two mutagens. Clear synergistic effects in inducing somatic pink mutations were detected with all combinations of doses of DMS and X-rays examined, even in a relatively low X-ray dose range (down to 299 mGy), resembling those confirmed earlier between ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) and X-rays, but somewhat differing from the synergisms observed earlier between methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) and X-rays. On the other hand, no mutagenic synergism was detected between MNU and X-rays, even in a relatively high X-ray dose range (up to 862 mGy). The presence or absence of mutagenic synergisms of these alkylating agents with X-rays could be related to the action mechanism of each alkylating agent.

  10. Downregulation of hPMC2 imparts chemotherapeutic sensitivity to alkylating agents in breast cancer cells.

    PubMed

    Krishnamurthy, Nirmala; Liu, Lili; Xiong, Xiahui; Zhang, Junran; Montano, Monica M

    2015-01-01

    Triple negative breast cancer cell lines have been reported to be resistant to the cyotoxic effects of temozolomide (TMZ). We have shown previously that a novel protein, human homolog of Xenopus gene which Prevents Mitotic Catastrophe (hPMC2) has a role in the repair of estrogen-induced abasic sites. Our present study provides evidence that downregulation of hPMC2 in MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468 breast cancer cells treated with temozolomide (TMZ) decreases cell survival. This increased sensitivity to TMZ is associated with an increase in number of apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) sites in the DNA. We also show that treatment with another alkylating agent, BCNU, results in an increase in AP sites and decrease in cell survival. Quantification of western blot analyses and immunofluorescence experiments reveal that treatment of hPMC2 downregulated cells with TMZ results in an increase in γ-H2AX levels, suggesting an increase in double strand DNA breaks. The enhancement of DNA double strand breaks in TMZ treated cells upon downregulation of hPCM2 is also revealed by the comet assay. Overall, we provide evidence that downregulation of hPMC2 in breast cancer cells increases cytotoxicity of alkylating agents, representing a novel mechanism of treatment for breast cancer. Our data thus has important clinical implications in the management of breast cancer and brings forth potentially new therapeutic strategies.

  11. Toward Hypoxia-Selective DNA-Alkylating Agents Built by Grafting Nitrogen Mustards onto the Bioreductively Activated, Hypoxia-Selective DNA-Oxidizing Agent 3-Amino-1,2,4-benzotriazine 1,4-Dioxide (Tirapazamine)

    PubMed Central

    2015-01-01

    Tirapazamine (3-amino-1,2,4-benzotriazine 1,4-dioxide) is a heterocyclic di-N-oxide that undergoes enzymatic deoxygenation selectively in the oxygen-poor (hypoxic) cells found in solid tumors to generate a mono-N-oxide metabolite. This work explored the idea that the electronic changes resulting from the metabolic deoxygenation of tirapazamine analogues might be exploited to activate a DNA-alkylating species selectively in hypoxic tissue. Toward this end, tirapazamine analogues bearing nitrogen mustard units were prepared. In the case of the tirapazamine analogue 18a bearing a nitrogen mustard unit at the 6-position, it was found that removal of the 4-oxide from the parent di-N-oxide to generate the mono-N-oxide analogue 17a did indeed cause a substantial increase in reactivity of the mustard unit, as measured by hydrolysis rates and DNA-alkylation yields. Hammett sigma values were measured to quantitatively assess the magnitude of the electronic changes induced by metabolic deoxygenation of the 3-amino-1,2,4-benzotriazine 1,4-dioxide heterocycle. The results provide evidence that the 1,2,4-benzotiazine 1,4-dioxide unit can serve as an oxygen-sensing prodrug platform for the selective unmasking of bioactive agents in hypoxic cells. PMID:25029663

  12. Toward hypoxia-selective DNA-alkylating agents built by grafting nitrogen mustards onto the bioreductively activated, hypoxia-selective DNA-oxidizing agent 3-amino-1,2,4-benzotriazine 1,4-dioxide (tirapazamine).

    PubMed

    Johnson, Kevin M; Parsons, Zachary D; Barnes, Charles L; Gates, Kent S

    2014-08-15

    Tirapazamine (3-amino-1,2,4-benzotriazine 1,4-dioxide) is a heterocyclic di-N-oxide that undergoes enzymatic deoxygenation selectively in the oxygen-poor (hypoxic) cells found in solid tumors to generate a mono-N-oxide metabolite. This work explored the idea that the electronic changes resulting from the metabolic deoxygenation of tirapazamine analogues might be exploited to activate a DNA-alkylating species selectively in hypoxic tissue. Toward this end, tirapazamine analogues bearing nitrogen mustard units were prepared. In the case of the tirapazamine analogue 18a bearing a nitrogen mustard unit at the 6-position, it was found that removal of the 4-oxide from the parent di-N-oxide to generate the mono-N-oxide analogue 17a did indeed cause a substantial increase in reactivity of the mustard unit, as measured by hydrolysis rates and DNA-alkylation yields. Hammett sigma values were measured to quantitatively assess the magnitude of the electronic changes induced by metabolic deoxygenation of the 3-amino-1,2,4-benzotriazine 1,4-dioxide heterocycle. The results provide evidence that the 1,2,4-benzotiazine 1,4-dioxide unit can serve as an oxygen-sensing prodrug platform for the selective unmasking of bioactive agents in hypoxic cells.

  13. [Drug-induced gynecomastia].

    PubMed

    Hugues, F C; Gourlot, C; Le Jeunne, C

    2000-02-01

    Drugs are a very common cause of gynecomastia and should always be entertained as the possible causal agent of such a condition. This drug side-effect is due to an impaired balance in the serum estrogen/serum androgen ratio, whatever the mechanism, or a rise in prolactin level. Sex hormones, antiandrogens, are frequently involved as well as spironolactone, cimetidine, verapamil and cancer chemotherapy (especially alkylating agents). Diazepam, tricyclic antidepressants, neuroleptics, calcium channel blockers, captopril, digitalis glycosides, omeprazole, some antibiotics and growth hormone are all possibly, but less often, the responsible agent. Criteria of the French method for determining drug causality are discussed.

  14. Glioma Cell Death Induced by Irradiation or Alkylating Agent Chemotherapy Is Independent of the Intrinsic Ceramide Pathway

    PubMed Central

    Gramatzki, Dorothee; Herrmann, Caroline; Happold, Caroline; Becker, Katrin Anne; Gulbins, Erich; Weller, Michael; Tabatabai, Ghazaleh

    2013-01-01

    Background/Aims Resistance to genotoxic therapy is a characteristic feature of glioma cells. Acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) hydrolyzes sphingomyelin to ceramide and glucosylceramide synthase (GCS) catalyzes ceramide metabolism. Increased ceramide levels have been suggested to enhance chemotherapy-induced death of cancer cells. Methods Microarray and clinical data for ASM and GCS in astrocytomas WHO grade II–IV were acquired from the Rembrandt database. Moreover, the glioblastoma database of the Cancer Genome Atlas network (TCGA) was used for survival data of glioblastoma patients. For in vitro studies, increases in ceramide levels were achieved either by ASM overexpression or by the GCS inhibitor DL-threo-1-phenyl-2-palmitoylamino-3-morpholino-1-propanol (PPMP) in human glioma cell lines. Combinations of alkylating chemotherapy or irradiation and ASM overexpression, PPMP or exogenous ceramide were applied in parental cells. The anti-glioma effects were investigated by assessing proliferation, metabolic activity, viability and clonogenicity. Finally, viability and clonogenicity were assessed in temozolomide (TMZ)-resistant cells upon treatment with PPMP, exogenous ceramide, alkylating chemotherapy, irradiation or their combinations. Results Interrogations from the Rembrandt and TCGA database showed a better survival of glioblastoma patients with low expression of ASM or GCS. ASM overexpression or PPMP treatment alone led to ceramide accumulation but did not enhance the anti-glioma activity of alkylating chemotherapy or irradiation. PPMP or exogenous ceramide induced acute cytotoxicity in glioblastoma cells. Combined treatments with chemotherapy or irradiation led to additive, but not synergistic effects. Finally, no synergy was found when TMZ-resistant cells were treated with exogenous ceramide or PPMP alone or in combination with TMZ or irradiation. Conclusion Modulation of intrinsic glioma cell ceramide levels by ASM overexpression or GCS inhibition does not enhance the anti-glioma activity of alkylating chemotherapy or irradiation. PMID:23667632

  15. Method for reactivating solid catalysts used in alkylation reactions

    DOEpatents

    Ginosar, Daniel M.; Thompson, David N.; Coates, Kyle; Zalewski, David J.; Fox, Robert V.

    2003-06-17

    A method for reactivating a solid alkylation catalyst is provided which can be performed within a reactor that contains the alkylation catalyst or outside the reactor. Effective catalyst reactivation is achieved whether the catalyst is completely deactivated or partially deactivated. A fluid reactivating agent is employed to dissolve catalyst fouling agents and also to react with such agents and carry away the reaction products. The deactivated catalyst is contacted with the fluid reactivating agent under pressure and temperature conditions such that the fluid reactivating agent is dense enough to effectively dissolve the fouling agents and any reaction products of the fouling agents and the reactivating agent. Useful pressures and temperatures for reactivation include near-critical, critical, and supercritical pressures and temperatures for the reactivating agent. The fluid reactivating agent can include, for example, a branched paraffin containing at least one tertiary carbon atom, or a compound that can be isomerized to a molecule containing at least one tertiary carbon atom.

  16. C/EBPbeta represses p53 to promote cell survival downstream of DNA damage independent of oncogenic Ras and p19(Arf).

    PubMed

    Ewing, S J; Zhu, S; Zhu, F; House, J S; Smart, R C

    2008-11-01

    CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein-beta (C/EBPbeta) is a mediator of cell survival and tumorigenesis. When C/EBPbeta(-/-) mice are treated with carcinogens that produce oncogenic Ras mutations in keratinocytes, they respond with abnormally elevated keratinocyte apoptosis and a block in skin tumorigenesis. Although this aberrant carcinogen-induced apoptosis results from abnormal upregulation of p53, it is not known whether upregulated p53 results from oncogenic Ras and its ability to induce p19(Arf) and/or activate DNA-damage response pathways or from direct carcinogen-induced DNA damage. We report that p19(Arf) is dramatically elevated in C/EBPbeta(-/-) epidermis and that C/EBPbeta represses a p19(Arf) promoter reporter. To determine whether p19(Arf) is responsible for the proapoptotic phenotype in C/EBPbeta(-/-) mice, C/EBPbeta(-/-);p19(Arf-/-) mice were generated. C/EBPbeta(-/-);p19(Arf-/-) mice responded to carcinogen treatment with increased p53 and apoptosis, indicating p19(Arf) is not essential. To ascertain whether oncogenic Ras activation induces aberrant p53 and apoptosis in C/EBPbeta(-/-) epidermis, we generated K14-ER:Ras;C/EBPbeta(-/-) mice. Oncogenic Ras activation induced by 4-hydroxytamoxifen did not produce increased p53 or apoptosis. Finally, when C/EBPbeta(-/-) mice were treated with differing types of DNA-damaging agents, including alkylating chemotherapeutic agents, they displayed aberrant levels of p53 and apoptosis. These results indicate that C/EBPbeta represses p53 to promote cell survival downstream of DNA damage and suggest that inhibition of C/EBPbeta may be a target for cancer cotherapy to increase the efficacy of alkylating chemotherapeutic agents.

  17. C/EBPβ represses p53 to promote cell survival downstream of DNA damage independent of oncogenic Ras and p19Arf

    PubMed Central

    Ewing, SJ; Zhu, S; Zhu, F; House, JS; Smart, RC

    2013-01-01

    CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein-β (C/EBPβ) is a mediator of cell survival and tumorigenesis. When C/EBPβ−/− mice are treated with carcinogens that produce oncogenic Ras mutations in keratinocytes, they respond with abnormally elevated keratinocyte apoptosis and a block in skin tumorigenesis. Although this aberrant carcinogen-induced apoptosis results from abnormal upregulation of p53, it is not known whether upregulated p53 results from oncogenic Ras and its ability to induce p19Arf and/or activate DNA-damage response pathways or from direct carcinogen-induced DNA damage. We report that p19Arf is dramatically elevated in C/EBPβ−/− epidermis and that C/EBPβ represses a p19Arf promoter reporter. To determine whether p19Arf is responsible for the proapoptotic phenotype in C/EBPβ−/− mice, C/EBPβ−/−;p19Arf−/− mice were generated. C/EBPβ−/−;p19Arf−/− mice responded to carcinogen treatment with increased p53 and apoptosis, indicating p19Arf is not essential. To ascertain whether oncogenic Ras activation induces aberrant p53 and apoptosis in C/EBPβ−/− epidermis, we generated K14-ER:Ras; C/EBPβ−/− mice. Oncogenic Ras activation induced by 4-hydroxytamoxifen did not produce increased p53 or apoptosis. Finally, when C/EBPβ−/− mice were treated with differing types of DNA-damaging agents, including alkylating chemotherapeutic agents, they displayed aberrant levels of p53 and apoptosis. These results indicate that C/EBPβ represses p53 to promote cell survival downstream of DNA damage and suggest that inhibition of C/EBPβ may be a target for cancer cotherapy to increase the efficacy of alkylating chemotherapeutic agents. PMID:18636078

  18. Ada response – a strategy for repair of alkylated DNA in bacteria

    PubMed Central

    Mielecki, Damian; Grzesiuk, Elżbieta

    2014-01-01

    Alkylating agents are widespread in the environment and also occur endogenously. They can be cytotoxic or mutagenic to the cells introducing alkylated bases to DNA or RNA. All organisms have evolved multiple DNA repair mechanisms to counteract the effects of DNA alkylation: the most cytotoxic lesion, N3-methyladenine (3meA), is excised by AlkA glycosylase initiating base excision repair (BER); toxic N1-methyladenine (1meA) and N3-methylcytosine (3meC), induced in DNA and RNA, are removed by AlkB dioxygenase; and mutagenic and cytotoxic O6-methylguanine (O6meG) is repaired by Ada methyltransferase. In Escherichia coli, Ada response involves the expression of four genes, ada, alkA, alkB, and aidB, encoding respective proteins Ada, AlkA, AlkB, and AidB. The Ada response is conserved among many bacterial species; however, it can be organized differently, with diverse substrate specificity of the particular proteins. Here, an overview of the organization of the Ada regulon and function of individual proteins is presented. We put special effort into the characterization of AlkB dioxygenases, their substrate specificity, and function in the repair of alkylation lesions in DNA/RNA. PMID:24810496

  19. Nitrosoureas: a review of experimental antitumor activity.

    PubMed

    Schabel, F M

    1976-06-01

    The chemical class of drugs known as the nitrosoureas are a recently developed group of very active alkylating-agent anticancer drugs which are best represented by BCNU, CCNU, and methyl-CCNU (meCCNU). The nitrosoureas are among the most active, if not the most active, anticancer drugs both quantitatively (log kill of sensitive tumor cells in vivo) and qualitatively (spectrum of mouse, rat, and hamster tumors responding to treatment). Therapeutic anticancer activity of the nitrosoureas has been consistently observed with oral as well as parenteral administration. The nitrosoureas are clearly the most active group of anticancer drugs observed against experimental meningeal leukemias and intracerebrally implanted transplantable primary tumors of central nervous system origin (eg, gliomas, ependymoblastomas, and astrocytomas in mice and hamsters). The nitrosoureas have been observed to be less than additive in lethal toxicity for vital normal cells in the mouse in combination with representatives of the other major classes of anticancer agents, eg, purine antagonists, pyrimidine antagonists, inhibitors of DNA polymerase(s) or ribonucleotide reductase(s), mitotic inhibitors, drugs that bind to or intercalate with DNA, and other alkylating agents. Therapeutic synergism against one or more transplantable or spontaneous tumors of mice, rats, or hamsters with one of several nitrosoureas in two-drug combinations with representatives of most of the major classes of anticancer agents listed above has been reported. With a number of advanced-stages mouse tumors, generally considered to be refractory to treatment with most anticancer agents, long-term cures have been obtained with combination-drug or combined-modality (surgery plus chemotherapy) treatment. The demonstrated lack of cross-resistance of several leukemias and solid tumors of mice selected for resistance to BCNU, meCCNU, or other alkylating agents suggests that the widely held opinion that all alkylating agents are very similar in biologic mechanism of action, and therefore resistance to one alkylating agent probably predicts cross-resistance to all alkylating agents, may no longer be tenable. If not, then alkylating-agent drug combinations, either used alone or combined with other treatment modalities (eg, surgery) which have been reported to result in therapeutic improvement in a number of experimental murine tumor systems, may be indicated for serious consideration as surgical adjuvant chemotherapy by surgeons or as primary therapy by medical oncologists.

  20. Regulation of DNA Alkylation Damage Repair: Lessons and Therapeutic Opportunities

    PubMed Central

    Soll, Jennifer M.; Sobol, Robert W.; Mosammaparast, Nima

    2016-01-01

    Alkylation chemotherapy is one of the most widely used systemic therapies for cancer. While somewhat effective, clinical responses and toxicities of these agents are highly variable. A major contributing factor for this variability is the numerous distinct lesions that are created upon alkylation damage. These adducts activate multiple repair pathways. There is mounting evidence that the individual pathways function cooperatively, suggesting that coordinated regulation of alkylation repair is critical to prevent toxicity. Furthermore, some alkylating agents produce adducts that overlap with newly discovered methylation marks, making it difficult to distinguish between bona fide damaged bases and so called ‘epigenetic’ adducts. We discuss new efforts aimed at deciphering the mechanisms that regulate these repair pathways, emphasizing their implications for cancer chemotherapy. PMID:27816326

  1. Transition-Metal-Catalyzed C-H Alkylation Using Alkenes.

    PubMed

    Dong, Zhe; Ren, Zhi; Thompson, Samuel J; Xu, Yan; Dong, Guangbin

    2017-07-12

    Alkylation reactions represent an important organic transformation to form C-C bonds. In addition to conventional approaches with alkyl halides or sulfonates as alkylating agents, the use of unactivated olefins for alkylations has become attractive from both cost and sustainability viewpoints. This Review summarizes transition-metal-catalyzed alkylations of various carbon-hydrogen bonds (addition of C-H bonds across olefins) using regular olefins or 1,3-dienes up to May 2016. According to the mode of activation, the Review is divided into two sections: alkylation via C-H activation and alkylation via olefin activation.

  2. Alcohols as alkylating agents in heteroarene C-H functionalization

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jin, Jian; MacMillan, David W. C.

    2015-09-01

    Redox processes and radical intermediates are found in many biochemical processes, including deoxyribonucleotide synthesis and oxidative DNA damage. One of the core principles underlying DNA biosynthesis is the radical-mediated elimination of H2O to deoxygenate ribonucleotides, an example of `spin-centre shift', during which an alcohol C-O bond is cleaved, resulting in a carbon-centred radical intermediate. Although spin-centre shift is a well-understood biochemical process, it is underused by the synthetic organic chemistry community. We wondered whether it would be possible to take advantage of this naturally occurring process to accomplish mild, non-traditional alkylation reactions using alcohols as radical precursors. Because conventional radical-based alkylation methods require the use of stoichiometric oxidants, increased temperatures or peroxides, a mild protocol using simple and abundant alkylating agents would have considerable use in the synthesis of diversely functionalized pharmacophores. Here we describe the development of a dual catalytic alkylation of heteroarenes, using alcohols as mild alkylating reagents. This method represents the first, to our knowledge, broadly applicable use of unactivated alcohols as latent alkylating reagents, achieved via the successful merger of photoredox and hydrogen atom transfer catalysis. The value of this multi-catalytic protocol has been demonstrated through the late-stage functionalization of the medicinal agents, fasudil and milrinone.

  3. Alcohols as alkylating agents in heteroarene C-H functionalization.

    PubMed

    Jin, Jian; MacMillan, David W C

    2015-09-03

    Redox processes and radical intermediates are found in many biochemical processes, including deoxyribonucleotide synthesis and oxidative DNA damage. One of the core principles underlying DNA biosynthesis is the radical-mediated elimination of H2O to deoxygenate ribonucleotides, an example of 'spin-centre shift', during which an alcohol C-O bond is cleaved, resulting in a carbon-centred radical intermediate. Although spin-centre shift is a well-understood biochemical process, it is underused by the synthetic organic chemistry community. We wondered whether it would be possible to take advantage of this naturally occurring process to accomplish mild, non-traditional alkylation reactions using alcohols as radical precursors. Because conventional radical-based alkylation methods require the use of stoichiometric oxidants, increased temperatures or peroxides, a mild protocol using simple and abundant alkylating agents would have considerable use in the synthesis of diversely functionalized pharmacophores. Here we describe the development of a dual catalytic alkylation of heteroarenes, using alcohols as mild alkylating reagents. This method represents the first, to our knowledge, broadly applicable use of unactivated alcohols as latent alkylating reagents, achieved via the successful merger of photoredox and hydrogen atom transfer catalysis. The value of this multi-catalytic protocol has been demonstrated through the late-stage functionalization of the medicinal agents, fasudil and milrinone.

  4. Protection against the Acute and Delayed Toxicity of Mustards and Mustard-Like Compounds.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1983-09-01

    Edition, A. G. Gilman, L. S. Goodman, and A. Gilman (eds.), Macmillan, New York, 1980, pp. 1256-1313. * 2. Ludlum, D. B., Alkylating Agents and the...chemical warfare agents . They are acutely toxic to the skin, respiratory tract, eyes, bone marrow, and, in large doses, to other organs as well...related to the alkylating activity of sulfur mustards and, specifically, to alkylation of DNA (1). Investigations of related compounds have led to the

  5. The Saccharomyces cerevisiae RAD9, RAD17, RAD24 and MEC3 genes are required for tolerating irreparable, ultraviolet-induced DNA damage.

    PubMed Central

    Paulovich, A G; Armour, C D; Hartwell, L H

    1998-01-01

    In wild-type Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a checkpoint slows the rate of progression of an ongoing S phase in response to exposure to a DNA-alkylating agent. Mutations that eliminate S phase regulation also confer sensitivity to alkylating agents, leading us to suggest that, by regulating the S phase rate, cells are either better able to repair or better able to replicate damaged DNA. In this study, we determine the effects of mutations that impair S phase regulation on the ability of excision repair-defective cells to replicate irreparably UV-damaged DNA. We assay survival after UV irradiation, as well as the genetic consequences of replicating a damaged template, namely mutation and sister chromatid exchange induction. We find that RAD9, RAD17, RAD24, and MEC3 are required for UV-induced (although not spontaneous) mutagenesis, and that RAD9 and RAD17 (but not REV3, RAD24, and MEC3) are required for maximal induction of replication-dependent sister chromatid exchange. Therefore, checkpoint genes not only control cell cycle progression in response to damage, but also play a role in accommodating DNA damage during replication. PMID:9725831

  6. The Saccharomyces cerevisiae RAD9, RAD17, RAD24 and MEC3 genes are required for tolerating irreparable, ultraviolet-induced DNA damage.

    PubMed

    Paulovich, A G; Armour, C D; Hartwell, L H

    1998-09-01

    In wild-type Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a checkpoint slows the rate of progression of an ongoing S phase in response to exposure to a DNA-alkylating agent. Mutations that eliminate S phase regulation also confer sensitivity to alkylating agents, leading us to suggest that, by regulating the S phase rate, cells are either better able to repair or better able to replicate damaged DNA. In this study, we determine the effects of mutations that impair S phase regulation on the ability of excision repair-defective cells to replicate irreparably UV-damaged DNA. We assay survival after UV irradiation, as well as the genetic consequences of replicating a damaged template, namely mutation and sister chromatid exchange induction. We find that RAD9, RAD17, RAD24, and MEC3 are required for UV-induced (although not spontaneous) mutagenesis, and that RAD9 and RAD17 (but not REV3, RAD24, and MEC3) are required for maximal induction of replication-dependent sister chromatid exchange. Therefore, checkpoint genes not only control cell cycle progression in response to damage, but also play a role in accommodating DNA damage during replication.

  7. Safety Assessment of Alkyl PEG/PPG Ethers as Used in Cosmetics.

    PubMed

    Fiume, Monice M; Heldreth, Bart; Bergfeld, Wilma F; Belsito, Donald V; Hill, Ronald A; Klaassen, Curtis D; Liebler, Daniel C; Marks, James G; Shank, Ronald C; Slaga, Thomas J; Snyder, Paul W; Andersen, F Alan

    2016-07-01

    The Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) Expert Panel assessed the safety of 131 alkyl polyethylene glycol (PEG)/polypropylene glycol ethers as used in cosmetics, concluding that these ingredients are safe in the present practices of use and concentration described in this safety assessment when formulated to be nonirritating. Most of the alkyl PEG/PPG ethers included in this review are reported to function in cosmetics as surfactants, skin-conditioning agents, and/or emulsifying agents. The alkyl PEG/PPG ethers share very similar physiochemical properties as the alkyl PEG ethers, which were reviewed previously by the CIR Expert Panel and found safe when formulated to be nonirritating. The alkyl PEG ethers differ by the inclusion of PPG repeat units, which are used to fine-tune the surfactant properties of this group. The Panel relied heavily on data on analogous ingredients, extracted from the alkyl PEG ethers and PPG reports, when making its determination of safety. © The Author(s) 2016.

  8. Anti-cancer agents based on N-acyl-2, 3-dihydro-1H-pyrrolo[2,3-b] quinoline derivatives and a method of making

    DOEpatents

    Gakh, Andrei; Krasavin, Mikhail; Karapetian, Ruben; Rufanov, Konstantin A; Konstantinov, Igor; Godovykh, Elena; Soldatkina, Olga; Sosnov, Andrey V

    2013-04-16

    The present disclosure relates to novel compounds that can be used as anti-cancer agents in the prostate cancer therapy. In particular, the invention relates to N-acyl derivatives of 2,3-dihydro-1H-pyrrolo[2,3-b]quinolines having the structural Formula (I), ##STR00001## stereoisomers, tautomers, racemics, prodrugs, metabolites thereof, or pharmaceutically acceptable salt and/or solvate thereof. The meaning of R1 is independently selected from H; C1-C6 Alkyl, cyclo-Alkyl or iso-Alkyl substituents; R2 is selected from C1-C6 Alkyl, cyclo-Alkyl or iso-Alkyl; substituted or non-substituted, fused or non-fused to substituted or non-substituted aromatic ring, aryl or heteroaryl groups. The invention also relates to methods for preparing said compounds, and to pharmaceutical compositions comprising said compounds.

  9. The Impact of Commonly Used Alkylating Agents on Artifactual Peptide Modification.

    PubMed

    Hains, Peter G; Robinson, Phillip J

    2017-09-01

    Iodoacetamide is by far the most commonly used agent for alkylation of cysteine during sample preparation for proteomics. An alternative, 2-chloroacetamide, has recently been suggested to reduce the alkylation of residues other than cysteine, such as the N-terminus, Asp, Glu, Lys, Ser, Thr, and Tyr. Here we show that although 2-chloroacetamide reduces the level of off-target alkylation, it exhibits a range of adverse effects. The most significant of these is methionine oxidation, which increases to a maximum of 40% of all Met-containing peptides, compared with 2-5% with iodoacetamide. Increases were also observed for mono- and dioxidized tryptophan. No additional differences between the alkylating reagents were observed for a range of other post-translational modifications and digestion parameters. The deleterious effects were observed for 2-chloroacetamide from three separate suppliers. The adverse impact of 2-chloroacetamide on methionine oxidation suggests that it is not the ideal alkylating reagent for proteomics.

  10. [Effects of a new derivative of 5-alkyl-3N-furanones on the colonization resistance of the intestine in albino mice].

    PubMed

    Tomnikov, A Iu; Shub, G M

    1990-05-01

    By its antagonistic function normal microflora provides the intestine with resistance to colonization with exogenic opportunistic and pathogenic microorganisms. The drug was effective in inducing a decrease in the intestine colonization resistance which in its turn leads to filling of free ecological niches with exogenic microflora. In this connection the suggestion that specification of a new chemical agent should include along with other criteria its effect on colonization resistance is valid. It was shown with the use of indicator microorganisms that when administered per os in doses of 40 and 80 mg/kg daily for 3 and 6 days, respectively, a new original compound 1929, a derivative of 5-alkyl-3H-furanones, with high antimicrobial activity induced no significant or more pronounced changes in the colonization resistance of the gastrointestinal tract of noninbred albino mice than furagin used as the reference drug.

  11. Alkylation sensitivity screens reveal a conserved cross-species functionome

    PubMed Central

    Svilar, David; Dyavaiah, Madhu; Brown, Ashley R.; Tang, Jiang-bo; Li, Jianfeng; McDonald, Peter R.; Shun, Tong Ying; Braganza, Andrea; Wang, Xiao-hong; Maniar, Salony; St Croix, Claudette M.; Lazo, John S.; Pollack, Ian F.; Begley, Thomas J.; Sobol, Robert W.

    2013-01-01

    To identify genes that contribute to chemotherapy resistance in glioblastoma, we conducted a synthetic lethal screen in a chemotherapy-resistant glioblastoma derived cell line with the clinical alkylator temozolomide (TMZ) and an siRNA library tailored towards “druggable” targets. Select DNA repair genes in the screen were validated independently, confirming the DNA glycosylases UNG and MYH as well as MPG to be involved in the response to high dose TMZ. The involvement of UNG and MYH is likely the result of a TMZ-induced burst of reactive oxygen species. We then compared the human TMZ sensitizing genes identified in our screen with those previously identified from alkylator screens conducted in E. coli and S. cerevisiae. The conserved biological processes across all three species composes an Alkylation Functionome that includes many novel proteins not previously thought to impact alkylator resistance. This high-throughput screen, validation and cross-species analysis was then followed by a mechanistic analysis of two essential nodes: base excision repair (BER) DNA glycosylases (UNG, human and mag1, S. cerevisiae) and protein modification systems, including UBE3B and ICMT in human cells or pby1, lip22, stp22 and aim22 in S. cerevisiae. The conserved processes of BER and protein modification were dual targeted and yielded additive sensitization to alkylators in S. cerevisiae. In contrast, dual targeting of BER and protein modification genes in human cells did not increase sensitivity, suggesting an epistatic relationship. Importantly, these studies provide potential new targets to overcome alkylating agent resistance. PMID:23038810

  12. Chloroplast mutations induced by 9-aminoacridine hydrochloride are independent of the plastome mutator in Oenothera.

    PubMed

    GuhaMajumdar, M; Baldwin, S; Sears, B B

    2004-02-01

    Oenothera plants homozygous for the recessive plastome mutator allele ( pm) show chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) mutation frequencies that are about 1,000-fold higher than spontaneous levels. The pm-encoded gene product has been hypothesized to have a function in cpDNA replication, repair and/or mutation avoidance. Previous chemical mutagenesis experiments with the alkylating agent nitroso-methyl urea (NMU) showed a synergistic effect of NMU on the induction of mutations in the pm line, suggesting an interaction between the pm-encoded gene product and one of the repair systems that corrects alkylation damage. The goal of the experiments described here was to examine whether the pm activity extends to the repair of damage caused by non-alkylating mutagens. To this end, the intercalating mutagen, 9-aminoacridine hydrochloride (9AA) was tested for synergism with the plastome mutator. A statistical analysis of the data reported here indicates that the pm-encoded gene product is not involved in the repair of the 9AA-induced mutations. However, the recovery of chlorotic sectors in plants derived from the mutagenized seeds shows that 9AA can act as a mutagen of the chloroplast genome.

  13. Alcohols as alkylating agents in heteroarene C–H functionalization

    PubMed Central

    Jin, Jian; MacMillan, David W. C.

    2015-01-01

    Redox processes and radical intermediates are found in many biochemical processes, including deoxyribonucleotide synthesis and oxidative DNA damage1. One of the core principles that underlies DNA biosynthesis is the radical-mediated elimnation of H2O to deoxygenate ribonucleotides, an example of ‘spin-center shift’ (SCS)2, during which an alcohol C–O bond is cleaved, resulting in a carbon-centered radical intermediate. While SCS is a well-understood biochemical process, it is underutilized by the synthetic organic chemistry community. We wondered whether it would be possible to take advantage of this naturally occurring process to accomplish mild, non-traditional alkylations using alcohols as radical precursors. Considering traditional radical-based alkylation methods require the use of stoichiometric oxidants, elevated temperatures, or peroxides3–7, the development of a mild protocol using simple and abundant alkylating agents would have significant utility in the synthesis of diversely functionalized pharmacophores. In this manuscript, we describe the successful execution of this idea via the development of a dual catalytic alkylation of heteroarenes using alcohols as mild alkylating reagents. This method represents the first broadly applicable use of unactivated alcohols as latent alkylating reagents, achieved via the successful merger of photoredox and hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) catalysis. The utility of this multi-catalytic protocol has been demonstrated through the late-stage functionalization of the medicinal agents, fasudil and milrinone. PMID:26308895

  14. Bifunctional alkylating agent-mediated MGMT-DNA cross-linking and its proteolytic cleavage in 16HBE cells

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Cheng, Jin; Ye, Feng; Dan, Guorong

    Nitrogen mustard (NM), a bifunctional alkylating agent (BAA), contains two alkyl arms and can act as a cross-linking bridge between DNA and protein to form a DNA-protein cross-link (DPC). O{sup 6}-methylguanine–DNA methyltransferase (MGMT), a DNA repair enzyme for alkyl adducts removal, is found to enhance cell sensitivity to BAAs and to promote damage, possibly due to its stable covalent cross-linking with DNA mediated by BAAs. To investigate MGMT-DNA cross-link (mDPC) formation and its possible dual roles in NM exposure, human bronchial epithelial cell line 16HBE was subjected to different concentrations of HN2, a kind of NM, and we found mDPCmore » was induced by HN2 in a concentration-dependent manner, but the mRNA and total protein of MGMT were suppressed. As early as 1 h after HN2 treatment, high mDPC was achieved and the level maintained for up to 24 h. Quick total DPC (tDPC) and γ-H2AX accumulation were observed. To evaluate the effect of newly predicted protease DVC1 on DPC cleavage, we applied siRNA of MGMT and DVC1, MG132 (proteasome inhibitor), and NMS-873 (p97 inhibitor) and found that proteolysis plays a role. DVC1 was proven to be more important in the cleavage of mDPC than tDPC in a p97-dependent manner. HN2 exposure induced DVC1 upregulation, which was at least partially contributed to MGMT cleavage by proteolysis because HN2-induced mDPC level and DNA damage was closely related with DVC1 expression. Homologous recombination (HR) was also activated. Our findings demonstrated that MGMT might turn into a DNA damage promoter by forming DPC when exposed to HN2. Proteolysis, especially DVC1, plays a crucial role in mDPC repair. - Highlights: • Nitrogen mustard-induced MGMT-DNA cross-linking was detected in a living cell. • Concentration- and time-dependent manners of MGMT-DNA cross-linking were revealed. • Proteolysis played an important role in protein (MGMT)-DNA cross-linking repair. • DVC1 acts as a proteolytic enzyme in cross-linking repair in a p97-dependent manner.« less

  15. Ada response - a strategy for repair of alkylated DNA in bacteria.

    PubMed

    Mielecki, Damian; Grzesiuk, Elżbieta

    2014-06-01

    Alkylating agents are widespread in the environment and also occur endogenously. They can be cytotoxic or mutagenic to the cells introducing alkylated bases to DNA or RNA. All organisms have evolved multiple DNA repair mechanisms to counteract the effects of DNA alkylation: the most cytotoxic lesion, N(3)-methyladenine (3meA), is excised by AlkA glycosylase initiating base excision repair (BER); toxic N(1)-methyladenine (1meA) and N(3)-methylcytosine (3meC), induced in DNA and RNA, are removed by AlkB dioxygenase; and mutagenic and cytotoxic O(6)-methylguanine (O(6) meG) is repaired by Ada methyltransferase. In Escherichia coli, Ada response involves the expression of four genes, ada, alkA, alkB, and aidB, encoding respective proteins Ada, AlkA, AlkB, and AidB. The Ada response is conserved among many bacterial species; however, it can be organized differently, with diverse substrate specificity of the particular proteins. Here, an overview of the organization of the Ada regulon and function of individual proteins is presented. We put special effort into the characterization of AlkB dioxygenases, their substrate specificity, and function in the repair of alkylation lesions in DNA/RNA. © 2014 The Authors. FEMS Microbiology Letters published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Federation of European Microbiological Societies.

  16. Evaluation of protective effect of amifostine on dacarbazine induced genotoxicity.

    PubMed

    Etebari, M; Jafarian-Dehkordi, A; Lame, V

    2015-01-01

    Anticancer therapy with alkylating agents has been used for many years. Dacarbazine (DTIC) as an alkylating agent is used alone or in combination with other chemotherapy drugs. In order to inhibit the formation of secondary cancers resulting from chemotherapy with DTIC, preventional strategies is necessary. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the genoprotective effect of amifostine on the genotoxic effects of DTIC in cell culture condition. To determine the optimum genotoxic concentration of DTIC, HepG2 cells were incubated with various DTIC concentrations including 5, 10 and 20 μg/ml for 2 h and the genotoxic effects were evaluated by the comet assay. The result of this part of the study showed that incubation of HepG2 cells with DTIC at 5 μg/ml was sufficient to produce genotoxic effect. In order to determine the protective effects of amifostine on genotoxicity induced by DTIC, HepG2 cells were incubated with different concentrations of amifostine (2, 3 and 5 mg/ml) for 1 h which was followed by incubation with DTIC at 5 μg/ml for 2 h. One hour incubation of cells with different concentrations of amifostine before incubation with DITC indicated that at least 5 mg/ml concentration of amifostine can prevent genotoxic effects induced by DTIC on HepG2 cells under described condition. In conclusion amifostine could prevent DNA damage induced by DTIC on HepG2 cells.

  17. Mutagenicity and clastogenicity of extracts of Helicobacter pylori detected by the Ames test and in the micronucleus test using human lymphoblastoid cells.

    PubMed

    Arimoto-Kobayashi, Sakae; Ohta, Kaori; Yuhara, Yuta; Ayabe, Yuka; Negishi, Tomoe; Okamoto, Keinosuke; Nakajima, Yoshihiro; Ishikawa, Takeshi; Oguma, Keiji; Otsuka, Takanao

    2015-07-01

    Epidemiological studies have demonstrated a close association between infection with Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori) and the development of gastric carcinoma. Chronic H.pylori infection increases the frequency of mutation in gastric epithelial cells. However, the mechanism by which infection of H.pylori leads to mutation in gastric epithelial cells is unclear. We suspected that components in H.pylori may be related to the mutagenic response associated with DNA alkylation, and could be detected with the Ames test using a more sensitive strain for alkylating agents. Our investigation revealed that an extract of H.pylori was mutagenic in the Ames test with Salmonella typhimurium YG7108, which is deficient in the DNA repair of O(6)-methylguanine. The extract of H.pylori may contain methylating or alkylating agents, which might induce O (6)-alkylguanine in DNA. Mutagenicity of the alkylating agents N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) and N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine in the Ames test with S.typhimurium TA1535 was enhanced significantly in the presence of the extract of H.pylori. The tested extracts of H.pylori resulted in a significant induction of micronuclei in human-derived lymphoblastoid cells. Heat instability and dialysis resistance of the extracts of H.pylori suggest that the mutagenic component in the extracts of H.pylori is a heat-unstable large molecule or a heat-labile small molecule strongly attached or adsorbed to a large molecule. Proteins in the extracts of H.pylori were subsequently fractionated using ammonium sulphate precipitation. However, all fractions expressed enhancing effects toward MNU mutagenicity. These results suggest the mutagenic component is a small molecule that is absorbed into proteins in the extract of H.pylori, which resist dialysis. Continuous and chronic exposure of gastric epithelial cells to the alkylative mutagenic component from H.pylori chronically infected in the stomach might be a causal factor in the gastric carcinogenesis associated with H.pylori. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the UK Environmental Mutagen Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  18. S - and N-alkylating agents diminish the fluorescence of fluorescent dye-stained DNA.

    PubMed

    Giesche, Robert; John, Harald; Kehe, Kai; Schmidt, Annette; Popp, Tanja; Balzuweit, Frank; Thiermann, Horst; Gudermann, Thomas; Steinritz, Dirk

    2017-01-25

    Sulfur mustard (SM), a chemical warfare agent, causes DNA alkylation, which is believed to be the main cause of its toxicity. SM DNA adducts are commonly used to verify exposure to this vesicant. However, the required analytical state-of-the-art mass-spectrometry methods are complex, use delicate instruments, are not mobile, and require laboratory infrastructure that is most likely not available in conflict zones. Attempts have thus been made to develop rapid detection methods that can be used in the field. The analysis of SM DNA adducts (HETE-G) by immunodetection is a convenient and suitable method. For a diagnostic assessment, HETE-G levels must be determined in relation to the total DNA in the sample. Total DNA can be easily visualized by the use of fluorescent DNA dyes. This study examines whether SM and related compounds affect total DNA staining, an issue that has not been investigated before. After pure DNA was extracted from human keratinocytes (HaCaT cells), DNA was exposed to different S- and N-alkylating agents. Our experiments revealed a significant, dose-dependent decrease in the fluorescence signal of fluorescent dye-stained DNA after exposure to alkylating agents. After mass spectrometry and additional fluorescence measurements ruled out covalent modifications of ethidium bromide (EthBr) by SM, we assumed that DNA crosslinks caused DNA condensation and thereby impaired access of the fluorescent dyes to the DNA. DNA digestion by restriction enzymes restored fluorescence, a fact that strengthened our hypothesis. However, monofunctional agents, which are unable to crosslink DNA, also decreased the fluorescence signal. In subsequent experiments, we demonstrated that protons produced during DNA alkylation caused a pH decrease that was found responsible for the reduction in fluorescence. The use of an appropriate buffer system eliminated the adverse effect of alkylating agents on DNA staining with fluorescent dyes. An appropriate buffer system is thus crucial for DNA quantification with fluorescent dyes in the presence of alkylating compounds. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Alkylation of enolates: An electrophilicity perspective

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Elango, M.; Parthasarathi, R.; Subramanian, V.; Chattaraj, P. K.

    Enolates are ambient nucleophiles, and alkylation can occur either at a carbon or at an oxygen site. It is known that the ratio of C/O alkylation depends significantly on various factors, including the type of enolate, alkylating agent, site of alkylation, and solvent environment. Analysis of regioselectivity and solvent effects on alkylation of lithium enolates is investigated using various reactivity descriptors, including generalized philicity. These results point out the reliability of both global and local reactivity descriptors in providing significant information about site selectivity and chemical reactivity of lithium enolates.

  20. Anticancer activity of botanical alkyl hydroquinones attributed to topoisomerase II poisoning

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Huang, C.-P.; Fang, W.-H.; Lin, L.-I.

    2008-03-15

    Cytotoxic alkyl hydroquinone compounds have been isolated from many plants. We previously isolated 3 structurally similar cytotoxic alkyl hydroquinone compounds from the sap of the lacquer tree Rhus succedanea L. belonging to the sumac family, which have a long history of medicinal use in Asia. Each has an unsaturated alkyl chain attached to the 2-position of a hydroquinone ring. One of these isolates, 10'(Z),13'(E),15'(E)-heptadecatrienylhydroquinone [HQ17(3)], being the most cytotoxic, was chosen for studying the anticancer mechanism of these compounds. We found that HQ17(3) was a topoisomerase (Topo) II poison. It irreversibly inhibited Topo II{alpha} activity through the accumulation of Topomore » II-DNA cleavable complexes. A cell-based assay showed that HQ17(3) inhibited the growth of leukemia HL-60 cells with an EC{sub 50} of 0.9 {mu}M, inhibited the topoisomerase-II-deficient cells HL-60/MX2 with an EC{sub 50} of 9.6 {mu}M, and exerted no effect on peripheral blood mononuclear cells at concentrations up to 50 {mu}M. These results suggest that Topo II is the cellular drug target. In HL-60 cells, HQ17(3) promptly inhibited DNA synthesis, induced chromosomal breakage, and led to cell death with an EC{sub 50} about one-tenth that of hydroquinone. Pretreatment of the cells with N-acetylcysteine could not attenuate the cytotoxicity and DNA damage induced by HQ17(3). However, N-acetylcysteine did significantly reduce the cytotoxicity of hydroquinone. In F344 rats, intraperitoneal injection of HQ17(3) for 28 days induced no clinical signs of toxicity. These results indicated that HQ17(3) is a potential anticancer agent, and its structural features could be a model for anticancer drug design.« less

  1. Detection of DNA damage in individual cells by flow cytometric analysis using anti-DNA monoclonal antibody

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Frankfurt, O.S.

    A new method for the measurement of DNA damage in individual cells treated with alkylating agents is described. The method is based on the binding of anti-DNA monoclonal antibody to DNA in situ. Binding of antibody was evaluated by flow cytometry with indirect immunofluorescence. No binding of antibody to DNA in non-treated HeLa S3 cells was detected. Treatment of cells with HN2 or L-phenylalanine mustard induced binding of antibody to DNA in situ. Binding of antibody was observed after treating cells with doses of drugs which reduced the surviving fraction below 20%. Intensity of binding increased in proportion to themore » drug dose. In HN2-treated cells a cell subset with the lowest antibody binding was observed among cells in G1 phase. Binding of antibody to DNA in HN2-treated cells was eliminated by single-strand (ss) specific S1 nuclease. In competition assay, antibody was inhibited by thermally denatured DNA, but not by native double-stranded (ds) DNA, RNA, nucleosides and deoxyribohomopolymers. Immunoreactivity of cells with the monoclonal antibody F7-26 may be a useful probe for the assessment of cell damage induced by alkylating agents, especially in heterogeneous cell populations.« less

  2. BOT-4-one attenuates NLRP3 inflammasome activation: NLRP3 alkylation leading to the regulation of its ATPase activity and ubiquitination.

    PubMed

    Shim, Do-Wan; Shin, Woo-Young; Yu, Sang-Hyeun; Kim, Byung-Hak; Ye, Sang-Kyu; Koppula, Sushruta; Won, Hyung-Sik; Kang, Tae-Bong; Lee, Kwang-Ho

    2017-11-08

    The ATPase activity of NLRP3 has pivotal role in inflammasome activation and is recognized as a good target for the development of the NLRP3 inflammasome-specific inhibitor. However, signals in the vicinity of the ATPase activity of NLRP3 have not been fully elucidated. Here, we demonstrate NLRP3 inflammasome-specific action of a benzoxathiole derivative, BOT-4-one. BOT-4-one exhibited an inhibition of NLRP3 inflammasome activation, which was attributable to its alkylating capability to NLRP3. In particular, the NLRP3 alkylation by BOT-4-one led to an impaired ATPase activity of NLRP3, thereby obstructing the assembly of the NLRP3 inflammasome. Additionally, we found that NLRP3 alkylators, including BOT-4-one, enhance the ubiquitination level of NLRP3, which might also contribute to the inhibition of NLRP3 inflammasome activation. Finally, BOT-4-one appeared to be superior to other known NLRP3 alkylators in inhibiting the functionality of the NLRP3 inflammasome and its resulting anti-inflammatory activity was confirmed in vivo using a monosodium urate-induced peritonitis mouse model. Collectively, the results suggest that NLRP3 alkylators function by inhibiting ATPase activity and increasing the ubiquitination level of NLRP3, and BOT-4-one could be the type of NLRP3 inhibitor that may be potentially useful for the novel development of a therapeutic agent in controlling NLRP3 inflammasome-related diseases.

  3. Extended exposure to alkylator chemotherapy: delayed appearance of myelodysplasia.

    PubMed

    Chamberlain, Marc C; Raizer, Jeffrey

    2009-06-01

    A case series of gliomas treated with alkylator-based chemotherapy who subsequently developed myelodysplastic syndrome (tMDS) or acute myelocytic leukemia (AML). Alkylator-based chemotherapy is recognized to be leukemogenic; however, it is infrequently described as a delayed consequence of anti-glioma treatment. Seven patients (4 men; 3 women) ages 34-69 years (median 44), with gliomas (3 Grade 2; 4 Grade 3) were treated with surgery, all but one with involved-field radiotherapy and all with alkylator-based chemotherapy (temozolomide; 6 patients, nitrosoureas; 5 patients, both agents; 5 patients). Exposure to alkylator-based chemotherapy ranged from 8 to 30 months (median 24). The diagnosis of tMDS was determined by bone marrow biopsy in 7 patients. Seven patients showed chromosomal abnormalities consistent with chemotherapy induced MDS. Three patients were diagnosed with AML as well (in two determined by bone marrow and one at autopsy). Interval from last chemotherapy exposure to diagnosis of tMDS/AML ranged from 3 to 31 months (median 24 months). Two patients were treated with bone marrow transplantation and 5 received supportive care only. Five patients have died, 2 as a consequence of recurrent brain tumor, 1 as a complication of transplantation, and 2 due to AML. Although rare, induction of tMDS/AML following extended use of alkylator-based chemotherapy may become more relevant with the evolving practice to treat gliomas for protracted periods. Future work to determine at risk patients would be important.

  4. B-Raf inhibitor vemurafenib in combination with temozolomide and fotemustine in the killing response of malignant melanoma cells.

    PubMed

    Roos, Wynand P; Quiros, Steve; Krumm, Andrea; Merz, Stephanie; Switzeny, Olivier Jérôme; Christmann, Markus; Loquai, Carmen; Kaina, Bernd

    2014-12-30

    In the treatment of metastatic melanoma, a highly therapy-refractory cancer, alkylating agents are used and, for the subgroup of BRAFV600E cancers, the B-Raf inhibitor vemurafenib. Although vemurafenib is initially beneficial, development of drug resistance occurs leading to tumor relapse, which necessitates the requirement for combined or sequential therapy with other drugs, including genotoxic alkylating agents. This leads to the question whether vemurafenib and alkylating agents act synergistically and whether chronic vemurafenib treatment alters the melanoma cell response to alkylating agents. Here we show that a) BRAFV600E melanoma cells are killed by vemurafenib, driving apoptosis, b) BRAFV600E melanoma cells are neither more resistant nor sensitive to temozolomide/fotemustine than non-mutant cells, c) combined treatment with vemurafenib plus temozolomide or fotemustine has an additive effect on cell kill, d) acquired vemurafenib resistance of BRAFV600E melanoma cells does not affect MGMT, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2 and MLH1, nor does it affect the resistance to temozolomide and fotemustine, e) metastatic melanoma biopsies obtained from patients prior to and after vemurafenib treatment did not show a change in the MGMT promoter methylation status and MGMT expression level. The data suggest that consecutive treatment with vemurafenib and alkylating drugs is a reasonable strategy for metastatic melanoma treatment.

  5. B-Raf inhibitor vemurafenib in combination with temozolomide and fotemustine in the killing response of malignant melanoma cells

    PubMed Central

    Krumm, Andrea; Merz, Stephanie; Switzeny, Olivier Jérôme; Christmann, Markus; Loquai, Carmen; Kaina, Bernd

    2014-01-01

    In the treatment of metastatic melanoma, a highly therapy-refractory cancer, alkylating agents are used and, for the subgroup of BRAFV600E cancers, the B-Raf inhibitor vemurafenib. Although vemurafenib is initially beneficial, development of drug resistance occurs leading to tumor relapse, which necessitates the requirement for combined or sequential therapy with other drugs, including genotoxic alkylating agents. This leads to the question whether vemurafenib and alkylating agents act synergistically and whether chronic vemurafenib treatment alters the melanoma cell response to alkylating agents. Here we show that a) BRAFV600E melanoma cells are killed by vemurafenib, driving apoptosis, b) BRAFV600E melanoma cells are neither more resistant nor sensitive to temozolomide/fotemustine than non-mutant cells, c) combined treatment with vemurafenib plus temozolomide or fotemustine has an additive effect on cell kill, d) acquired vemurafenib resistance of BRAFV600E melanoma cells does not affect MGMT, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2 and MLH1, nor does it affect the resistance to temozolomide and fotemustine, e) metastatic melanoma biopsies obtained from patients prior to and after vemurafenib treatment did not show a change in the MGMT promoter methylation status and MGMT expression level. The data suggest that consecutive treatment with vemurafenib and alkylating drugs is a reasonable strategy for metastatic melanoma treatment. PMID:25557167

  6. Quantitative assessment of the dose-response of alkylating agents in DNA repair proficient and deficient ames tester strains.

    PubMed

    Tang, Leilei; Guérard, Melanie; Zeller, Andreas

    2014-01-01

    Mutagenic and clastogenic effects of some DNA damaging agents such as methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) and ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) have been demonstrated to exhibit a nonlinear or even "thresholded" dose-response in vitro and in vivo. DNA repair seems to be mainly responsible for these thresholds. To this end, we assessed several mutagenic alkylators in the Ames test with four different strains of Salmonella typhimurium: the alkyl transferases proficient strain TA1535 (Ogt+/Ada+), as well as the alkyl transferases deficient strains YG7100 (Ogt+/Ada-), YG7104 (Ogt-/Ada+) and YG7108 (Ogt-/Ada-). The known genotoxins EMS, MMS, temozolomide (TMZ), ethylnitrosourea (ENU) and methylnitrosourea (MNU) were tested in as many as 22 concentration levels. Dose-response curves were statistically fitted by the PROAST benchmark dose model and the Lutz-Lutz "hockeystick" model. These dose-response curves suggest efficient DNA-repair for lesions inflicted by all agents in strain TA1535. In the absence of Ogt, Ada is predominantly repairing methylations but not ethylations. It is concluded that the capacity of alkyl-transferases to successfully repair DNA lesions up to certain dose levels contributes to genotoxicity thresholds. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  7. Design and synthesis of some new 1-phenyl-3/4-[4-(aryl/heteroaryl/alkyl-piperazine1-yl)-phenyl-ureas as potent anticonvulsant and antidepressant agents.

    PubMed

    Mishra, Chandra Bhushan; Kumari, Shikha; Tiwari, Manisha

    2016-05-01

    A series of 1-phenyl-3/4-[4-(aryl/heteroaryl/alkyl-piperazine1-yl)-phenyl-urea derivatives (29-42) were designed, synthesized and evaluated for their anticonvulsant activity by using maximal electroshock (MES), subcutaneous pentylenetetrazole (scPTZ) seizure tests. The acute neurotoxicity was checked by rotarod assay. Most of the test compounds were found effective in both seizure tests. Compound 30 (1-{4-[4-(4-chloro-phenyl)-piperazin-1-yl]-phenyl}-3-phenyl-urea) exhibited marked anticonvulsant activity in MES as well as scPTZ tests. The phase II anticonvulsant quantification study of compound 30 indicates the ED50 value of 28.5 mg/kg against MES induced seizures. In addition, this compound also showed considerable protection against pilocarpine induced status epilepticus in rats. Seizures induced by 3-mercaptopropionic acid model and thiosemicarbazide were significantly attenuated by compound 30, which suggested its broad spectrum of anticonvulsant activity. Interestingly, compound 30 displayed better antidepressant activity than standard drug fluoxetine. Moreover, compound 30 appeared as a non-toxic chemical entity in sub-acute toxicity studies.

  8. Effect of ionic strength and cationic DNA affinity binders on the DNA sequence selective alkylation of guanine N7-positions by nitrogen mustards

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hartley, J.A.; Forrow, S.M.; Souhami, R.L.

    Large variations in alkylation intensities exist among guanines in a DNA sequence following treatment with chemotherapeutic alkylating agents such as nitrogen mustards, and the substituent attached to the reactive group can impose a distinct sequence preference for reaction. In order to understand further the structural and electrostatic factors which determine the sequence selectivity of alkylation reactions, the effect of increase ionic strength, the intercalator ethidium bromide, AT-specific minor groove binders distamycin A and netropsin, and the polyamine spermine on guanine N7-alkylation by L-phenylalanine mustard (L-Pam), uracil mustard (UM), and quinacrine mustard (QM) was investigated with a modification of the guanine-specificmore » chemical cleavage technique for DNA sequencing. The result differed with both the nitrogen mustard and the cationic agent used. The effect, which resulted in both enhancement and suppression of alkylation sites, was most striking in the case of netropsin and distamycin A, which differed from each other. DNA footprinting indicated that selective binding to AT sequences in the minor groove of DNA can have long-range effects on the alkylation pattern of DNA in the major groove.« less

  9. Mismatch repair deficiency does not enhance ENU mutagenesis in the zebrafish germ line.

    PubMed

    Feitsma, Harma; de Bruijn, Ewart; van de Belt, Jose; Nijman, Isaac J; Cuppen, Edwin

    2008-07-01

    S(N)1-type alkylating agents such as N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) are very potent mutagens. They act by transferring their alkyl group to DNA bases, which, upon mispairing during replication, can cause single base pair mutations in the next replication cycle. As DNA mismatch repair (MMR) proteins are involved in the recognition of alkylation damage, we hypothesized that ENU-induced mutation rates could be increased in a MMR-deficient background, which would be beneficial for mutagenesis approaches. We applied a standard ENU mutagenesis protocol to adult zebrafish deficient in the MMR gene msh6 and heterozygous controls to study the effect of MMR on ENU-induced DNA damage. Dose-dependent lethality was found to be similar for homozygous and heterozygous mutants, indicating that there is no difference in ENU resistance. Mutation discovery by high-throughput dideoxy resequencing of genomic targets in outcrossed progeny of the mutagenized fish did also not reveal any differences in germ line mutation frequency. These results may indicate that the maximum mutation load for zebrafish has been reached with the currently used, highly optimized ENU mutagenesis protocol. Alternatively, the MMR system in the zebrafish germ line may be saturated very rapidly, thereby having a limited effect on high-dose ENU mutagenesis.

  10. The antitumour activity of alkylating agents is not correlated with the levels of glutathione, glutathione transferase and O6-alkylguanine-DNA-alkyltransferase of human tumour xenografts. EORTC SPG and PAMM Groups.

    PubMed

    D'Incalci, M; Bonfanti, M; Pifferi, A; Mascellani, E; Tagliabue, G; Berger, D; Fiebig, H H

    1998-10-01

    Twenty-three human xenografts, including five colon, five gastric, nine lung (three small cell lung cancer) and four breast carcinomas, were investigated for their sensitivity to nitrosoureas, dacarbazine (DTIC), cyclophosphamide (CTX) and cisplatin (DDP). In 12 cases, at least one of the drugs produced complete or partial remission, in 2, a minor regression was observed and in the other 9, treatment was ineffective. The level of sensitivity to each drug, using a score from 1 to 5, was correlated to three biochemical parameters reported to be involved in resistance to alkylating agents: glutathione (GSH), glutathione transferase (GST) and O6-alkylguanine-DNA-alkyltransferase (AGT). A wide variability was found in these parameters in the xenografts investigated. No correlation was found between any of the three parameters and sensitivity to the drugs used or between sensitivity to one drug and to any of the other drugs tested. These results illustrate the complexity of the question of resistance to alkylating agents and indicate that, at least in xenografts, the biochemical parameters examined are not predictive of response to alkylating agents.

  11. Drilling fluid containing a copolymer filtration control agent

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Enright, D.P.; Lucas, J.M.; Perricone, A.C.

    1981-10-06

    The invention relates to an aqueous drilling fluid composition, a filtration control agent for utilization in said aqueous drilling fluid, and a method of forming a filter cake on the wall of a well for the reduction of filtrate from said drilling fluid, by utilization of a copolymer of: (1) a (Meth) acrylamido alkyl sulfonic acid or alkali metal salt thereof; and (2) a (Meth) acrylamide or n-alkyl (Meth) acrylamide. The copolymer may be cross-linked with a quaternary ammonium salt cross-linking agent.

  12. Comparative toxicity of mono- and bifunctional alkylating homologues of sulphur mustard in human skin keratinocytes.

    PubMed

    Sawyer, Thomas W; McNeely, Karin; Louis, Kristen; Lecavalier, Pierre; Song, Yanfeng; Villanueva, Mercy; Clewley, Robin

    2017-05-01

    Sulphur mustard (bis(2-chloroethyl) sulphide; agent H) is a vesicant chemical warfare (CW) agent whose mechanism of action is not known with any certainty and for which there are no effective antidotes. It has a pronounced latent period before signs and symptoms of poisoning appear which it shares with the nitrogen mustards, and that differentiates it from other classes of vesicant agents. Sulphur mustard, the sulphur mustard CW agents Q (1,2-bis(2-chloroethylthio) ethane) and T (1,1 bis(2-chloroethylthioethyl) ether), the H partial hydrolysis product hemi-sulphur mustard (2-chloroethyl 2-hydroxyethyl sulphide; HSM), and the commercially available 2-chloroethyl ethyl sulphide (CEES) were characterized with respect to their toxicity in first passage cultures of proliferating human skin keratinocytes, the target cell of H-induced skin vesication. Agents H and T were equitoxic and half as toxic as agent Q. Hemi-sulphur mustard and CEES were approximately six times and seventeen times, respectively less cytotoxic than H. 2-Chloroethyl ethyl sulphide was only slightly less toxic in confluent cultures compared to actively proliferating cells. In contrast, the toxicity of H, Q, T and HSM significantly decreased as the cultures became confluent, paralleling the decreasing sensitivity of skin keratinocytes to H as they leave the basement membrane of the skin. The toxicity of CEES was maximal by 24h. In contrast, the maximal toxicity of the other four agents occurred at 48h, mirroring the latent period observed for these agents in vivo. The markedly different characteristics of toxicity between CEES and the other four test compounds indicate that it is likely that different mechanisms of action are operative between them. Caution should therefore be taken when interpreting the results of studies utilizing CEES as a simulant for the mechanistic study of H, or in the elucidation of medical countermeasures against this CW agent. It is also notable that the toxicity characteristics of the mono-alkylating HSM mirrors those of H, Q and T, suggesting that the bi-alkylating characteristics of these latter compounds may not play as large a role in their toxic effects as commonly thought. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Viral capsid mobility: a dynamic conduit for inactivation.

    PubMed

    Broo, K; Wei, J; Marshall, D; Brown, F; Smith, T J; Johnson, J E; Schneemann, A; Siuzdak, G

    2001-02-27

    Mass spectrometry and fluorescent probes have provided direct evidence that alkylating agents permeate the protein capsid of naked viruses and chemically inactivate the nucleic acid. N-acetyl-aziridine and a fluorescent alkylating agent, dansyl sulfonate aziridine, inactivated three different viruses, flock house virus, human rhinovirus-14, and foot and mouth disease virus. Mass spectral studies as well as fluorescent probes showed that alkylation of the genome was the mechanism of inactivation. Because particle integrity was not affected by selective alkylation (as shown by electron microscopy and sucrose gradient experiments), it was reasoned that the dynamic nature of the viral capsid acts as a conduit to the interior of the particle. Potential applications include fluorescent labeling for imaging viral genomes in living cells, the sterilization of blood products, vaccine development, and viral inactivation in vivo.

  14. Profiling the nucleobase and structure selectivity of anticancer drugs and other DNA alkylating agents by RNA sequencing.

    PubMed

    Gillingham, Dennis; Sauter, Basilius

    2018-05-06

    Drugs that covalently modify DNA are components of most chemotherapy regimens, often serving as first-line treatments. Classically the chemical reactivity of DNA alkylators has been determined in vitro with short oligonucleotides. Here we use next generation RNA sequencing to report on the chemoselectivity of alkylating agents. We develop the method with the well-known clinically used DNA modifiying drugs streptozotocin and temozolomide, and then apply the technique to profile RNA modification with uncharacterized alkylation reactions such as with powerful electrophiles like trimethylsilyldiazomethane. The multiplexed and massively parallel format of NGS offers analyses of chemical reactivity in nucleic acids to be accomplished in less time with greater statistical power. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  15. Effect of green juice and their bioactive compounds on genotoxicity induced by alkylating agents in mice.

    PubMed

    Fagundes, Gabriela Elibio; Damiani, Adriani Paganini; Borges, Gabriela Daminelli; Teixeira, Karina Oliveira; Jesus, Maiellen Martins; Daumann, Francine; Ramlov, Fernanda; Carvalho, Tiago; Leffa, Daniela Dimer; Rohr, Paula; Moraes De Andrade, Vanessa

    2017-01-01

    Kale juice (Brassica oleracea L. var. acephala D.C.) is a reliable source of dietary carotenoids and typically contains the highest concentrations of lutein (LT) and beta-carotene (BC) among green leafy vegetables. As a result of their antioxidant properties, dietary carotenoids are postulated to decrease the risk of disease occurrence, particularly certain cancers. The present study aimed to (1) examine the genotoxic and antigenotoxic activity of natural and commercially available juices derived from Brassica oleracea and (2) assess influence of LT or BC against DNA damage induced by alkylating agents such as methyl methanesulfonate (MS) or cyclophosphamide (CP) in vivo in mice. Male Swiss mice were divided into groups of 6 animals, which were treated with water, natural, or commercial Brassica oleraceae juices (kale), LT, BC, MMS, or CP. After treatment, DNA damage was determined in peripheral blood lymphocytes using the comet assay. Results demonstrated that none of the Brassica oleraceae juices or carotenoids produced genotoxic effects. In all examined cell types, kale juices or carotenoids inhibited DNA damage induced by MMS or CP administered either pre- or posttreatment by 50 and 20%, respectively. Under our experimental conditions, kale leaf juices alone exerted no marked genotoxic or clastogenic effects. However, a significant decrease in DNA damage induced by MMS or CP was noted. This effect was most pronounced in groups that received juices, rather than carotenoids, suggesting that the synergy among constituents present in the food matrix may be more beneficial than the action of single compounds. Data suggest that the antigenotoxic properties of kale juices may be of therapeutic importance.

  16. Bifunctional Alkylating Agent-Induced p53 and Nonclassical Nuclear Factor kB Responses and Cell Death are Altered by Caffeic Acid Phenethyl Ester: A Potential Role for Antioxidant/Electrophilic Response-Element Signaling

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2007-01-01

    Methods. To establish the maximal LDH 2,3,7,8-tetrachloro- activity achievable from these cells, untreated control cells were grown dibenzo-p- dioxin to the...to modulated by AhR (Miao et al., 2005). Curcumin has been induce apoptosis. CAPE may be involved in anoikis, that is, shown to compete with dioxin ...the AhR directly binds (Miao et al., 2005). adhesion kinase (Weyant et al., 2000). Also, CAPE-induced Exposure of Hepalclc7 cells to dioxin results in

  17. Monoalkyl sulfates as alkylating agents in water, alkylsulfatase rate enhancements, and the “energy-rich” nature of sulfate half-esters

    PubMed Central

    Wolfenden, Richard; Yuan, Yang

    2007-01-01

    Alkyl sulfate monoesters are involved in cell signaling and structure. Alkyl sulfates are also present in many commercial detergents. Here, we show that monomethyl sulfate acts as an efficient alkylating agent in water, reacting spontaneously with oxygen nucleophiles >100-fold more rapidly than do alkylsulfonium ions, the usual methyl donors in living organisms. These reactions of methyl sulfate, which are much more rapid than its hydrolysis, are insensitive to the nature of the attacking nucleophile, with a Brønsted βnuc value of −0.01. Experiments at elevated temperatures indicate a rate constant of 2 × 10−11 s−1 for the uncatalyzed hydrolysis of methyl sulfate at 25°C (t1/2 = 1,100 y), corresponding to a rate enhancement of ≈1011-fold by a human alkylsulfatase. Equilibria of formation of methyl sulfate from methanol and sodium hydrogen sulfate indicate a group transfer potential (ΔG′pH7) of −8.9 kcal/mol for sulfate ester hydrolysis. The magnitude of that value, involving release of the strong acid HSO4−, helps to explain the need for harnessing the free energy of hydrolysis of two ATP molecules in activating sulfate for the biosynthesis of sulfate monoesters. The “energy-rich” nature of monoalkyl sulfate esters, coupled with their marked resistance to hydrolysis, renders them capable of acting as sulfating or alkylating agents under relatively mild conditions. These findings raise the possibility that, under appropriate circumstances, alkyl groups may undergo transfer from alkyl sulfate monoesters to biological target molecules. PMID:17182738

  18. Kinetics of micronucleus induction and cytotoxicity caused by distinct antineoplastics and alkylating agents in vivo.

    PubMed

    Morales-Ramírez, Pedro; Vallarino-Kelly, Teresita; Cruz-Vallejo, Virginia

    2014-01-30

    This mini-review aims to compare the differences in the kinetics of the induction of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes (MN-PCE) and cytotoxicity by distinct antineoplastic and genotoxic agents in murine peripheral blood in vivo and to correlate these kinetics with the underlying processes. Comparisons were carried out using our previously obtained data with nominal doses causing similar levels of cytotoxicity, as measured in terms reduction of PCE. The aneuploidogens caused the most rapid induction of MN-PCEs and had the highest rates of cytotoxicity and genotoxicity. The promutagens cyclophosphamide and dimethylnitrosamine showed the most delayed responses and had the lowest genotoxic and cytotoxic efficiencies. DNA crosslinking agents had a similar delay of 4-5 h, greater than those of aneuploidogens, but differed in their cytotoxic and genotoxic efficiencies. Methylnitrosourea and 5-aza-cytidine caused greater delays than crosslinking agents. These delays can be due to the methylnitrosourea-mediated induction of formation of mono alkyl adducts which are interpreted as mismatches during DNA duplication, whereas 5-aza-cytidine requires incorporation into the DNA to induce breakage. This review allows us to conclude that the requirement for metabolic activation and the mechanisms of DNA breakage and of micronucleus induction are the main factors that affect the time of maximal MN-PCE induction. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Direct reductive amination of aldehyde bisulfite adducts induced by 2-picoline borane: application to the synthesis of a DPP-IV inhibitor.

    PubMed

    Faul, Margaret; Larsen, Rob; Levinson, Adam; Tedrow, Jason; Vounatsos, Filisaty

    2013-02-15

    Aldehyde-bisulfite adducts dervied from unstable parent aldehydes were reductively alkylated in a direct fashion with a variety of amines. This approach features the use of 2-picoline borane as the reducing agent and a protic solvent for the reaction media and has been successfully applied to the synthesis of a DPP-IV inhibitor and a variety of other amines.

  20. Inhibition of autophagy enhances DNA damage-induced apoptosis by disrupting CHK1-dependent S phase arrest

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Liou, Jong-Shian; Wu, Yi-Chen; Yen, Wen-Yen

    2014-08-01

    DNA damage has been shown to induce autophagy, but the role of autophagy in the DNA damage response and cell fate is not fully understood. BO-1012, a bifunctional alkylating derivative of 3a-aza-cyclopenta[a]indene, is a potent DNA interstrand cross-linking agent with anticancer activity. In this study, BO-1012 was found to reduce DNA synthesis, inhibit S phase progression, and induce phosphorylation of histone H2AX on serine 139 (γH2AX) exclusively in S phase cells. Both CHK1 and CHK2 were phosphorylated in response to BO-1012 treatment, but only depletion of CHK1, but not CHK2, impaired BO-1012-induced S phase arrest and facilitated the entry ofmore » γH2AX-positive cells into G2 phase. CHK1 depletion also significantly enhanced BO-1012-induced cell death and apoptosis. These results indicate that BO-1012-induced S phase arrest is a CHK1-dependent pro-survival response. BO-1012 also resulted in marked induction of acidic vesicular organelle (AVO) formation and microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 (LC3) processing and redistribution, features characteristic of autophagy. Depletion of ATG7 or co-treatment of cells with BO-1012 and either 3-methyladenine or bafilomycin A1, two inhibitors of autophagy, not only reduced CHK1 phosphorylation and disrupted S phase arrest, but also increased cleavage of caspase-9 and PARP, and cell death. These results suggest that cells initiate S phase arrest and autophagy as pro-survival responses to BO-1012-induced DNA damage, and that suppression of autophagy enhances BO-1012-induced apoptosis via disruption of CHK1-dependent S phase arrest. - Highlights: • Autophagy inhibitors enhanced the cytotoxicity of a DNA alkylating agent, BO-1012. • BO-1012-induced S phase arrest was a CHK1-dependent pro-survival response. • Autophagy inhibition enhanced BO-1012 cytotoxicity via disrupting the S phase arrest.« less

  1. Highly Predictive Reprogramming of tRNA Modifications Is Linked to Selective Expression of Codon-Biased Genes

    PubMed Central

    2016-01-01

    Cells respond to stress by controlling gene expression at several levels, with little known about the role of translation. Here, we demonstrate a coordinated translational stress response system involving stress-specific reprogramming of tRNA wobble modifications that leads to selective translation of codon-biased mRNAs representing different classes of critical response proteins. In budding yeast exposed to four oxidants and five alkylating agents, tRNA modification patterns accurately distinguished among chemically similar stressors, with 14 modified ribonucleosides forming the basis for a data-driven model that predicts toxicant chemistry with >80% sensitivity and specificity. tRNA modification subpatterns also distinguish SN1 from SN2 alkylating agents, with SN2-induced increases in m3C in tRNA mechanistically linked to selective translation of threonine-rich membrane proteins from genes enriched with ACC and ACT degenerate codons for threonine. These results establish tRNA modifications as predictive biomarkers of exposure and illustrate a novel regulatory mechanism for translational control of cell stress response. PMID:25772370

  2. Sleep-inducing N-alkyl-5-[m-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]-5-hydroxy-2-pyrrolidinones and N-alkyl-3-(trifluoromethyl)cinnamamides.

    PubMed

    Houlihan, W J; Gogerty, J H; Ryan, E A; Schmitt, G

    1985-01-01

    A series of N-alkyl-3-[m-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]-5-hydroxy-2-pyrrolidinones and N-alkyl-3-(trifluoromethyl)-cinnamamides were prepared and screened in a series of tests designed to detect potential sleep inducers. The more active members of the series were evaluated for their ability to induce sleep in Cebus monkeys. The most active compound, N-methyl-5-[m-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]-5-hydroxy-2-pyrrolidinone, was equal to methaqualone.

  3. E. coli mismatch repair enhances AT-to-GC mutagenesis caused by alkylating agents.

    PubMed

    Nakano, Kota; Yamada, Yoko; Takahashi, Eizo; Arimoto, Sakae; Okamoto, Keinosuke; Negishi, Kazuo; Negishi, Tomoe

    2017-03-01

    Alkylating agents are known to induce the formation of O 6 -alkylguanine (O 6 -alkG) and O 4 -alkylthymine (O 4 -alkT) in DNA. These lesions have been widely investigated as major sources of mutations. We previously showed that mismatch repair (MMR) facilitates the suppression of GC-to-AT mutations caused by O 6 -methylguanine more efficiently than the suppression of GC-to-AT mutations caused by O 6 -ethylguanine. However, the manner by which O 4 -alkyT lesions are repaired remains unclear. In the present study, we investigated the repair pathway involved in the repair of O 4 -alkT. The E. coli CC106 strain, which harbors Δprolac in its genomic DNA and carries the F'CC106 episome, can be used to detect AT-to-GC reverse-mutation of the gene encoding β-galactosidase. Such AT-to-GC mutations should be induced through the formation of O 4 -alkT at AT base pairs. As expected, an O 6 -alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase (AGT) -deficient CC106 strain, which is defective in both ada and agt genes, exhibited elevated mutant frequencies in the presence of methylating agents and ethylating agents. However, in the UvrA-deficient strain, the methylating agents were less mutagenic than in wild-type, while ethylating agents were more mutagenic than in wild-type, as observed with agents that induce O 6 -alkylguanine modifications. Unexpectedly, the mutant frequencies decreased in a MutS-deficient strain, and a similar tendency was observed in MutL- or MutH-deficient strains. Thus, MMR appears to promote mutation at AT base pairs. Similar results were obtained in experiments employing double-mutant strains harboring defects in both MMR and AGT, or MMR and NER. E. coli MMR enhances AT-to-GC mutagenesis, such as that caused by O 4 -alkylthymine. We hypothesize that the MutS protein recognizes the O 4 -alkT:A base pair more efficiently than O 4 -alkT:G. Such a distinction would result in misincorporation of G at the O 4 -alkT site, followed by higher mutation frequencies in wild-type cells, which have MutS protein, compared to MMR-deficient strains. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. A highly selective and sensitive "turn-on" fluorescence chemodosimeter for the detection of mustard gas.

    PubMed

    Raghavender Goud, D; Purohit, Ajay Kumar; Tak, Vijay; Dubey, Devendra Kumar; Kumar, Pravin; Pardasani, Deepak

    2014-10-21

    A new chemodosimetric protocol based on a tandem S-alkylation followed by desulfurisation reaction of rhodamine-thioamide with mustard gas is reported. The chemodosimeter is highly selective for potential DNA alkylating agents like sulfur mustard, over other simple alkyl halides with the limit of detection of 4.75 μM.

  5. Safety Assessment of Amino Acid Alkyl Amides as Used in Cosmetics.

    PubMed

    Burnett, Christina L; Heldreth, Bart; Bergfeld, Wilma F; Belsito, Donald V; Hill, Ronald A; Klaassen, Curtis D; Liebler, Daniel C; Marks, James G; Shank, Ronald C; Slaga, Thomas J; Snyder, Paul W; Andersen, F Alan

    The Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel (Panel) reviewed the product use, formulation, and safety data of 115 amino acid alkyl amides, which function as skin and hair conditioning agents and as surfactants-cleansing agents in personal care products. Safety test data on dermal irritation and sensitization for the ingredients with the highest use concentrations, lauroyl lysine and sodium lauroyl glutamate, were reviewed and determined to adequately support the safe use of the ingredients in this report. The Panel concluded that amino acid alkyl amides are safe in the present practices of use and concentration in cosmetics, when formulated to be nonirritating.

  6. Modified Activated Carbon Perchlorate Sorbents

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2007-01-25

    Yield 4.64 g. Methyl Chloride Alkylated Activated Carbon Methyl chloride (MeCl) treatment was carried out in a tube furnace generally in...with alkylation agents lowers the solution pH as the basic sites are alkylated . In the case of Me2SO4 treatment , the low slurry pH is believed to be...by Cannon and coworkers, the alkylated carbons are not significantly better. In the case of the SAI carbons, ammonia treatment does not result in a

  7. Combination of Pim kinase inhibitor, SGI-1776, with bendamustine in B-cell lymphoma

    PubMed Central

    Yang, Qingshan; Chen, Lisa S; Neelapu, Sattva S.; Gandhi, Varsha

    2013-01-01

    SGI-1776 is a small molecule Pim kinase inhibitor that primarily targets c-Myc-driven transcription and cap-dependent translation in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) cells. Bendamustine is an alkylating chemotherapeutic agent approved for use in B-cell lymphoma that is known to induce DNA damage and to initiate response to repair. We hypothesized that while each drug leads to the effects as stated above, combination of these drugs will enhance SGI-1776-induced inhibition of global transcription and translation processes, while promoting bendamustine-triggered decrease of DNA synthesis and DNA damage response in B-cell lymphoma. Both SGI-1776 and bendamustine as single agents effectively induced apoptosis and when used in combination, additive effect in cell killing was observed in MCL cell lines, JeKo-1 and Mino, as well as MCL and splenic marginal zone lymphoma (a type of B-cell lymphoma) primary cells. As expected, SGI-1776 was effective in inducing decrease of global RNA and protein synthesis, while bendamustine significantly inhibited DNA synthesis and generated DNA damage response. When used in combination, effects were intensified in DNA, RNA and protein syntheses compared to single agent treatments. Together, these data provided foundation and suggested feasibility of using Pim kinase inhibitor in combination with chemotherapeutic agents such as bendamustine in B-cell lymphoma. PMID:24290221

  8. Potent antitumor bifunctional DNA alkylating agents, synthesis and biological activities of 3a-aza-cyclopenta[a]indenes.

    PubMed

    Kakadiya, Rajesh; Dong, Huajin; Lee, Pei-Chih; Kapuriya, Naval; Zhang, Xiuguo; Chou, Ting-Chao; Lee, Te-Chang; Kapuriya, Kalpana; Shah, Anamik; Su, Tsann-Long

    2009-08-01

    A series of bifunctional DNA interstrand cross-linking agents, bis(hydroxymethyl)- and bis(carbamates)-8H-3a-azacyclopenta[a]indene-1-yl derivatives were synthesized for antitumor evaluation. The preliminary antitumor studies revealed that these agents exhibited potent cytotoxicity in vitro and antitumor therapeutic efficacy against human tumor xenografts in vivo. Furthermore, these derivatives have little or no cross-resistance to either Taxol or Vinblastine. Remarkably, complete tumor remission in nude mice bearing human breast carcinoma MX-1 xenograft by 13a,b and 14g,h and significant suppression against prostate adenocarcinoma PC3 xenograft by 13b were achieved at the maximum tolerable dose with relatively low toxicity. In addition, these agents induce DNA interstrand cross-linking and substantial G2/M phase arrest in human non-small lung carcinoma H1299 cells. The current studies suggested that these agents are promising candidates for preclinical studies.

  9. Effects of alkyl polyglycoside (APG) on Bombyx mori silk degumming and the mechanical properties of silk fibroin fibre.

    PubMed

    Wang, Fei; Zhang, Yu-Qing

    2017-05-01

    Alkyl polyglycoside (APG), a nonionic surfactant, is often considered to be a green surfactant and is synthesized using glucose and long chain fatty alcohols. It is used as a degumming agent of Bombyx mori silk fibre in this study for the first time. We studied APG systematically in comparison to the traditional degumming methods, such as aqueous solutions of sodium carbonate (Na 2 CO 3 ) and neutral soap (NS). After repeatedly boiling silk fibres in an aqueous solution of 0.25% APG three times for 30min and using a bath ratio of 1:90-120 (g/mL), sericin was completely removed from the fibre. SDS-PAGE showed that the degumming in APG did not induce an evident breakage of the silk fibroin peptide chains, including the light chain and P25 protein. The tensile properties, thermal analysis, and scanning electron microscopic (SEM) observation of the degummed fibroin fibre all show that APG is a degumming agent similar to NS and far superior to Na 2 CO 3 . These results indicate that APG is an environment-friendly silk degumming/refining agent in the silk textile industry and in the manufacture of silk floss quilts. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. Effect of the antitumoral alkylating agent 3-bromopyruvate on mitochondrial respiration: role of mitochondrially bound hexokinase.

    PubMed

    Rodrigues-Ferreira, Clara; da Silva, Ana Paula Pereira; Galina, Antonio

    2012-02-01

    The alkylating agent 3-Bromopyruvate (3-BrPA) has been used as an anti-tumoral drug due to its anti-proliferative property in hepatomas cells. This propriety is believed to disturb glycolysis and respiration, which leads to a decreased rate of ATP synthesis. In this study, we evaluated the effects of the alkylating agent 3-BrPA on the respiratory states and the metabolic steps of the mitochondria of mice liver, brain and in human hepatocarcinoma cell line HepG2. The mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨ(m)), O(2) consumption and dehydrogenase activities were rapidly dissipated/or inhibited by 3-BrPA in respiration medium containing ADP and succinate as respiratory substrate. 3-BrPA inhibition was reverted by reduced glutathione (GSH). Respiration induced by yeast soluble hexokinase (HK) was rapidly inhibited by 3-BrPA. Similar results were observed using mice brain mitochondria that present HK naturally bound to the outer mitochondrial membrane. When the adenine nucleotide transporter (ANT) was blocked by the carboxyatractiloside, the 3-BrPA effect was significantly delayed. In permeabilized human hepatoma HepG2 cells that present HK type II bound to mitochondria (mt-HK II), the inhibiting effect occurred faster when the endogenous HK activity was activated by 2-deoxyglucose (2-DOG). Inhibition of mt-HK II by glucose-6-phosphate retards the mitochondria to react with 3-BrPA. The HK activities recovered in HepG2 cells treated or not with 3-BrPA were practically the same. These results suggest that mitochondrially bound HK supporting the ADP/ATP exchange activity levels facilitates the 3-BrPA inhibition reaction in tumors mitochondria by a proton motive force-dependent dynamic equilibrium between sensitive and less sensitive SDH in the electron transport system.

  11. Purine Analog-Like Properties of Bendamustine Underlie Rapid Activation of DNA Damage Response and Synergistic Effects with Pyrimidine Analogues in Lymphoid Malignancies

    PubMed Central

    Hiraoka, Nobuya; Kikuchi, Jiro; Yamauchi, Takahiro; Koyama, Daisuke; Wada, Taeko; Uesawa, Mitsuyo; Akutsu, Miyuki; Mori, Shigehisa; Nakamura, Yuichi; Ueda, Takanori; Kano, Yasuhiko; Furukawa, Yusuke

    2014-01-01

    Bendamustine has shown considerable clinical activity against indolent lymphoid malignancies as a single agent or in combination with rituximab, but combination with additional anti-cancer drugs may be required for refractory and/or relapsed cases as well as other intractable tumors. In this study, we attempted to determine suitable anti-cancer drugs to be combined with bendamustine for the treatment of mantle cell lymphoma, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, aggressive lymphomas and multiple myeloma, all of which are relatively resistant to this drug, and investigated the mechanisms underlying synergism. Isobologram analysis revealed that bendamustine had synergistic effects with alkylating agents (4-hydroperoxy-cyclophosphamide, chlorambucil and melphalan) and pyrimidine analogues (cytosine arabinoside, gemcitabine and decitabine) in HBL-2, B104, Namalwa and U266 cell lines, which represent the above entities respectively. In cell cycle analysis, bendamustine induced late S-phase arrest, which was enhanced by 4-hydroperoxy-cyclophosphamide, and potentiated early S-phase arrest by cytosine arabinoside (Ara-C), followed by a robust increase in the size of sub-G1 fractions. Bendamustine was able to elicit DNA damage response and subsequent apoptosis faster and with shorter exposure than other alkylating agents due to rapid intracellular incorporation via equilibrative nucleoside transporters (ENTs). Furthermore, bendamustine increased the expression of ENT1 at both mRNA and protein levels and enhanced the uptake of Ara-C and subsequent increase in Ara-C triphosphate (Ara-CTP) in HBL-2 cells to an extent comparable with the purine analog fludarabine. These purine analog-like properties of bendamustine may underlie favorable combinations with other alkylators and pyrimidine analogues. Our findings may provide a theoretical basis for the development of more effective bendamustine-based combination therapies. PMID:24626203

  12. A New Class of Antibody-Drug Conjugates with Potent DNA Alkylating Activity.

    PubMed

    Miller, Michael L; Fishkin, Nathan E; Li, Wei; Whiteman, Kathleen R; Kovtun, Yelena; Reid, Emily E; Archer, Katie E; Maloney, Erin K; Audette, Charlene A; Mayo, Michele F; Wilhelm, Alan; Modafferi, Holly A; Singh, Rajeeva; Pinkas, Jan; Goldmacher, Victor; Lambert, John M; Chari, Ravi V J

    2016-08-01

    The promise of tumor-selective delivery of cytotoxic agents in the form of antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) has now been realized, evidenced by the approval of two ADCs, both of which incorporate highly cytotoxic tubulin-interacting agents, for cancer therapy. An ongoing challenge remains in identifying potent agents with alternative mechanisms of cell killing that can provide ADCs with high therapeutic indices and favorable tolerability. Here, we describe the development of a new class of potent DNA alkylating agents that meets these objectives. Through chemical design, we changed the mechanism of action of our novel DNA cross-linking agent to a monofunctional DNA alkylator. This modification, coupled with linker optimization, generated ADCs that were well tolerated in mice and demonstrated robust antitumor activity in multiple tumor models at doses 1.5% to 3.5% of maximally tolerated levels. These properties underscore the considerable potential of these purpose-created, unique DNA-interacting conjugates for broadening the clinical application of ADC technology. Mol Cancer Ther; 15(8); 1870-8. ©2016 AACR. ©2016 American Association for Cancer Research.

  13. Assessment of the Relative Toxicity of N,N-Dipropylcyclohexanecarboxamide, AI3-36326.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1983-04-01

    cells with or without an in vitro metabolic activation system. The in vitro metabolic activation system was composed of rat liver enzymes and an energy...producing system. The enzymes were contained in a preparation of liver microsomes (S9 fraction)JI fron rats treated with an alkylating agent, Aroclor...to induce enzymes capable of transforming chemicals to more active forms. Cells were examined 10 to 12 hours following treatment when entering mitosis

  14. Nitrogen and sulphur mustard induced histopathological observations in mouse visceral organs.

    PubMed

    Sharma, Manoj; Pant, S C; Pant, J C; Vijayaraghavan, R

    2010-11-01

    Nitrogen mustards (HN) and sulphur mustard (SM) are potent alkylating blister inducing chemical warfare agents. Single 1.0 LD50 dose produced a progressive fall in body weight from second day onwards in all groups of mustard agents exposed animals. Histological examination of spleen, liver skin and kidney revealed significant histopathological lesions in nitrogen mustards and sulphur mustard. These lesions include granulovascular degeneration with perinuclear clumping of the cytoplasm of hepatocytes and renal parenchymal cells. Renal lesions were characterized by congestion and hemorrhage. The maximum toxic manifestation were noted in spleen and skin of HN-3 exposed mice while sulphur mustard reported maximum toxicity in liver and kidneys. The study suggests both nitrogen mustards and sulphur mustard to be extremely toxic by percutaneous route based on histopathological observation and can contributed to earlier reported free radical generation by these toxicants.

  15. HTB140 melanoma cells under proton irradiation and/or alkylating agents

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Korićanac, L.; Petrović, I.; Privitera, G.; Cuttone, G.; Ristić-Fira, A.

    2007-09-01

    Chemoresistance is a major problem in the treatment of malignant melanoma. The mainstay of treatment for melanoma is the DNA-alkylating agent dacarbazine (DTIC). Fotemustine (FM), a member of the chloroethylnitrosourea group of alkylating agents, has also demonstrated significant antitumor effects in malignant melanoma. However, the intrinsic and acquired resistance of melanoma limits the clinical application of these drugs. Melanomas are also extremely radioresistant. With the objective of enhancing growth inhibition of melanoma cells, combined treatments of FM or DTIC with proton irradiation have been investigated. These effects were studied on HTB140 melanoma cell viability and proliferation. Cells exposed to treatment with FM and protons have shown inhibition of cell growth and significant reduction of proliferation capacity compared to single irradiation or drug treatment. Treatment with DTIC and protons has shown improved growth inhibition compared to appropriate single drug treatment, while the effects of single proton irradiation have been the most pronounced.

  16. Reduced DNA repair in mouse satellite DNA after treatment with methylmethanesulfonate, and N-methyl-N-nitrosourea.

    PubMed Central

    Bodell, W J; Banerjee, M R

    1976-01-01

    We have measured DNA repair in mouse satellite and main band DNA as resolved by Ag+-Cs2SO4 centrifugation in response to treatment with the alkylating agents, methyl methanesulfonate, and N-methyl-N-nitrosourea. We find that there is a statistically significant lower incorporation of 3H-Tdr into the satellite DNA as compared to the main band at varying periods after treatment with the alkylating agents. This suggests a reduced repair activity in the satellite DNA. We have measured the extent of binding of 14C-methyl methanesulfonate to the satellite, and main band DNA, and no difference in binding was observed, indicating that the reduced repair activity of satellite DNA is not due to a difference in binding of alkylating agents. We believe that the reduced incorporation of 3H-Tdr into satellite DNA may be due to its location in the condensed chromatin fraction. PMID:184436

  17. Iridium-catalyzed direct synthesis of tryptamine derivatives from indoles: exploiting n-protected β-amino alcohols as alkylating agents.

    PubMed

    Bartolucci, Silvia; Mari, Michele; Bedini, Annalida; Piersanti, Giovanni; Spadoni, Gilberto

    2015-03-20

    The selective C3-alkylation of indoles with N-protected ethanolamines involving the "borrowing hydrogen" strategy is described. This method provides convenient and sustainable access to several tryptamine derivatives.

  18. DRDE-07 and its analogues as promising cytoprotectants to nitrogen mustard (HN-2)--an alkylating anticancer and chemical warfare agent.

    PubMed

    Sharma, Manoj; Vijayaraghavan, R; Gautam, Anshoo

    2009-08-10

    Nitrogen mustard (HN-2), also known as mechlorethamine, is an alkylating anticancer agent as well as blister inducing chemical warfare agent. We evaluated the cytoprotective efficacy of amifostine, DRDE-07 and their analogues, and other antidotes of mustard agents against HN-2. Administration of 1 LD(50) of HN-2 (20mg/kg) percutaneously, decreased WBC count from 24h onwards. Liver glutathione (GSH) level decreased prominently and the maximum depletion was observed on 7th day post-HN-2 administration. Oxidised glutathione (GSSG) level increased significantly at 24h post-administration and subsequently showed a progressive decrease. Hepatic malondialdehyde (MDA) level and percent DNA damage increased progressively following HN-2 administration. The spleen weight decreased progressively and reached a minimum on 3-4 days with subsequent increase. The antidotes were administered repeatedly for 4 and 8 days after percutaneous administration of single sublethal dose (0.5 and 0.25 LD(50)) of HN-2. Treatment with DRDE-07, DRDE-30 and DRDE-35 significantly protected the changes in spleen weight, WBC count, GSH, GSSG, MDA and DNA damage following HN-2 administration (0.5 and 0.25 LD(50)). There was no alteration in the transaminases (AST and ALT), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activities, neither with HN-2 nor with antidotes. The present study shows that HN-2 is highly toxic by percutaneous route and DRDE-07, DRDE-30 and DRDE-35 can partially protect it.

  19. Nucleotide excision repair modulates the cytotoxic and mutagenic effects of N-n-butyl-N-nitrosourea in cultured mammalian cells as well as in mouse splenocytes in vivo.

    PubMed

    Bol, S A; van Steeg, H; van Oostrom, C T; Tates, A D; Vrieling, H; de Groot, A J; Mullenders, L H; van Zeeland, A A; Jansen, J G

    1999-05-01

    The butylating agent N-n-butyl-N-nitrosourea (BNU) was employed to study the role of nucleotide excision repair (NER) in protecting mammalian cells against the genotoxic effects of monofunctional alkylating agents. The direct acting agent BNU was found to be mutagenic in normal and XPA mouse splenocytes after a single i.p. treatment in vivo. After 25 and 35 mg/kg BNU, but not after 75 mg/ kg, 2- to 3-fold more hprt mutants were detected in splenocytes from XPA mice than from normal mice. Using O6-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase (AGT)-deficient hamster cells, it was found that NER-deficient CHO UV5 cells carrying a mutation in the ERCC-2 gene were 40% more mutable towards lesions induced by BNU when compared with parental NER-proficient CHO AA8 cells. UV5 cells were 1.4-fold more sensitive to the cytotoxic effects of BNU compared with AA8 cells. To investigate whether this increased sensitivity of NER-deficient cells is modulated by AGT activity, cell survival studies were performed in human and mouse primary fibroblasts as well. BNU was 2.7-fold more toxic for mouse XPA fibroblasts compared with normal mouse fibroblasts. Comparable results were found for human fibroblasts. Taken together these data indicate that the role of NER in protecting rodent cells against the mutagenic and cytotoxic effects of the alkylating agent BNU depends on AGT.

  20. Effects of chemical and physical agents on recombination events in cells of the germ line of male and female Drosophila melanogaster.

    PubMed

    Würgler, F E

    1991-01-01

    Genotoxic agents can induce mutations as well as recombination in the genetic material. The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster was one of the first assay systems to test physical and chemical agents for recombinogenic effects. Such effects can be observed in cells of the germ line as well as in somatic cells. At present information is available on 54 agents, among them 48 chemicals that have been tested in cells of the germ line of males and/or females. Effects on meiotic recombination in female germ cells cannot simply be classified as positive or negative since for a number of agents, depending on the chromosome region studied, recombination frequencies may be increased, unaffected or decreased. The male germ line of D. melanogaster represents a unique situation because meiotic recombination does not occur. Among 25 agents tested in male germ cells 24 did induce male recombination, among them alkylating, intercalating and cross-linking agents, direct-acting ones as well as compounds needing metabolic activation. With several compounds the frequency of induced recombination is highest in the heterochromatic regions near the centromeres. In brood pattern analyses, e.g., after exposure of adult males to ionizing radiation, the first appearance of crossover progeny is indicative of the sampling of exposed spermatocytes. In premeiotic cells of the male and the female germ line mitotic recombination can occur. Upon clonal expansion of the recombinant cells, clusters of identical crossovers can be observed.

  1. Removing polysaccharides-and saccharides-related coloring impurities in alkyl polyglycosides by bleaching with the H2O2/TAED/NaHCO3 system.

    PubMed

    Yanmei, Liu; Jinliang, Tao; Jiao, Sun; Wenyi, Chen

    2014-11-04

    The effect of H2O2/TAED/NaHCO3 system, namely NaHCO3 as alkaline agent with the (tetra acetyl ethylene diamine (TAED)) TAED-activated peroxide system, bleaching of alkyl polyglycosides solution was studied by spectrophotometry. The results showed that the optimal bleaching conditions about H2O2/TAED/NaHCO3 system bleaching of alkyl polyglycosides solution were as follows: molar ratio of TAED to H2O2 was 0.06, addition of H2O2 was 8.6%, addition of NaHCO3 was 3.2%, bleaching temperature of 50-65 °C, addition of MgO was 0.13%, and bleaching time was 8h. If too much amount of NaHCO3 was added to the system and maintained alkaline pH, the bleaching effect would be greatly reduced. Fixing molar ratio of TAED to H2O2 and increasing the amount of H2O2 were beneficial to improve the whiteness of alkyl polyglycosides, but adding too much amount of H2O2 would reduce the transparency. In the TAED-activated peroxide system, NaHCO3 as alkaline agent and buffer agent, could overcome the disadvantage of producing black precipitates when NaOH as alkaline agent. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Population pharmacokinetic (PK) analysis of laromustine, an emerging alkylating agent, in cancer patients.

    PubMed

    Nassar, Ala F; Wisnewski, Adam V; King, Ivan

    2017-05-01

    1. Alkylating agents are capable of introducing an alkyl group into nucleophilic sites on DNA or RNA through covalent bond. Laromustine is an active member of a relatively new class of sulfonylhydrazine prodrugs under development as antineoplastic alkylating agents, and displays significant single-agent activity. 2. This is the first report of the population pharmacokinetic analysis of laromustine, 106 patients, 66 with hematologic malignancies and 40 with solid tumors, participated in five clinical trials worldwide. Of these, 104 patients were included in the final NONMEM analysis. 3. The population estimates for total clearance (CL) and volume of distribution of the central compartment (V 1 ) were 96.3 L/h and 45.9 L, associated with high inter-patient variability of 52.9% and 79.8% and inter-occasion variability of 26.7% and 49.3%, respectively. The population estimates for Q and V 2 were 73.2 L/h and 29.9 L, and inter-patient variability in V 2 was 63.1%, respectively. 4. The estimate of V ss (75.8 L) exceeds total body water, indicating that laromustine is distributed to tissues. The half-life is short, less than 1 h, reflecting rapid clearance. Population PK analysis showed laromustine pharmacokinetics to be independent of dose and organ function with no effect on subsequent dosing cycles.

  3. Pharmacology of dimethanesulfonate alkylating agents: busulfan and treosulfan.

    PubMed

    Galaup, Ariane; Paci, Angelo

    2013-03-01

    Among the dimethanesulfonates, busulfan, in combination with other alkylating agents or nucleoside analogues, is the cornerstone of high-dose chemotherapy. It is used, and followed hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, for the treatment of various hematologic malignancies and immunodeficiencies. Treosulfan, which is a hydrophilic analogue of busulfan, was the first dimethanesufonate registered for the treatment of ovarian cancer. Recently, treosulfan has been investigated for the treatment of hematologic malignancies in combination with the same second agents before hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. This work reviews the pharmacological data of these two dimethanesulfonates alkylating agents. Specifically, the article looks at their chemistry, metabolism, anticancer activity, and their pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Busulfan has been investigated widely for more than three decades leading to a large and precise handling of this agent with numerous studies on activity and pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. In contrast, the behavior of treosulfan is still under investigation and not fully described. The complexity of treosulfan's metabolism and mechanism of action gives rise to the need of a deeper understanding of its pharmacological activity in a context of high-dose chemotherapy. Specifically, there is a great need to better understand its pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics relationship.

  4. Method For Reactivating Solid Catalysts Used For Alklation Reactions

    DOEpatents

    Ginosar, Daniel M.; Thompson, David N.; Coates, Kyle; Zalewski, David J.; Fox, Robert V.

    2005-05-03

    A method for reactivating a solid alkylation catalyst is provided which can be performed within a reactor that contains the alkylation catalyst or outside the reactor. Effective catalyst reactivation is achieved whether the catalyst is completely deactivated or partially deactivated. A fluid reactivating agent is employed to dissolve catalyst fouling agents and also to react with such agents and carry away the reaction products. The deactivated catalyst is contacted with the fluid reactivating agent under pressure and temperature conditions such that the fluid reactivating agent is dense enough to effectively dissolve the fouling agents and any reaction products of the fouling agents and the reactivating agent. Useful pressures and temperatures for reactivation include near-critical, critical, and supercritical pressures and temperatures for the reactivating agent. The fluid reactivating agent can include, for example, a branched paraffin containing at least one tertiary carbon atom, or a compound that can be isomerized to a molecule containing at least one tertiary carbon atom.

  5. Combination of Pim kinase inhibitor SGI-1776 and bendamustine in B-cell lymphoma.

    PubMed

    Yang, Qingshan; Chen, Lisa S; Neelapu, Sattva S; Gandhi, Varsha

    2013-09-01

    SGI-1776 is a small-molecule Pim kinase inhibitor that primarily targets c-MYC-driven transcription and cap-dependent translation in mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) cells. Bendamustine is an alkylating chemotherapeutic agent approved for use in B-cell lymphoma that is known to induce DNA damage and initiate response to repair. Our studies were conducted in MCL cell lines JeKo-1 and Mino, as well as primary B-cell lymphoma samples of MCL and splenic marginal zone lymphoma (SMZL), where we treated cells with SGI-1776 and bendamustine. We measured levels of cellular apoptosis, macromolecule synthesis inhibition, and DNA damage induced by drug treatments. Both SGI-1776 and bendamustine effectively induced apoptosis as single agents, and when used in combination, an additive effect in cell killing was observed in MCL cell lines JeKo-1 and Mino, as well as in MCL and SMZL primary cells. As expected, SGI-1776 was effective in inducing a decrease of global RNA and protein synthesis, and bendamustine significantly inhibited DNA synthesis and generated a DNA damage response. When used in combination, the effects were intensified in DNA, RNA, and protein synthesis inhibition compared with single-agent treatments. These data provide a foundation and suggest the feasibility of using Pim kinase inhibitors in combination with chemotherapeutic agents such as bendamustine in B-cell lymphoma. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel N-phenyl ureidobenzenesulfonate derivatives as potential anticancer agents. Part 2. Modulation of the ring B.

    PubMed

    Gagné-Boulet, Mathieu; Moussa, Hanane; Lacroix, Jacques; Côté, Marie-France; Masson, Jean-Yves; Fortin, Sébastien

    2015-10-20

    DNA double strand-breaks (DSBs) are the most deleterious lesions that can affect the genome of living beings and are lethal if not quickly and properly repaired. Recently, we discovered a new family of anticancer agents designated as N-phenyl ureidobenzenesulfonates (PUB-SOs) that are blocking the cells cycle progression in S-phase and inducing DNA DSBs. Previously, we have studied the effect of several modifications on the molecular scaffold of PUB-SOs on their cytocidal properties. However, the effect of the nature and the position of substituents on the aromatic ring B is still poorly studied. In this study, we report the preparation and the biological evaluation of 45 new PUB-SO derivatives substituted by alkyl, alkoxy, halogen and nitro groups at different positions on the aromatic ring B. All PUB-SOs were active in the submicromolar to low micromolar range (0.24-20 μM). The cell cycle progression analysis showed that PUB-SOs substituted at position 2 by alkyl, halogen or nitro groups or substituted at position 4 by a hydroxyl group arrest the cell cycle progression in S-phase. Interestingly, all others PUB-SOs substituted at positions 3 and 4 arrested the cell cycle in G2/M-phase. PUB-SOs arresting the cell cycle progression in S-phase also induced the phosphorylation of H2AX (γH2AX) which is indicating the generation of DNA DSBs. We evidenced that few modifications on the ring B of PUB-SOs scaffold lead to cytocidal derivatives arresting the cell cycle in S-phase and inducing γH2AX and DSBs. In addition, this study shows that these new anticancer agents are promising and could be used as alternative to circumvent some of the biopharmaceutical complications that might be encountered during the development of PUB-SOs. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  7. Effects of artichoke (Cynara scolymus) leaf and bloom head extracts on chemically induced DNA lesions in Drosophila melanogaster

    PubMed Central

    Jacociunas, Laura Vicedo; Dihl, Rafael Rodrigues; Lehmann, Mauricio; de Barros Falcão Ferraz, Alexandre; Richter, Marc François; da Silva, Juliana; de Andrade, Heloísa Helena Rodrigues

    2014-01-01

    The genotoxicity of bloom head (BHE) and leaf (LE) extracts from artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.), and their ability to modulate the mutagenicity and recombinogenicity of two alkylating agents (ethyl methanesulfonate – EMS and mitomycin C – MMC) and the intercalating agent bleomycin (BLM), were examined using the somatic mutation and recombination test (SMART) in Drosophila melanogaster. Neither the mutagenicity nor the recombinogenicity of BLM or MMC was modified by co- or post-treatment with BHE or LE. In contrast, co-treatment with BHE significantly enhanced the EMS-induced genotoxicity involving mutagenic and/or recombinant events. Co-treatment with LE did not alter the genotoxicity of EMS whereas post-treatment with the highest dose of LE significantly increased this genotoxicity. This enhancement included a synergistic increase restricted to somatic recombination. These results show that artichoke extracts promote homologous recombination in proliferative cells of D. melanogaster. PMID:24688296

  8. Effects of artichoke (Cynara scolymus) leaf and bloom head extracts on chemically induced DNA lesions in Drosophila melanogaster.

    PubMed

    Jacociunas, Laura Vicedo; Dihl, Rafael Rodrigues; Lehmann, Mauricio; de Barros Falcão Ferraz, Alexandre; Richter, Marc François; da Silva, Juliana; de Andrade, Heloísa Helena Rodrigues

    2014-03-01

    The genotoxicity of bloom head (BHE) and leaf (LE) extracts from artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.), and their ability to modulate the mutagenicity and recombinogenicity of two alkylating agents (ethyl methanesulfonate - EMS and mitomycin C - MMC) and the intercalating agent bleomycin (BLM), were examined using the somatic mutation and recombination test (SMART) in Drosophila melanogaster. Neither the mutagenicity nor the recombinogenicity of BLM or MMC was modified by co- or post-treatment with BHE or LE. In contrast, co-treatment with BHE significantly enhanced the EMS-induced genotoxicity involving mutagenic and/or recombinant events. Co-treatment with LE did not alter the genotoxicity of EMS whereas post-treatment with the highest dose of LE significantly increased this genotoxicity. This enhancement included a synergistic increase restricted to somatic recombination. These results show that artichoke extracts promote homologous recombination in proliferative cells of D. melanogaster.

  9. Impact of Therapy Sequence with Alkylating Agents and MGMT Status in Patients with Advanced Neuroendocrine Tumors.

    PubMed

    Krug, Sebastian; Boch, Michael; Rexin, Peter; Gress, Thomas M; Michl, Patrick; Rinke, Anja

    2017-05-01

    Alkylating chemotherapeutics with either a streptozotocin-(STZ) or temozolomide-(TEM) backbone are routinely used in patients with progressive and unresectable pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNET). In addition, dacarbazine (DTIC) was described as an alternative alkylating therapy option for PNETs. The optimal treatment sequence with alkylating compounds and a potential use of O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) level as predictive biomarker have not yet been sufficiently elucidated. The aim of our study was the evaluation of therapy sequence with either STZ-based treatment followed by DTIC (group A) or the inverse schedule with upfront DTIC (group B) and to correlate MGMT status with clinicopathological characteristics and response to therapy. We retrospectively analyzed 28 patients with neuroendocrine tumors (NET) who were treated with STZ-based therapy and DTIC. Additionally, in a second group MGMT immunohistochemistry was performed from primary and metastatic tumor sites. For statistical evaluation Kaplan-Meier analysis, Cox regression methods and Fisher's exact test were used. There was no difference of objective response and disease control between either STZ-based therapy followed by DTIC treatment (group A) after progression or the reverse sequence (group B). Median time to progression (TTP) was estimated to be 21 months in both arms. First-line STZ-based chemotherapy was not superior to first-line DTIC treatment (16 vs. 13 months; p=0.8). MGMT status did not correlate with clinicopathological characteristics or response to therapy with these alkylating agents. Upfront chemotherapy with either STZ-based treatment or DTIC monotherapy showed similar efficacy and median TTP rates. In this study, MGMT protein expression assessed by immunohistochemistry did not play an important role as a predictive marker for alkylating agents. Copyright© 2017, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.

  10. Phenylbutyrate inhibits homologous recombination induced by camptothecin and methyl methanesulfonate.

    PubMed

    Kaiser, Gitte S; Germann, Susanne M; Westergaard, Tine; Lisby, Michael

    2011-08-01

    Homologous recombination is accompanied by extensive changes to chromatin organization at the site of DNA damage. Some of these changes are mediated through acetylation/deacetylation of histones. Here, we show that recombinational repair of DNA damage induced by the anti-cancer drug camptothecin (CPT) and the alkylating agent methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) is blocked by sodium phenylbutyrate (PBA) in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In particular, PBA suppresses CPT- and MMS-induced genetic recombination as well as DNA double-strand break repair during mating-type interconversion. Treatment with PBA is accompanied by a dramatic reduction in histone H4 lysine 8 acetylation. Live cell imaging of homologous recombination proteins indicates that repair of CPT-induced DNA damage is redirected to a non-recombinogenic pathway in the presence of PBA without loss in cell viability. In contrast, the suppression of MMS-induced recombination by PBA is accompanied by a dramatic loss in cell viability. Taken together, our results demonstrate that PBA inhibits DNA damage-induced homologous recombination likely by mediating changes in chromatin acetylation. Moreover, the combination of PBA with genotoxic agents can lead to different cell fates depending on the type of DNA damage inflicted. 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. A drug-induced accelerated senescence (DIAS) is a possibility to study aging in time lapse.

    PubMed

    Alili, Lirija; Diekmann, Johanna; Giesen, Melanie; Holtkötter, Olaf; Brenneisen, Peter

    2014-06-01

    Currently, the oxidative stress (or free radical) theory of aging is the most popular explanation of how aging occurs at the molecular level. Accordingly, a stress-induced senescence-like phenotype of human dermal fibroblasts can be induced in vitro by the exposure of human diploid fibroblasts to subcytotoxic concentrations of hydrogen peroxide. However, several biomarkers of replicative senescence e.g. cell cycle arrest and enlarged morphology are abrogated 14 days after treatment, indicating that reactive oxygen species (ROS) rather acts as a trigger for short-term senescence (1-3 days) than being responsible for the maintenance of the senescence-like phenotype. Further, DNA-damaging factors are discussed resulting in a permanent senescent cell type. To induce long-term premature senescence and to understand the molecular alterations occurring during the aging process, we analyzed mitomycin C (MMC) as an alkylating DNA-damaging agent and ROS producer. Human dermal fibroblasts (HDF), used as model for skin aging, were exposed to non-cytotoxic concentrations of MMC and analyzed for potential markers of cellular aging, for example enlarged morphology, activity of senescence-associated-ß-galactosidase, cell cycle arrest, increased ROS production and MMP1-activity, which are well-documented for HDF in replicative senescence. Our data show that mitomycin C treatment results in a drug-induced accelerated senescence (DIAS) with long-term expression of senescence markers, demonstrating that a combination of different susceptibility factors, here ROS and DNA alkylation, are necessary to induce a permanent senescent cell type.

  12. Interstrand cross-linking of DNA by 1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea and other 1-(2-haloethyl)-1-nitrosoureas.

    PubMed

    Kohn, K W

    1977-05-01

    Bifunctional alkylating agents are known to cross-link DNA by simultaneously alkylating two guanine residues located on opposite strands. Despite this apparent requirement for bifunctionality, 1-(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosoureas bearing a single alkylating function were found to cross-link DNA in vitro. Cross-linking was demonstrated by showing inhibition of alkali-induced strand separation. Extensive cross-linking was observed in DNA treated with 1-(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea, 1,3-bis-(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea, and 1-(2-chloroethyl(-3-cyclohexyl-1-nitrosourea. The reaction occurs in two steps, an intital binding followed by a second step which can proceed after removal of unbound drug. It is suggested that the first step is chloroethylation of a nucleophilic site on one strand and that the second step involves displacement of Cl- by a nucleophilic site on the opposite strand, resulting in an ethyl bridge between the strands. Consistent with this possibility, 1-(2-fluoroethyl)-3-cyclohexyl-1-nitrosourea produced much less cross-linking, as expected from the known low activity of F-, compared with Cl-, as leaving group. 1-Methyl-1-nitrosourea, which is known to depurinate DNA, produced no detectable cross-linking.

  13. Focus on Fotemustine.

    PubMed

    De Rossi, A; Rossi, L; Laudisi, A; Sini, V; Toppo, L; Marchesi, F; Tortorelli, G; Leti, M; Turriziani, M; Aquino, A; Bonmassar, E; De Vecchis, L; Torino, F

    2006-12-01

    Fotemustine is a cytotoxic alkylating agent, belonging to the group of nitrosourea family. Its mechanism of action is similar to that of other nitrosoureas, characterized by a mono-functional/bi-functional alkylating activity. Worth of consideration is the finding that the presence of high levels of the DNA repair enzyme O6-methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase (MGMT) in cancer cells confers drug resistance. In different clinical trials Fotemustine showed a remarkable antitumor activity as single agent, and in association with other antineoplastic compounds or treatment modalities. Moreover, its toxicity is generally considered acceptable. The drug has been employed in the treatment of metastatic melanoma, and, on the basis of its pharmacokinetic properties, in brain tumors, either primitive or metastatic. Moreover, Fotemustine shows pharmacodynamic properties similar to those of mono-functional alkylating compounds (e.g. DNA methylating drugs, such as Temozolomide), that have been recently considered for the management of acute refractory leukaemia. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that this agent could be a good candidate to play a potential role in haematological malignancies.

  14. Anticonvulsant properties of alpha, gamma, and alpha, gamma-substituted gamma-butyrolactones.

    PubMed

    Klunk, W E; Covey, D F; Ferrendelli, J A

    1982-09-01

    Derivatives of gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) substituted on the alpha- and/or gamma-positions were synthesized and tested for their effects on behavior in mice, on the electroencephalographs and blood pressure of paralyzed-ventilated guinea pigs, and on electrical activity of incubated hippocampal slices. Several compounds, including alpha-ethyl-alpha-methyl GBL (alpha-EMGBL), alpha, alpha-dimethyl GBL, alpha, gamma-diethyl-alpha, gamma-dimethyl GBL, and gamma-ethyl-gamma-methyl GBL, prevented seizures induced by pentylenetetrazol, beta-ethyl-beta-methyl-gamma-butyrolactone (beta-EMGBL), picrotoxin, or all three compounds in mice and guinea pigs but had no effect on seizures induced by maximal electroshock or bicuculline. Neither gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) nor alpha-isopropylidine GBL had any anticonvulsant activity. The anticonvulsant alpha-substituted compounds had a potent hypotensive effect and antagonized the hypertensive effect of beta-EMGBL, alpha-EMGBL was tested in incubated hippocampal slices and was found to depress basal activity and antagonize excitation induced by beta-EMGBL. These results demonstrate that alpha-alkyl-substituted GBL and, to a lesser extent, gamma-substituted derivatives are anticonvulsant agents and that their effects are strikingly different from those of GHB or beta-alkyl-substituted GBLs, which are epileptogenic. Possibly beta- and alpha-substituted GBLs act at the same site as agonists and antagonists, respectively.

  15. Involvement of Escherichia coli DNA Polymerase IV in Tolerance of Cytotoxic Alkylating DNA Lesions in Vivo

    PubMed Central

    Bjedov, Ivana; Dasgupta, Chitralekha Nag; Slade, Dea; Le Blastier, Sophie; Selva, Marjorie; Matic, Ivan

    2007-01-01

    Escherichia coli PolIV, a DNA polymerase capable of catalyzing synthesis past replication-blocking DNA lesions, belongs to the most ubiquitous branch of Y-family DNA polymerases. The goal of this study is to identify spontaneous DNA damage that is bypassed specifically and accurately by PolIV in vivo. We increased the amount of spontaneous DNA lesions using mutants deficient for different DNA repair pathways and measured mutation frequency in PolIV-proficient and -deficient backgrounds. We found that PolIV performs an error-free bypass of DNA damage that accumulates in the alkA tag genetic background. This result indicates that PolIV is involved in the error-free bypass of cytotoxic alkylating DNA lesions. When the amount of cytotoxic alkylating DNA lesions is increased by the treatment with chemical alkylating agents, PolIV is required for survival in an alkA tag-proficient genetic background as well. Our study, together with the reported involvement of the mammalian PolIV homolog, Polκ, in similar activity, indicates that Y-family DNA polymerases from the DinB branch can be added to the list of evolutionarily conserved molecular mechanisms that counteract cytotoxic effects of DNA alkylation. This activity is of major biological relevance because alkylating agents are continuously produced endogenously in all living cells and are also present in the environment. PMID:17483416

  16. Development of a new benzophenone-diketopiperazine-type potent antimicrotubule agent possessing a 2-pyridine structure.

    PubMed

    Hayashi, Yoshiki; Takeno, Haruka; Chinen, Takumi; Muguruma, Kyohei; Okuyama, Kohei; Taguchi, Akihiro; Takayama, Kentaro; Yakushiji, Fumika; Miura, Masahiko; Usui, Takeo; Hayashi, Yoshio

    2014-10-09

    A new benzophenone-diketopiperazine-type potent antimicrotubule agent was developed by modifying the structure of the clinical candidate plinabulin (1). Although the right-hand imidazole ring with a branched alkyl chain at the 5-position in 1 was critical for the potency of the antimicrotubule activity, we successfully substituted this moiety with a simpler 2-pyridyl structure by converting the left-hand ring from a phenyl to a benzophenone structure without decreasing the potency. The resultant compound 6b (KPU-300) exhibited a potent cytotoxicity, with an IC50 value of 7.0 nM against HT-29 cells, by strongly binding to tubulin (K d = 1.3 μM) and inducing microtubule depolymerization.

  17. A "by-productless" cellulose foaming agent for use in imidazolium ionic liquids.

    PubMed

    Scott, Janet L; Unali, Gianfranco; Perosa, Alvise

    2011-03-14

    Cellulose foams, or sponges, are produced from solutions in ionic liquids by the aqueous acid mediated decomposition of 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium-2-carboxylates, where the alkyl group and acid may be selected such that the by-product is the ionic liquid solvent: a by-productless foaming.

  18. Phase II study of Cloretazine for the treatment of adults with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme1

    PubMed Central

    Badruddoja, Michael A.; Penne, Kara; Desjardins, Annick; Reardon, David A.; Rich, Jeremy N.; Quinn, Jennifer A.; Sathornsumetee, Sith; Friedman, Allan H.; Bigner, Darell D.; Herndon, James E.; Cahill, Ann; Friedman, Henry S.; Vredenburgh, James J.

    2007-01-01

    Cloretazine (VNP40101M) is a newly synthesized alkylating agent belonging to a novel class of alkylating agents called 1,2-bis(sulfonyl)hydrazines. Agents that belong to this class do not produce vinylating and chloroethylating species, and hence this class of alkylating agents is thought to have minimal systemic toxicity. Cloretazine produces two short-lived active species: 1,2-bis(methylsulfonyl)-1-(2-chloroethyl) hydrazine (a chloroethylating species) and a thiophilic carbamoylating methylisocyanate species. The chloroethylating species preferentially produces lesions at the O6 position of guanine. The methylisocyanate species may inhibit O6-alkylguanine-DNA alkyltransferase, an important mechanism of resistance against alkylating agents. The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy and tolerability of Cloretazine in patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme. The basis for the determination of efficacy was the proportion of patients alive without evidence of disease progression six months after initiation of treatment. Patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme received Cloretazine (300 mg/m2) intravenously every six weeks. Radiographic response, survival data, and toxicity were assessed. Thirty-two patients were enrolled. Median age was 56 years; 24 patients (75%) were men. At six months, two patients were alive and progression free, so the six-month progression-free survival (PFS) was 6%. The median PFS was 6.3 weeks. There were no objective radiographic responses. Twelve patients had stable disease for at least one cycle, but only two patients received more than three cycles. Nine patients experienced grade 4 thrombocytopenia and three patients experienced grade 4 neutropenia. Cloretazine administered every six weeks was relatively well tolerated, although this schedule has insignificant activity for patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme PMID:17108065

  19. Contributions of DNA repair and damage response pathways to the non-linear genotoxic responses of alkylating agents

    PubMed Central

    Klapacz, Joanna; Pottenger, Lynn H.; Engelward, Bevin P.; Heinen, Christopher D.; Johnson, George E.; Clewell, Rebecca A.; Carmichael, Paul L.; Adeleye, Yeyejide; Andersen, Melvin E.

    2016-01-01

    From a risk assessment perspective, DNA-reactive agents are conventionally assumed to have genotoxic risks at all exposure levels, thus applying a linear extrapolation for low-dose responses. New approaches discussed here, including more diverse and sensitive methods for assessing DNA damage and DNA repair, strongly support the existence of measurable regions where genotoxic responses with increasing doses are insignificant relative to control. Model monofunctional alkylating agents have in vitro and in vivo datasets amenable to determination of points of departure (PoDs) for genotoxic effects. A session at the 2013 Society of Toxicology meeting provided an opportunity to survey the progress in understanding the biological basis of empirically-observed PoDs for DNA alkylating agents. Together with the literature published since, this review discusses cellular pathways activated by endogenous and exogenous alkylation DNA damage. Cells have evolved conserved processes that monitor and counteract a spontaneous steady-state level of DNA damage. The ubiquitous network of DNA repair pathways serves as the first line of defense for clearing of the DNA damage and preventing mutation. Other biological pathways discussed here that are activated by genotoxic stress include post-translational activation of cell cycle networks and transcriptional networks for apoptosis/cell death. The interactions of various DNA repair and DNA damage response pathways provide biological bases for the observed PoD behaviors seen with genotoxic compounds. Thus, after formation of DNA adducts, the activation of cellular pathways can lead to the avoidance a mutagenic outcome. The understanding of the cellular mechanisms acting within the low-dose region will serve to better characterize risks from exposures to DNA-reactive agents at environmentally-relevant concentrations. PMID:27036068

  20. Contributions of DNA repair and damage response pathways to the non-linear genotoxic responses of alkylating agents.

    PubMed

    Klapacz, Joanna; Pottenger, Lynn H; Engelward, Bevin P; Heinen, Christopher D; Johnson, George E; Clewell, Rebecca A; Carmichael, Paul L; Adeleye, Yeyejide; Andersen, Melvin E

    2016-01-01

    From a risk assessment perspective, DNA-reactive agents are conventionally assumed to have genotoxic risks at all exposure levels, thus applying a linear extrapolation for low-dose responses. New approaches discussed here, including more diverse and sensitive methods for assessing DNA damage and DNA repair, strongly support the existence of measurable regions where genotoxic responses with increasing doses are insignificant relative to control. Model monofunctional alkylating agents have in vitro and in vivo datasets amenable to determination of points of departure (PoDs) for genotoxic effects. A session at the 2013 Society of Toxicology meeting provided an opportunity to survey the progress in understanding the biological basis of empirically-observed PoDs for DNA alkylating agents. Together with the literature published since, this review discusses cellular pathways activated by endogenous and exogenous alkylation DNA damage. Cells have evolved conserved processes that monitor and counteract a spontaneous steady-state level of DNA damage. The ubiquitous network of DNA repair pathways serves as the first line of defense for clearing of the DNA damage and preventing mutation. Other biological pathways discussed here that are activated by genotoxic stress include post-translational activation of cell cycle networks and transcriptional networks for apoptosis/cell death. The interactions of various DNA repair and DNA damage response pathways provide biological bases for the observed PoD behaviors seen with genotoxic compounds. Thus, after formation of DNA adducts, the activation of cellular pathways can lead to the avoidance of a mutagenic outcome. The understanding of the cellular mechanisms acting within the low-dose region will serve to better characterize risks from exposures to DNA-reactive agents at environmentally-relevant concentrations. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. S-1 induced secondary acute erythroid leukemia with a chromosome inv(12)(p13;q13)

    PubMed Central

    Matsumoto, Kensuke; Kitanaka, Akira; Uemura, Makiko; Waki, Fusako; Fukumoto, Tetsuya; Ohnishi, Hiroaki; Kubota, Yoshitsugu; Ishida, Toshihiko

    2011-01-01

    Adjuvant chemotherapy by S-1 following gastrectomy is considered standard treatment in Japan. Analysis of follow-up data have proved the efficacy of S-1 administration, and that hematological adverse events were relatively rare. Pyrimidine anti-metabolites, including S-1, have shown relatively lower risks for secondary hematological malignancies in comparison to alkylating agents and topoisomerase-II inhibitors. We here report a case of therapy-related leukemia after S-1 administration. A patient who had received S-1as the sole adjuvant chemotherapy was diagnosed with acute erythroid leukemia. To the best of our knowledge, our patient represents the first report of S-1 induced acute leukemia. PMID:22147971

  2. Utilization of a quantitative mammalian cell mutation system, CHO/HGPRT, in experimental mutagenesis and genetic toxicology

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hsie, A. W.; Couch, D. B.; O'Neill, J. P.

    1977-01-01

    Development of the CHO/HGPRT system is described and a host-mediated CHO/HGPRT assay is discussed. The following topics are discussed: evidence for the genetic origin of mutation induction in the CHO/HGPRT system; dose-response relationship for EMS-mediated mutation induction and cell lethality; apparent dosimetry of EMS-induced mutagenesis; structure-activity relationship of alkylating agents and ICR compounds; mutagenicity and cytotoxicity of congeners of two classes of nitrosi compounds; and preliminary validation of the CHO/HGPRT assay in predicting chemical carcinogenicity. (HLW)

  3. Hypoxia-Activated Alkylating Agents in BRCA1-Mutant Ovarian Serous Carcinoma.

    PubMed

    Conroy, Michael; Borad, Mitesh J; Bryce, Alan H

    2017-07-26

    Breast cancer 1 antigen (BRCA 1) and breast cancer 2 antigen (BRCA2) genes play a significant role in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) repair by means of interstrand crosslink repair, and deleterious germline mutations of these are responsible for most hereditary breast and ovarian cancers. Therapeutic strategies which specifically target interstrand crosslink repair can therefore be helpful in patients with harmful mutations. We describe two patients with advanced ovarian cancer and deleterious BRCA1 mutations who were treated with TH-302, a hypoxia-activated alkylating agent.

  4. Flavanone silibinin treatment attenuates nitrogen mustard-induced toxic effects in mouse skin.

    PubMed

    Jain, Anil K; Tewari-Singh, Neera; Inturi, Swetha; Kumar, Dileep; Orlicky, David J; Agarwal, Chapla; White, Carl W; Agarwal, Rajesh

    2015-05-15

    Currently, there is no effective antidote to prevent skin injuries by sulfur mustard (SM) and nitrogen mustard (NM), which are vesicating agents with potential relevance to chemical warfare, terrorist attacks, or industrial/laboratory accidents. Our earlier report has demonstrated the therapeutic efficacy of silibinin, a natural flavanone, in reversing monofunctional alkylating SM analog 2-chloroethyl ethyl sulfide-induced toxic effects in mouse skin. To translate this effect to a bifunctional alkylating vesicant, herein, efficacy studies were carried out with NM. Topical application of silibinin (1 or 2mg) 30 min after NM exposure on the dorsal skin of male SKH-1 hairless mice significantly decreased NM-induced toxic lesions at 24, 72 or 120 h post-exposure. Specifically, silibinin treatment resulted in dose-dependent reduction of NM-induced increase in epidermal thickness, dead and denuded epidermis, parakeratosis and microvesication. Higher silibinin dose also caused a 79% and 51%reversal in NM-induced increases in myeloperoxidase activity and COX-2 levels, respectively. Furthermore, silibinin completely prevented NM-induced H2A.X phosphorylation, indicating reversal of DNA damage which could be an oxidative DNA damage as evidenced by high levels of 8-oxodG in NM-exposed mouse skin that was significantly reversed by silibinin. Together, these findings suggest that attenuation of NM-induced skin injury by silibinin is due to its effects on the pathways associated with DNA damage, inflammation, vesication and oxidative stress. In conclusion, results presented here support the optimization of silibinin as an effective treatment of skin injury by vesicants. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. [The biochemical mechanisms of the action of N-alkyl-N-nitrosoureas. The possible reasons for drug resistance to these compounds].

    PubMed

    Syrkin, A B; Gorbacheva, L B

    1996-01-01

    N-alkyl-N-nitrosoureas exhibit a wide spectrum of antitumor activity. They react as alkylating agents at nucleophilic sites in purine and pyrimidine moieties of DNA. The predominant site of this alkylation is N7 of guanine, which is followed by the site N3 of adenine and 06 of guanine. The formation and persistence of 0(6)-alkylguanine (0(6)-AG) may be of primary importance in cytotoxicity of the nitrosoureas. 0(6)-AG adducts of DNA of the tumor cells are repaired by protein 0(6)-alkylguanine-DNA transferase (0(6)-AGT) which transfers the alkyl group to internal cysteine residue being the acceptor protein for the alkyl group in an irreversible transfer reaction. 0(6)-AGT can protect the tumor cells against 0(6)-AG adducts by the way of inhibiting the formation of the DNA interstrand cross-links 0(6)-AGT plays an important role in the drug resistance because it repairs the DNA alkyl adducts at the 0(6) position of guanine. The 0(6)-AGT activity inversely correlates with the cytotoxic effect of the nitrosoureas. The agents like 0(6)-methylguanosine, 0(6)-methyl-2'-deoxyguanosine, and some 0(6)-benzylated guanine derivatives are effective inactivators of 0(6)-AGT, and thus can be used to enhance the cytotoxicity of N-nitrosoureas. The activation of 0(6)-AGT and other repairing enzymes such as alpha and beta DNA-polymerases as well as an increase in the level of reduced glutathione may be used in developing the resistance to the nitrosoureas.

  6. EVIDENCE FOR BASE EXCISION REPAIR PROCESSING OF DNA INTERSTRAND CROSSLINKS

    PubMed Central

    Kothandapani, Anbarasi; Patrick, Steve M

    2013-01-01

    Many bifunctional alkylating agents and anticancer drugs exert their cytotoxicity by producing cross links between the two complementary strands of DNA, termed interstrand crosslinks (ICLs). This blocks the strand separating processes during DNA replication and transcription, which can lead to cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. Cells use multiple DNA repair systems to eliminate the ICLs. Concerted action of repair proteins involved in Nucleotide Excision Repair and Homologous Recombination pathways are suggested to play a key role in the ICL repair. However, recent studies indicate a possible role for Base Excision Repair (BER) in mediating the cytotoxicity of ICL inducing agents in mammalian cells. Elucidating the mechanism of BER mediated modulation of ICL repair would help in understanding the recognition and removal of ICLs and aid in the development of potential therapeutic agents. In this review, the influence of BER proteins on ICL DNA repair and the possible mechanisms of action are discussed. PMID:23219605

  7. Prevention of chemotherapy-induced alopecia in rodent models

    PubMed Central

    Jimenez, Joaquin J.; Roberts, Stephen M.; Mejia, Jessica; Mauro, Lucia M.; Munson, John W.; Elgart, George W.; Connelly, Elizabeth Alvarez; Chen, Qingbin; Zou, Jiangying; Goldenberg, Carlos

    2008-01-01

    Alopecia (hair loss) is experienced by thousands of cancer patients every year. Substantial-to-severe alopecia is induced by anthracyclines (e.g., adriamycin), taxanes (e.g., taxol), alkylating compounds (e.g., cyclophosphamide), and the topisomerase inhibitor etoposide, agents that are widely used in the treatment of leukemias and breast, lung, ovarian, and bladder cancers. Currently, no treatment appears to be generally effective in reliably preventing this secondary effect of chemotherapy. We observed in experiments using different rodent models that localized administration of heat or subcutaneous/intradermal injection of geldanamycin or 17-(allylamino)-17-demethoxygeldanamycin induced a stress protein response in hair follicles and effectively prevented alopecia from adriamycin, cyclophosphamide, taxol, and etoposide. Model tumor therapy experiments support the presumption that such localized hair-saving treatment does not negatively affect chemotherapy efficacy. PMID:18347939

  8. Impact of gender on efficacy and acute toxicity of alkylating agent -based chemotherapy in Ewing sarcoma: secondary analysis of the Euro-Ewing99-R1 trial.

    PubMed

    van den Berg, Henk; Paulussen, Michael; Le Teuff, Gwénaël; Judson, Ian; Gelderblom, Hans; Dirksen, Uta; Brennan, Bernadette; Whelan, Jeremy; Ladenstein, Ruth Lydia; Marec-Berard, Perrine; Kruseova, Jarmila; Hjorth, Lars; Kühne, Thomas; Brichard, Benedicte; Wheatley, Keith; Craft, Alan; Juergens, Heribert; Gaspar, Nathalie; Le Deley, Marie-Cécile

    2015-11-01

    Based on the randomised Euro-EWING99-R1 trial, vincristine, adriamycin, cyclophosphamide (VAC) may be able to replace vincristine, adriamycin, ifosfamide (VAI) in the treatment of standard-risk Ewing sarcoma. However some heterogeneity of treatment effect by gender was observed. The current exploratory study aimed at investigating the influence of gender on treatment efficacy and acute toxicity. Impact of gender on event-free survival (EFS), acute toxicity by course, switches between treatment arms and cumulative dose of alkylating agents was evaluated in multivariable models adjusted for age including terms to test for heterogeneity of treatment effect by gender. The analysis of the EFS was performed on the intention-to-treat population. EFS did not significantly differ between the 509 males and 347 females (p=0.33), but an interaction in terms of efficacy was suspected between treatment and gender (p=0.058): VAC was associated with poorer EFS than VAI in males, hazard ratio (HR) (VAC/VAI)=1.37 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.98-1.90], contrasting with HR=0.81 [95%CI, 0.53-1.24] in females. Severe toxicity was more frequent in females, whatever the toxicity type. Thirty patients switched from VAI to VAC (9/251 males, 4%, and 21/174 females, 12%) mostly due to renal toxicity, and three from VAC to VAI (2/258 males, 0.8%, and 1/173 females, 0.6%). A reduction of alkylating agent cumulative dose >20% was more frequent in females (15% versus 9%, p=0.005), with no major difference between VAC and VAI (10% versus 13%, p=0.15). Differences of acute toxicity rate and cumulative doses of alkylating agents could not explain the marginal interaction observed in the Euro-EWING99-R1 trial data. Effects of gender-dependent polymorphism/activity of metabolic enzymes (e.g. known for CYP2B6) of ifosfamide versus cyclophosphamide should be explored. External data are required to further evaluate whether there is heterogeneity of alkylating agent effect by gender. NCT00987636 and EudraCT 2008-003658-13. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Efficacy and toxicity of the combination chemotherapy of thalidomide, alkylating agent, and steroid for relapsed/refractory myeloma patients: a report from the Korean Multiple Myeloma Working Party (KMMWP) retrospective study.

    PubMed

    Kwon, Jihyun; Min, Chang-Ki; Kim, Kihyun; Han, Jae-Joon; Moon, Joon Ho; Kang, Hye Jin; Eom, Hyeon-Seok; Kim, Min Kyoung; Kim, Hyo Jung; Yoon, Dok Hyun; Lee, Jeong-Ok; Lee, Won Sik; Lee, Jae Hoon; Lee, Je-Jung; Choi, Yoon-Seok; Kim, Sung Hyun; Yoon, Sung-Soo

    2017-01-01

    We analyzed the treatment responses, toxicities, and survival outcomes of patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma who received daily thalidomide, cyclophosphamide, and dexamethasone (CTD) or daily thalidomide, melphalan, and prednisolone (MTP) at 17 medical centers in Korea. Three-hundred and seventy-six patients were enrolled. The combined chemotherapy of thalidomide, corticosteroid, and an alkylating agent (TAS) was second-line chemotherapy in 142 (37.8%) patients, and third-line chemotherapy in 135 (35.9%) patients. The response rate overall was 69.4%. Patients who were not treated with bortezomib and lenalidomide before TAS showed a higher response rate compared to those who were exposed to these agents. The estimated median progression-free survival and overall survival times were 10.4 months and 28.0 months, respectively. The adverse events during TAS were generally tolerable, but 39 (10.4%) patients experienced severe infectious complications. There were no differences in terms of efficacy between CTD and MTP, but infectious complications were more common in CTD group. TAS is an effective treatment regimen which induces a high response rate in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma patients. Due to the high incidence of grade 3 or 4 infection, proper management of infection is necessary during the TAS treatment, especially the CTD. © 2016 The Authors. Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  10. Fragmentation of Electrospray-produced Deprotonated Ions of Oligodeoxyribonucleotides Containing an Alkylated or Oxidized Thymidine

    PubMed Central

    Wang, Pengcheng; Williams, Renee T.; Guerrero, Candace R.; Ji, Debin; Wang, Yinsheng

    2014-01-01

    Alkylation and oxidation constitute major routes of DNA damage induced by endogenous and exogenous genotoxic agents. Understanding the biological consequences of DNA lesions often necessitates the availability of oligodeoxyribonucleotide (ODN) substrates harboring these lesions, and sensitive and robust methods for validating the identities of these ODNs. Tandem mass spectrometry is well suited for meeting these latter analytical needs. In the present study, we evaluated how the incorporation of an ethyl group to different positions (i.e., O2, N3 and O4) of thymine and the oxidation of its 5-methyl carbon impact collisionally activated dissociation (CAD) pathways of electrospray-produced deprotonated ions of ODNs harboring these thymine modifications. Unlike an unmodified thymine, which often manifests poor cleavage of the C3′-O3′ bond, the incorporation of an alkyl group to the O2 position and, to a much lesser extent, the O4 position, but not the N3 position of thymine, led to facile cleavage of the C3′-O3′ bond on the 3′ side of the modified thymine. Similar efficient chain cleavage was observed when thymine was oxidized to 5-formyluracil or 5-carboxyluracil, but not 5-hydroxymethyluracil. Additionally, with the support of computational modeling, we revealed that proton affinity and acidity of the modified nucleobases govern the fragmentation of ODNs containing the alkylated and oxidized thymidine derivatives, respectively. These results provided important insights into the effects of thymine modifications on ODN fragmentation. PMID:24664806

  11. Effect of polyester blends in hydroentangled raw and bleached cotton nonwoven fabrics on the adsorption of alkyl-dimethyl-benzyl-ammonium chloride

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The adsorption kinetics and isotherms of alkyl-dimethyl-benzyl-ammonium chloride (ADBAC), a cationic surfactant commonly employed as an antimicrobial agent, on hydroentangled nonwoven fabrics (applicable for wipes) including raw cotton, bleached cotton, and their blends with polyester (PES) were stu...

  12. Management of patients with multiple myeloma: emphasizing the role of high-dose therapy.

    PubMed

    Kyle, R A

    2001-06-01

    Treatment for multiple myeloma should not be given until the patient is symptomatic or at risk for the occurrence of complications of the disease. If the patient is younger than 70 years, the physician should seriously consider an autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplant. Most physicians initially administer vincristine/doxorubicin/dexamethasone (VAD) for 3 to 4 months and then collect the stem cells before exposure to alkylating agents. Following stem cell collection, one may proceed with high-dose chemotherapy and then infusion of the stem cells, or one can administer alkylating agents until a plateau is reached and delay transplantation until progressive disease occurs. There is no difference in overall survival between early and late transplantation, but the former avoids the cost and inconvenience of alkylating agent therapy. Double or tandem autologous stem cell transplants may produce better results, but the evidence is not strong. Almost all patients have a relapse after an autologous stem cell transplant, so efforts are being made to prolong the response with a2-interferon or dendritic cell therapy. Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation is feasible for only 5%-10% of patients, but the mortality is high and it is curative in only a small fraction of patients. Treatment with melphalan and prednisone results in an objective response in 50%-60% of patients. Combinations of alkylating agents produce a higher response rate, but there is no survival benefit. Thalidomide produces an objective response in about one third of patients with refractory disease. It currently is being studied in conjunction with dexamethasone for conventional initial therapy.

  13. Cellular response to alkylating agent MNNG is impaired in STAT1-deficients cells.

    PubMed

    Ah-Koon, Laurent; Lesage, Denis; Lemadre, Elodie; Souissi, Inès; Fagard, Remi; Varin-Blank, Nadine; Fabre, Emmanuelle E; Schischmanoff, Olivier

    2016-10-01

    The SN 1 alkylating agents activate the mismatch repair system leading to delayed G2 /M cell cycle arrest and DNA repair with subsequent survival or cell death. STAT1, an anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic transcription factor is known to potentiate p53 and to affect DNA-damage cellular response. We studied whether STAT1 may modulate cell fate following activation of the mismatch repair system upon exposure to the alkylating agent N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG). Using STAT1-proficient or -deficient cell lines, we found that STAT1 is required for: (i) reduction in the extent of DNA lesions, (ii) rapid phosphorylation of T68-CHK2 and of S15-p53, (iii) progression through the G2 /M checkpoint and (iv) long-term survival following treatment with MNNG. Presence of STAT1 is critical for the formation of a p53-DNA complex comprising: STAT1, c-Abl and MLH1 following exposure to MNNG. Importantly, presence of STAT1 allows recruitment of c-Abl to p53-DNA complex and links c-Abl tyrosine kinase activity to MNNG-toxicity. Thus, our data highlight the important modulatory role of STAT1 in the signalling pathway activated by the mismatch repair system. This ability of STAT1 to favour resistance to MNNG indicates the targeting of STAT1 pathway as a therapeutic option for enhancing the efficacy of SN1 alkylating agent-based chemotherapy. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Cellular and Molecular Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd and Foundation for Cellular and Molecular Medicine.

  14. The cyclophosphamide equivalent dose as an approach for quantifying alkylating agent exposure: a report from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study.

    PubMed

    Green, Daniel M; Nolan, Vikki G; Goodman, Pamela J; Whitton, John A; Srivastava, DeoKumar; Leisenring, Wendy M; Neglia, Joseph P; Sklar, Charles A; Kaste, Sue C; Hudson, Melissa M; Diller, Lisa R; Stovall, Marilyn; Donaldson, Sarah S; Robison, Leslie L

    2014-01-01

    Estimation of the risk of adverse long-term outcomes such as second malignant neoplasms and infertility often requires reproducible quantification of exposures. The method for quantification should be easily utilized and valid across different study populations. The widely used Alkylating Agent Dose (AAD) score is derived from the drug dose distribution of the study population and thus cannot be used for comparisons across populations as each will have a unique distribution of drug doses. We compared the performance of the Cyclophosphamide Equivalent Dose (CED), a unit for quantifying alkylating agent exposure independent of study population, to the AAD. Comparisons included associations from three Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS) outcome analyses, receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curves and goodness of fit based on the Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC). The CED and AAD performed essentially identically in analyses of risk for pregnancy among the partners of male CCSS participants, risk for adverse dental outcomes among all CCSS participants and risk for premature menopause among female CCSS participants, based on similar associations, lack of statistically significant differences between the areas under the ROC curves and similar model fit values for the AIC between models including the two measures of exposure. The CED is easily calculated, facilitating its use for patient counseling. It is independent of the drug dose distribution of a particular patient population, a characteristic that will allow direct comparisons of outcomes among epidemiological cohorts. We recommend the use of the CED in future research assessing cumulative alkylating agent exposure. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  15. Mass spectral analysis of N-oxides of Chemical Weapons Convention related aminoethanols under electrospray ionization conditions.

    PubMed

    Sridhar, L; Karthikraj, R; Murty, M R V S; Raju, N Prasada; Vairamani, M; Prabhakar, S

    2011-02-28

    N,N'-Dialkylaminoethanols are the hydrolyzed products or precursors of chemical warfare agents such as V-agents and nitrogen mustards, and they are prone to undergo oxidation in environmental matrices or during decontamination processes. Consequently, screening of the oxidized products of aminoethanols in aqueous samples is an important task in the verification of chemical weapons convention-related chemicals. Here we report the successful characterization of the N-oxides of N,N'-dialkylaminoethanols, alkyl diethanolamines, and triethanolamine using positive ion electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. The collision-induced dissociation (CID) spectra of the [M+H](+) and [M+Na](+) ions show diagnostic product ions that enable the unambiguous identification of the studied N-oxides, including those of isomeric compounds. The proposed fragmentation pathways are supported by high-resolution mass spectrometry data and product/precursor ion spectra. The CID spectra of [M+H](+) ions included [MH-CH(4)O(2)](+) as the key product ion, in addition to a distinctive alkene loss that allowed us to recognize the alkyl group attached to the nitrogen. The [M+Na](+) ions show characteristic product ions due to the loss of groups (R) attached to nitrogen either as a radical (R) or as a molecule [R+H or (R-H)] after hydrogen migration. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  16. Synthesis, Biological Evaluation and Structure-Activity Relationships of a Novel Class of Apurinic/Apyrimidinic Endonuclease 1 Inhibitors

    PubMed Central

    Rai, Ganesha; Vyjayanti, Vaddadi N.; Dorjsuren, Dorjbal; Simeonov, Anton; Jadhav, Ajit; Wilson, David M.; Maloney, David J.

    2012-01-01

    APE1 is an essential protein that operates in the base excision repair (BER) pathway and is responsible for ≥95% of the total apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) endonuclease activity in human cells. BER is a major pathway that copes with DNA damage induced by several anti-cancer agents, including ionizing radiation and temozolomide. Overexpression of APE1 and enhanced AP endonuclease activity has been linked to increased resistance of tumor cells to treatment with monofunctional alkylators, implicating inhibition of APE1 as a valid strategy for cancer therapy. We report herein the results of a focused medicinal chemistry effort around a novel APE1 inhibitor, N-(3-(benzo[d]thiazol-2-yl)-6-isopropyl-4,5,6,7-tetrahydrothieno[2,3-c]pyridin-2-yl)acetamide (3). Compound 3 and related analogs exhibit single-digit µM activity against the purified APE1 enzyme, comparable activity in HeLa whole cell extract assays, and potentiate the cytotoxicity of the alkylating agents methylmethane sulfonate and temozolomide. Moreover, this class of compounds possesses a generally favorable in vitro ADME profile, along with good exposure levels in plasma and brain following intraperitoneal dosing (30 mg/kg body weight) in mice. PMID:22455312

  17. Chlorambucil (nitrogen mustard) induced impairment of early vascular endothelial cell migration - effects of α-linolenic acid and N-acetylcysteine.

    PubMed

    Steinritz, Dirk; Schmidt, Annette; Simons, Thilo; Ibrahim, Marwa; Morguet, Christian; Balszuweit, Frank; Thiermann, Horst; Kehe, Kai; Bloch, Wilhelm; Bölck, Birgit

    2014-08-05

    Alkylating agents (e.g. sulfur and nitrogen mustards) cause a variety of cell and tissue damage including wound healing disorder. Migration of endothelial cells is of utmost importance for effective wound healing. In this study we investigated the effects of chlorambucil (a nitrogen mustard) on early endothelial cells (EEC) with special focus on cell migration. Chlorambucil significantly inhibited migration of EEC in Boyden chamber and wound healing experiments. Cell migration is linked to cytoskeletal organization. We therefore investigated the distribution pattern of the Golgi apparatus as a marker of cell polarity. Cells are polarized under control conditions, whereas chlorambucil caused an encircling perinuclear position of the Golgi apparatus, indicating non-polarized cells. ROS are discussed to be involved in the pathophysiology of alkylating substances and are linked to cell migration and cell polarity. Therefore we investigated the influence of ROS-scavengers (α-linolenic acid (ALA) and N-acetylcysteine (NAC)) on the impaired EEC migration. Both substances, in particular ALA, improved EEC migration. Notably ALA restored cell polarity. Remarkably, investigations of ROS and RNS biomarkers (8-isoprostane and nitrotyrosine) did not reveal a significant increase after chlorambucil exposure when assessed 24h post exposure. A distinct breakdown of mitochondrial membrane potential (measured by TMRM) that recovered under ALA treatment was observed. In conclusion our results provide compelling evidence that the alkylating agent chlorambucil dramatically impairs directed cellular migration, which is accompanied by perturbations of cell polarity and mitochondrial membrane potential. ALA treatment was able to reconstitute cell polarity and to stabilize mitochondrial potential resulting in improved cell migration. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Inhibition of thioredoxin reductase but not of glutathione reductase by the major classes of alkylating and platinum-containing anticancer compounds.

    PubMed

    Witte, Anne-Barbara; Anestål, Karin; Jerremalm, Elin; Ehrsson, Hans; Arnér, Elias S J

    2005-09-01

    Mammalian thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) is important for cell proliferation, antioxidant defense, and redox signaling. Together with glutathione reductase (GR) it is the main enzyme providing reducing equivalents to many cellular processes. GR and TrxR are flavoproteins of the same enzyme family, but only the latter is a selenoprotein. With the active site containing selenocysteine, TrxR may catalyze reduction of a wide range of substrates, but can at the same time easily be targeted by electrophilic compounds due to the extraordinarily high reactivity of a selenolate moiety. Here we addressed the inhibition of the enzyme by major anticancer alkylating agents and platinum-containing compounds and we compared it to that of GR. We confirmed prior studies suggesting that the nitrosourea carmustine can inhibit both GR and TrxR. We next found, however, that nitrogen mustards (chlorambucil and melphalan) and alkyl sulfonates (busulfan) efficiently inhibited TrxR while these compounds, surprisingly, did not inhibit GR. Inhibitions were concentration and time dependent and apparently irreversible. Anticancer anthracyclines (daunorubicin and doxorubicin) were, in contrast to the alkylating agents, not inhibitors but poor substrates of TrxR. We also found that TrxR, but not GR, was efficiently inhibited by both cisplatin, its monohydrated complex, and oxaliplatin. Carboplatin, in contrast, could not inhibit any of the two enzymes. These findings lead us to conclude that representative compounds of the major classes of clinically used anticancer alkylating agents and most platinum compounds may easily target TrxR, but not GR. The TrxR inhibition should thereby be considered as a factor that may contribute to the cytotoxicity seen upon clinical use of these drugs.

  19. Inducible repair of alkylated DNA in microorganisms.

    PubMed

    Mielecki, Damian; Wrzesiński, Michał; Grzesiuk, Elżbieta

    2015-01-01

    Alkylating agents, which are widespread in the environment, also occur endogenously as primary and secondary metabolites. Such compounds have intrinsically extremely cytotoxic and frequently mutagenic effects, to which organisms have developed resistance by evolving multiple repair mechanisms to protect cellular DNA. One such defense against alkylation lesions is an inducible Adaptive (Ada) response. In Escherichia coli, the Ada response enhances cell resistance by the biosynthesis of four proteins: Ada, AlkA, AlkB, and AidB. The glycosidic bonds of the most cytotoxic lesion, N3-methyladenine (3meA), together with N3-methylguanine (3meG), O(2)-methylthymine (O(2)-meT), and O(2)-methylcytosine (O(2)-meC), are cleaved by AlkA DNA glycosylase. Lesions such as N1-methyladenine (1meA) and N3-methylcytosine (3meC) are removed from DNA and RNA by AlkB dioxygenase. Cytotoxic and mutagenic O(6)-methylguanine (O(6)meG) is repaired by Ada DNA methyltransferase, which transfers the methyl group onto its own cysteine residue from the methylated oxygen. We review (i) the individual Ada proteins Ada, AlkA, AlkB, AidB, and COG3826, with emphasis on the ubiquitous and versatile AlkB and its prokaryotic and eukaryotic homologs; (ii) the organization of the Ada regulon in several bacterial species; (iii) the mechanisms underlying activation of Ada transcription. In vivo and in silico analysis of various microorganisms shows the widespread existence and versatile organization of Ada regulon genes, including not only ada, alkA, alkB, and aidB but also COG3826, alkD, and other genes whose roles in repair of alkylated DNA remain to be elucidated. This review explores the comparative organization of Ada response and protein functions among bacterial species beyond the classical E. coli model. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Sensitization of gastric cancer cells to alkylating agents by glaucocalyxin B via cell cycle arrest and enhanced cell death.

    PubMed

    Ur Rahman, Muhammad Saif; Zhang, Ling; Wu, Lingyan; Xie, Yuqiong; Li, Chunchun; Cao, Jiang

    2017-01-01

    Severe side effects are major problems with chemotherapy of gastric cancer (GC). These side effects can be reduced by using sensitizing agents in combination with therapeutic drugs. In this study, the low/nontoxic dosage of glaucocalyxin B (GLB) was used with other DNA linker agents mitomycin C (MMC), cisplatin (DDP), or cyclophosphamide (CTX) to treat GC cells. Combined effectiveness of GLB with drugs was determined by proliferation assay. The molecular mechanisms associated with cell proliferation, migration, invasion, cell cycle, DNA repair/replication, apoptosis, and autophagy were investigated by immunoblotting for key proteins involved. Cell cycle and apoptosis analysis were performed by flow cytometry. Reactive oxygen species level was also examined for identification of its role in apoptosis. Proliferation assay revealed that the addition of 5 µM GLB significantly sensitizes gastric cancer SGC-7901 cells to MMC, DDP, and CTX by decreasing half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC 50 ) by up to 75.40%±5%, 45.10%±5%, and 52.10%±5%, respectively. GLB + drugs decreased the expression level of proteins involved in proliferation and migration, suggesting the anticancer potential of GLB + drugs. GLB + MMC, GLB + CTX, and GLB + DDP arrest the cells in G 0 /G 1 and G 1 /S phase, respectively, which may be the consequence of significant decrease in the level of enzymes responsible for DNA replication and telomerase shortening. Combined use of GLB with these drugs also induces DNA damage and apoptosis by activating caspase/PARP pathways and increased production of reactive oxygen species and increased autophagy in GC cells. GLB dosage sensitizes GC cells to the alkylating agents via arresting the cell cycle and enhancing cell death. This is of significant therapeutic importance in the reduction of side effects associated with these drugs.

  1. NMR and computational methods applied to the 3- dimensional structure determination of DNA and ligand-DNA complexes in solution

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Smith, Jarrod Anson

    2D homonuclear 1H NMR methods and restrained molecular dynamics (rMD) calculations have been applied to determining the three-dimensional structures of DNA and minor groove-binding ligand-DNA complexes in solution. The structure of the DNA decamer sequence d(GCGTTAACGC)2 has been solved both with a distance-based rMD protocol and an NOE relaxation matrix backcalculation-based protocol in order to probe the relative merits of the different refinement methods. In addition, three minor groove binding ligand-DNA complexes have been examined. The solution structure of the oligosaccharide moiety of the antitumor DNA scission agent calicheamicin γ1I has been determined in complex with a decamer duplex containing its high affinity 5'-TCCT- 3' binding sequence. The structure of the complex reinforces the belief that the oligosaccharide moiety is responsible for the sequence selective minor-groove binding activity of the agent, and critical intermolecular contacts are revealed. The solution structures of both the (+) and (-) enantiomers of the minor groove binding DNA alkylating agent duocarmycin SA have been determined in covalent complex with the undecamer DNA duplex d(GACTAATTGTC).d(GAC AATTAGTC). The results support the proposal that the alkylation activity of the duocarmycin antitumor antibiotics is catalyzed by a binding-induced conformational change in the ligand which activates the cyclopropyl group for reaction with the DNA. Comparisons between the structures of the two enantiomers covalently bound to the same DNA sequence at the same 5'-AATTA-3 ' site have provided insight into the binding orientation and site selectivity, as well as the relative rates of reactivity of these two agents.

  2. APS8, a Polymeric Alkylpyridinium Salt Blocks α7 nAChR and Induces Apoptosis in Non-Small Cell Lung Carcinoma

    PubMed Central

    Zovko, Ana; Viktorsson, Kristina; Lewensohn, Rolf; Kološa, Katja; Filipič, Metka; Xing, Hong; Kem, William R.; Paleari, Laura; Turk, Tom

    2013-01-01

    Naturally occurring 3-alkylpyridinium polymers (poly-APS) from the marine sponge Reniera sarai, consisting of monomers containing polar pyridinium and nonpolar alkyl chain moieties, have been demonstrated to exert a wide range of biological activities, including a selective cytotoxicity against non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells. APS8, an analog of poly-APS with defined alkyl chain length and molecular size, non-competitively inhibits α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) at nanomolar concentrations that are too low to be acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory or generally cytotoxic. In the present study we show that APS8 inhibits NSCLC tumor cell growth and activates apoptotic pathways. APS8 was not toxic for normal lung fibroblasts. Furthermore, in NSCLC cells, APS8 reduced the adverse anti-apoptotic, proliferative effects of nicotine. Our results suggest that APS8 or similar compounds might be considered as lead compounds to develop antitumor therapeutic agents for at least certain types of lung cancer. PMID:23880932

  3. New Therapeutic Approaches for Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia

    PubMed Central

    Stedman, Jennifer; Roccaro, Aldo; Leleu, Xavier; Ghobrial, Irene M.

    2011-01-01

    Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia (WM) is a B-cell disorder characterized by the infiltration of the bone marrow (BM) with lymphoplasmacytic cells, as well as detection of an IgM monoclonal gammopathy in the serum. WM is an incurable disease, with an overall medial survival of only 5-6 years. First-line therapy of WM has been based on single-agent or combination therapy with alkylator agents (e.g. chlorambucil or cyclophasphamide), nucleoside analogues (cladribine or fludarabine), and the monoclonal antibody rituximab. Novel therapeutic agents that have demonstrated efficacy in WM include thalidomide, lenalidomide, bortezomib, everolimus, Atacicept, and perifosine. The range of the ORR to these agents is between 25-80%. Ongoing and planned future clinical trials include those using PKC inhibitors such as enzastaurin, new proteasome inhibitors such as carfilzomib, histone deacetylase inhibitors such as panobinostat, humanized CD20 antibodies such as Ofatumumab, and additional alkylating agents such as bendamustine. These agents, when compared to traditional chemotherapeutic agents, may lead in the future to higher responses, longer remissions and better quality of life for patients with WM. PMID:21869855

  4. Female cancer survivors exposed to alkylating-agent chemotherapy have unique reproductive hormone profiles.

    PubMed

    Johnson, Lauren; Sammel, Mary D; Schanne, Allison; Lechtenberg, Lara; Prewitt, Maureen; Gracia, Clarisa

    2016-12-01

    To evaluate reproductive hormone patterns in women exposed to alkylating-agent chemotherapy. Prospective cohort. University hospital. Normally menstruating mid-reproductive-age women (20-35 years old) who had previously been exposed to alkylating-agent chemotherapy for cancer treatment were compared with two healthy control populations: similarly-aged women and late-reproductive-age women (43-50 years old). Subjects collected daily urine samples for one cycle. Integrated urinary pregnanediol glucuronide (PDG) and estrone conjugate (E1c) and urinary excretion of gonadotropins (FSH and LH). Thirty-eight women (13 survivors, 11 same-age control subjects, 14 late-reproductive-age control subjects) provided 1,082 urine samples. Cycle length, luteal phase length, and evidence of luteal activity were similar among the groups. As expected, ovarian reserve was impaired in cancer survivors compared with same-age control subjects but similar between survivors and late-reproductive-age control subjects. In contrast, survivors had total and peak PDG levels that were similar to same-age control subjects and higher than those observed in late-reproductive-age control subjects. Survivors had higher E1c levels than both same-age and late-reproductive-age control subjects. There was no difference in urinary gonadotropins among the groups. Women exposed to alkylating agents have a unique reproductive hormone milieu that is not solely explained by age or ovarian reserve. The urinary hormone profile observed in survivors appears more similar to same-age control subjects than to late-reproductive-age women with similar ovarian reserve, which may suggest that age plays a more important role than ovarian reserve in the follicular dynamics of survivors. Copyright © 2016 American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Structure activity relationship of C-2 ether substituted 1,5-naphthyridine analogs of oxabicyclooctane-linked novel bacterial topoisomerase inhibitors as broad-spectrum antibacterial agents (Part-5).

    PubMed

    Singh, Sheo B; Kaelin, David E; Meinke, Peter T; Wu, Jin; Miesel, Lynn; Tan, Christopher M; Olsen, David B; Lagrutta, Armando; Fukuda, Hideyuki; Kishii, Ryuta; Takei, Masaya; Takeuchi, Tomoko; Takano, Hisashi; Ohata, Kohei; Kurasaki, Haruaki; Nishimura, Akinori; Shibata, Takeshi; Fukuda, Yasumichi

    2015-09-01

    Oxabicyclooctane linked novel bacterial topoisomerase inhibitors (NBTIs) are new class of recently reported broad-spectrum antibacterial agents. They target bacterial DNA gyrase and topoisomerase IV and bind to a site different than quinolones. They show no cross-resistance to known antibiotics and provide opportunity to combat drug-resistant bacteria. A structure activity relationship of the C-2 substituted ether analogs of 1,5-naphthyridine oxabicyclooctane-linked NBTIs are described. Synthesis and antibacterial activities of a total of 63 analogs have been summarized representing alkyl, cyclo alkyl, fluoro alkyl, hydroxy alkyl, amino alkyl, and carboxyl alkyl ethers. All compounds were tested against three key strains each of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria as well as for hERG binding activities. Many key compounds were also tested for the functional hERG activity. Six compounds were evaluated for efficacy in a murine bacteremia model of Staphylococcus aureus infection. Significant tolerance for the ether substitution (including polar groups such as amino and carboxyl) at C-2 was observed for S. aureus activity however the same was not true for Enterococcus faecium and Gram-negative strains. Reduced clogD generally showed reduced hERG activity and improved in vivo efficacy but was generally associated with decreased overall potency. One of the best compounds was hydroxy propyl ether (16), which mainly retained the potency, spectrum and in vivo efficacy of AM8085 associated with the decreased hERG activity and improved physical property. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Selected Alkylating Agents Can Overcome Drug Tolerance of G0-like Tumor Cells and Eradicate BRCA1-Deficient Mammary Tumors in Mice.

    PubMed

    Pajic, Marina; Blatter, Sohvi; Guyader, Charlotte; Gonggrijp, Maaike; Kersbergen, Ariena; Küçükosmanoğlu, Aslι; Sol, Wendy; Drost, Rinske; Jonkers, Jos; Borst, Piet; Rottenberg, Sven

    2017-11-15

    Purpose: We aimed to characterize and target drug-tolerant BRCA1-deficient tumor cells that cause residual disease and subsequent tumor relapse. Experimental Design: We studied responses to various mono- and bifunctional alkylating agents in a genetically engineered mouse model for BRCA1/p53 -mutant breast cancer. Because of the large intragenic deletion of the Brca1 gene, no restoration of BRCA1 function is possible, and therefore, no BRCA1-dependent acquired resistance occurs. To characterize the cell-cycle stage from which Brca1 -/- ;p53 -/- mammary tumors arise after cisplatin treatment, we introduced the fluorescent ubiquitination-based cell-cycle indicator (FUCCI) construct into the tumor cells. Results: Despite repeated sensitivity to the MTD of platinum drugs, the Brca1 -mutated mammary tumors are not eradicated, not even by a frequent dosing schedule. We show that relapse comes from single-nucleated cells delaying entry into the S-phase. Such slowly cycling cells, which are present within the drug-naïve tumors, are enriched in tumor remnants. Using the FUCCI construct, we identified nonfluorescent G 0 -like cells as the population most tolerant to platinum drugs. Intriguingly, these cells are more sensitive to the DNA-crosslinking agent nimustine, resulting in an increased number of multinucleated cells that lack clonogenicity. This is consistent with our in vivo finding that the nimustine MTD, among several alkylating agents, is the most effective in eradicating Brca1 -mutated mouse mammary tumors. Conclusions: Our data show that targeting G 0 -like cells is crucial for the eradication of BRCA1/p53-deficient tumor cells. This can be achieved with selected alkylating agents such as nimustine. Clin Cancer Res; 23(22); 7020-33. ©2017 AACR . ©2017 American Association for Cancer Research.

  7. Stability of solutions of antineoplastic agents during preparation and storage for in vitro assays. General considerations, the nitrosoureas and alkylating agents.

    PubMed

    Bosanquet, A G

    1985-01-01

    In vitro drug sensitivity of tumour biopsies is currently being determined using a variety of methods. For these chemosensitivity assays many drugs are required at short notice, and this in turn means that the drugs must generally be stored in solution. There are, however, a number of potential problems associated with dissolving and storing drugs for in vitro use, which include (a) drug adsorption; (b) effects of freezing; (c) drug stability under the normal conditions of dilution and setting up of an in vitro assay; and (d) insolubility of drugs in normal saline (NS) or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). These problems are considered in general, and some recommendations for use of solutions of drugs in in vitro assays are suggested. The nitrosoureas and alkylating agents are also investigated in greater detail in this respect. The nitrosoureas are found to be very labile in PBS at pH 7, with 5% degradation (t0.95) occurring in 10-50 min at room temperature. These values are increased about 10-fold on refrigeration and about 5- to 10-fold on reduction of the pH of the medium to pH 4-5. At pH 7 and room temperature, t0.95 is observed in under 1 h with the alkylating agents nitrogen mustard, chlorambucil, melphalan, 2,5-diaziridinyl-3,6-bis(2-hydroxyethylamino)-1,4-benzoquinone (BZQ), dibromodulcitol, dibromomannitol, treosulphan, and procarbazine. Of the other alkylating agents, 4-hydroperoxycylophosphamide (sometimes used in vitro in place of cyclophosphamide), busulphan, dianhydrogalactitol, aziridinylbenzoquinone (AZQ), and dacarbazine have a t0.95 of between 2 and 24 h, while ifosfamide and pentamethylmelamine are both stable in aqueous solution for greater than 7 days. About half the drugs studied in detail have been stored frozen in solution for in vitro use, although very little is known about their stability under these conditions.

  8. Regeneration of polyborazylene

    DOEpatents

    Davis, Benjamin L.; Gordon, John C.

    2010-12-07

    Method of producing ammonia borane, comprising providing polyborazylene; digesting the polyborazylene with a dithiol-containing agent to produce a boro-sulfide compound and a byproduct; converting the byproduct to the boro-sulfide product of step (b) by reaction with a first alkyl-tin hydride; and, converting the boro-sulfide compound produced in steps (b) and (c) to ammonia borane by reaction with a second alkyl-tin hydride.

  9. Method for producing hydrophobic aerogels

    DOEpatents

    Hrubesh, Lawrence W.; Poco, John F.; Coronado, Paul R.

    1999-01-01

    A method for treating a dried monolithic aerogel containing non-dispersed particles, with an organometallic surface modifying agent to produce hydrophobic aerogels. The dried, porous hydrophobic aerogels contain a protective layer of alkyl groups, such as methyl groups, on the modified surfaces of the pores of the aerogel. The alkyl groups at the aerogel surface typically contain at least one carbon-metal bond per group.

  10. Safety Assessment of Alkyl PEG Sulfosuccinates as Used in Cosmetics.

    PubMed

    Johnson, Wilbur; Heldreth, Bart; Bergfeld, Wilma F; Belsito, Donald V; Hill, Ronald A; Klaassen, Curtis D; Liebler, Daniel C; Marks, James G; Shank, Ronald C; Slaga, Thomas J; Snyder, Paul W; Andersen, F Alan

    2015-09-01

    The Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) Expert Panel (Panel) reviewed the safety of alkyl polyethylene glycol (PEG) sulfosuccinates, which function in cosmetics mostly as surfactants/cleansing agents. Although these ingredients may cause ocular and skin irritation, dermal penetration is unlikely because of the substantial polarity and molecular size of these ingredients. The Panel considered the negative oral carcinogenicity and reproductive and developmental toxicity data on chemically related laureths (PEG lauryl ethers) and negative repeated dose toxicity and skin sensitization data on disodium laureth sulfosuccinate supported the safety of these alkyl PEG sulfosuccinates in cosmetic products, but. The CIR Expert Panel concluded that the alkyl PEG sulfosuccinates are safe in the present practices of use and concentration when formulated to be nonirritating. © The Author(s) 2015.

  11. Hybrid ligand-alkylating agents targeting telomeric G-quadruplex structures.

    PubMed

    Doria, Filippo; Nadai, Matteo; Folini, Marco; Di Antonio, Marco; Germani, Luca; Percivalle, Claudia; Sissi, Claudia; Zaffaroni, Nadia; Alcaro, Stefano; Artese, Anna; Richter, Sara N; Freccero, Mauro

    2012-04-14

    The synthesis, physico-chemical properties and biological effects of a new class of naphthalene diimides (NDIs) capable of reversibly binding telomeric DNA and alkylate it through an electrophilic quinone methide moiety (QM), are reported. FRET and circular dichroism assays showed a marked stabilization and selectivity towards telomeric G4 DNA folded in a hybrid topology. NDI-QMs' alkylating properties revealed a good reactivity on single nucleosides and selectivity towards telomeric G4. A selected NDI was able to significantly impair the growth of melanoma cells by causing telomere dysfunction and down-regulation of telomerase expression. These findings points to our hybrid ligand-alkylating NDIs as possible tools for the development of novel targeted anticancer therapies. This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2012

  12. Sensitization to radiation and alkylating agents by inhibitors of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase is enhanced in cells deficient in DNA double-strand break repair.

    PubMed

    Löser, Dana A; Shibata, Atsushi; Shibata, Akiko K; Woodbine, Lisa J; Jeggo, Penny A; Chalmers, Anthony J

    2010-06-01

    As single agents, chemical inhibitors of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) are nontoxic and have clinical efficacy against BRCA1- and BRCA2-deficient tumors. PARP inhibitors also enhance the cytotoxicity of ionizing radiation and alkylating agents but will only improve clinical outcomes if tumor sensitization exceeds effects on normal tissues. It is unclear how tumor DNA repair proficiency affects the degree of sensitization. We have previously shown that the radiosensitizing effect of PARP inhibition requires DNA replication and will therefore affect rapidly proliferating tumors more than normal tissues. Because many tumors exhibit defective DNA repair, we investigated the impact of double-strand break (DSB) repair integrity on the sensitizing effects of the PARP inhibitor olaparib. Sensitization to ionizing radiation and the alkylating agent methylmethane sulfonate was enhanced in DSB repair-deficient cells. In Artemis(-/-) and ATM(-/-) mouse embryo fibroblasts, sensitization was replication dependent and associated with defective repair of replication-associated damage. Radiosensitization of Ligase IV(-/-) mouse embryo fibroblasts was independent of DNA replication and is explained by inhibition of "alternative" end joining. After methylmethane sulfonate treatment, PARP inhibition promoted replication-independent accumulation of DSB, repair of which required Ligase IV. Our findings predict that the sensitizing effects of PARP inhibitors will be more pronounced in rapidly dividing and/or DNA repair defective tumors than normal tissues and show their potential to enhance the therapeutic ratio achieved by conventional DNA-damaging agents.

  13. Gonadal Mosaicism Induced by Chemical Treatment of Sperm in Drosophila melanogaster

    PubMed Central

    Lindsley, Dan L.; Hardy, Robert W.; Ripoll, Pedro; Lindsley, Dart

    2016-01-01

    Accurate interpretation of forward genetic screens of chromosomes exposed in mature spermatozoa to a mutagenic chemical requires understanding—incomplete to date—of how exposed chromosomes and their replicas proceed through early development stages from the fertilized ovum to establishment of the germline of the treated male’s offspring. We describe a model for early embryonic development and establishment of the germline of Drosophila melanogaster and a model-validating experiment. Our model proposes that, barring repair, DNA strands modified by treatment with alkylating agents are stable and mutagenic. Each replication of an alkylated strand can result in misreplication and a mutant-bearing daughter nucleus. Daughter nuclei thenceforth replicate faithfully and their descendants comprise the embryonic syncytium. Of the 256 nuclei present after the eighth division, several migrate into the polar plasm at the posterior end of the embryo to found the germline. Based upon distribution of descendants of the alkylated strands, the misreplication rate, and the number of nuclei selected as germline progenitors, the frequency of gonadal mosaicism is predictable. Experimentally, we tracked chromosomes 2 and 3 from EMS-treated sperm through a number of generations, to characterize autosomal recessive lethal mutations and infer gonadal genetic content of the sons of treated males. Over 50% of 106 sons bore germlines that were singly, doubly, or triply mosaic for chromosome 2 or chromosome 3. These findings were consistent with our model, assuming a rate of misreplication between 0.65 and 0.80 at each replication of an alkylated strand. Crossing treated males to mismatch-repair-deficient females had no apparent effect on mutation rate. PMID:26163187

  14. Design and synthesis of 2-nitroimidazoles with variable alkylating and acylating functionality.

    PubMed

    Winters, Thomas; Sercel, Anthony; Suto, Carla; Elliott, William; Leopold, Wilbur; Leopold, Judith; Showalter, Hollis

    2014-01-01

    The synthesis of a small series of 2-nitroimidazoles in which the β-amino alcohol side chain was amidated with a range of alkylating/acylating functionality is described. Synthetic methodologies were developed that generally provided for selective N-acyl versus N,O-bisacyl products. In vitro, target analogs showed minimal radiosensitization activity, with only a few exhibiting a sensitizer enhancement ratio (SER) >2.0 and C(1.6) values comparable to reference agents RB-6145 and RSU-1069. In an assay to determine potential to alkylate biomolecules, representative analogs showed <1% of the alkylating activity of RSU-1069. In vivo, one analog showed an enhancement ratio of 1.6 relative to vehicle control when tested in B6C3F1 mice with an implanted KHT sarcoma. The data reinforce prior findings that there is a correlation between alkylation potential and in vivo activity.

  15. Cumulative alkylating agent exposure and semen parameters in adult survivors of childhood cancer: a report from the St Jude Lifetime Cohort Study.

    PubMed

    Green, Daniel M; Liu, Wei; Kutteh, William H; Ke, Raymond W; Shelton, Kyla C; Sklar, Charles A; Chemaitilly, Wassim; Pui, Ching-Hon; Klosky, James L; Spunt, Sheri L; Metzger, Monika L; Srivastava, DeoKumar; Ness, Kirsten K; Robison, Leslie L; Hudson, Melissa M

    2014-10-01

    Few data define the dose-specific relation between alkylating agent exposure and semen variables in adult survivors of childhood cancer. We undertook this study to test the hypothesis that increased exposure to alkylating agents would be associated with decreased sperm concentration in a cohort of adult male survivors of childhood cancer who were not exposed to radiation therapy for their childhood cancer. We did semen analysis on 214 adult male survivors of childhood cancer (median age 7·7 years [range 0·01-20·3] at diagnosis, 29·0 years [18·4-56·1] at assessment, and a median of 21·0 years [10·5-41·6] since diagnosis) who had received alkylating agent chemotherapy but no radiation therapy. Alkylating agent exposure was estimated using the cyclophosphamide equivalent dose (CED). Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs for oligospermia (sperm concentration >0 and <15 million per mL) and azoospermia were calculated with logistic regression modelling. Azoospermia was noted in 53 (25%) of 214 participants, oligospermia in 59 (28%), and normospermia (sperm concentration ≥15 million per mL) in 102 (48%) participants. 31 (89%) of 35 participants who received CED less than 4000 mg/m(2) were normospermic. CED was negatively correlated with sperm concentration (correlation coefficient=-0·37, p<0·0001). Mean CED was 10 830 mg/m(2) (SD 7274) in patients with azoospermia, 8480 mg/m(2) (4264) in patients with oligospermia, and 6626 mg/m(2) (3576) in patients with normospermia. In multivariable analysis, CED was significantly associated with an increased risk per 1000 mg/m(2) CED for azoospermia (OR 1·22, 95% CI 1·11-1·34), and for oligospermia (1·14, 1·04-1·25), but age at diagnosis and age at assessment were not. Impaired spermatogenesis was unlikely when the CED was less than 4000 mg/m(2). Although sperm concentration decreases with increasing CED, there was substantial overlap of CED associated with normospermia, oligospermia, and azoospermia. These data can inform pretreatment patient counselling and use of fertility preservation services. US National Cancer Institute, American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Alkyl phospholipid antihypertensive agents in method of lowering blood pressure

    DOEpatents

    Snyder, Fred L.; Blank, Merle L.; Muirhead, Ernest E.; Leach, deceased, Byron E.; Byers, Lawrence W.

    1988-01-01

    The composition of this invention is 1-O-alkyl-2-acetoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine, having the ionic structural formula; ##STR1## wherein R is saturated alkyl having 9-21 carbon atoms, or salts or hydrates of the composition. Preferably R has 13-19 carbon atoms and most preferably R has 15 carbon atoms. The composition of this invention is useful for reducing hypertension in warm-blooded animals, including humans, when administered either orally or by injection or innoculation, e.g., intravenous injection. The composition can be prepared from naturally occurring lipids or synthetically from commercially available material.

  17. DNA Repair Modulates The Vulnerability of The Developing Brain to Alkylating Agents

    PubMed Central

    Kisby, G.E.; Olivas, A.; Park, T.; Churchwell, M.; Doerge, D.; Samson, L. D.; Gerson, S.L.; Turker, M.S.

    2009-01-01

    Neurons of the developing brain are especially vulnerable to environmental agents that damage DNA (i.e., genotoxicants), but the mechanism is poorly understood. The focus of the present study is to demonstrate that DNA damage plays a key role in disrupting neurodevelopment. To examine this hypothesis, we compared the cytotoxic and DNA damaging properties of the methylating agents methylazoxymethanol (MAM) and dimethyl sulfate (DMS) and the mono- and bifunctional alkylating agents chloroethylamine (CEA) and nitrogen mustard (HN2), in granule cell neurons derived from the cerebellum of neonatal wild type mice and three transgenic DNA repair strains. Wild type cerebellar neurons were significantly more sensitive to the alkylating agents DMS and HN2 than neuronal cultures treated with MAM or the half-mustard CEA. Parallel studies with neuronal cultures from mice deficient in alkylguanine DNA glycosylase (Aag-/-) or O6-methylguanine methyltransferase (Mgmt-/-), revealed significant differences in the sensitivity of neurons to all four genotoxicants. Mgmt-/- neurons were more sensitive to MAM and HN2 than the other genotoxicants and wild type neurons treated with either alkylating agent. In contrast, Aag-/- neurons were for the most part significantly less sensitive than wild type or Mgmt-/- neurons to MAM and HN2. Aag-/- neurons were also significantly less sensitive than wild type neurons treated with either DMS or CEA. Granule cell development and motor function were also more severely disturbed by MAM and HN2 in Mgmt-/- mice than in comparably treated wild type mice. In contrast, cerebellar development and motor function were well preserved in MAM treated Aag-/- or MGMT overexpressing (MgmtTg+) mice, even as compared with wild type mice suggesting that AAG protein increases MAM toxicity, whereas MGMT protein decreases toxicity. Surprisingly, neuronal development and motor function were severely disturbed in MgmtTg+ mice treated with HN2. Collectively, these in vitro and in vivo studies demonstrate that the type of DNA lesion and the efficiency of DNA repair are two important factors that determine the vulnerability of the developing brain to long-term injury by a genotoxicant. PMID:19162564

  18. Synthesis and biological activity of mustard derivatives of thymine.

    PubMed

    Hadj-Bouazza, Amel; Teste, Karine; Colombeau, Ludovic; Chaleix, Vincent; Zerrouki, Rachida; Kraemer, Michel; Sainte Catherine, Odile

    2008-05-01

    The synthesis and biological activity of a novel DNA cross-linking antitumor agent is presented. The new alkylating agent significantly inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion as tested in vitro on the A431 vulvar epidermal carcinoma cell line.

  19. New insights into estrogenic regulation of O6-methylguanine DNA-methyltransferase (MGMT) in human breast cancer cells: Co-degradation of ER-α and MGMT proteins by fulvestrant or O6-benzylguanine indicates fresh avenues for therapy.

    PubMed

    Paranjpe, Ameya; Bailey, Nathan I; Konduri, Santhi; Bobustuc, George C; Ali-Osman, Francis; Yusuf, Mohd A; Punganuru, Surendra R; Madala, Hanumantha Rao; Basak, Debasish; Mostofa, Agm; Srivenugopal, Kalkunte S

    2016-09-01

    Endocrine therapy using estrogen receptor-α (ER-α) antagonists for attenuating horm2one-driven cell proliferation is a major treatment modality for breast cancers. To exploit any DNA repair deficiencies associated with endocrine therapy, we investigated the functional and physical interactions of ER-α with O 6 -methylguanine DNA methyltransferase (MGMT), a unique DNA repair protein that confers tumor resistance to various anticancer alkylating agents. The ER-α -positive breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7, T47D) and ER- negative cell lines (MDAMB-468, MDAMB-231), and established inhibitors of ER-α and MGMT, namely, ICI-182,780 (Faslodex) and O 6 -benzylguanine, respectively, were used to study MGMT- ER interactions. The MGMT gene promoter was found to harbor one full and two half estrogen-responsive elements (EREs) and two antioxidant-responsive elements (AREs). MGMT expression was upregulated by estrogen, downregulated by tamoxifen in Western blot and promoter-linked reporter assays. Similarly, both transient and stable transfections of Nrf-2 (nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor-2) increased the levels of MGMT protein and activity 3 to 4-fold reflecting novel regulatory nodes for this drug-resistance determinant. Of the different ER-α antagonists tested, the pure anti-estrogen fulvestrant was most potent in inhibiting the MGMT activity in a dose, time and ER-α dependent manner, similar to O 6 -benzylguanine. Interestingly, fulvestrant exposure led to a degradation of both ER-α and MGMT proteins and O 6 -benzylguanine also induced a specific loss of ER-α and MGMT proteins in MCF-7 and T47D breast cancer cells with similar kinetics. Immunoprecipitation revealed a specific association of ER-α and MGMT proteins in breast cancer cells. Furthermore, silencing of MGMT gene expression triggered a decrease in the levels of both MGMT and ER-α proteins. The involvement of proteasome in the drug-induced degradation of both proteins was also demonstrated. Fulvestrant enhanced the cytotoxicity of MGMT-targeted alkylating agents, namely, temozolomide and BCNU by 3 to 4-fold in ER-α positive cells, but not in ER-negative cells. We conclude that MGMT and ER-α proteins exist as a complex and are co-targeted for ubiquitin-conjugation and subsequent proteasomal degradation. The findings offer a clear rationale for combining alkylating agents with endocrine therapy. © 2016 the Journal of Biomedical Research. All rights reserved.

  20. Xrcc2 deficiency sensitizes cells to apoptosis by MNNG and the alkylating anticancer drugs temozolomide, fotemustine and mafosfamide.

    PubMed

    Tsaryk, Roman; Fabian, Kerstin; Thacker, John; Kaina, Bernd

    2006-08-08

    DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are potent killing lesions, and inefficient repair of DSBs does not only lead to cell death but also to genomic instability and tumorigenesis. DSBs are repaired by non-homologous end-joining and homologous recombination (HR). A key player in HR is Xrcc2, a Rad51-like protein. Cells deficient in Xrcc2 are hypersensitive to X-rays and mitomycin C and display increased chromosomal aberration frequencies. In order to elucidate the role of Xrcc2 in resistance to anticancer drugs, we compared Xrcc2 knockout (Xrcc2-/-) mouse embryonic fibroblasts with the corresponding isogenic wild-type and Xrcc2 complemented knockout cells. We show that Xrcc2-/- cells are hypersensitive to the killing effect of the simple methylating agent N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG). They undergo apoptosis after MNNG treatment while necrosis is only marginally enhanced. Complementation of Xrcc2 deficient cells by Xrcc2 cDNA transfection conferred resistance to the cytotoxic and apoptosis-inducing effect of MNNG. The hypersensitivity of Xrcc2-/- cells to MNNG prompted us to investigate their killing and apoptotic response to various methylating, chloroethylating and crosslinking drugs used in anticancer therapy. Xrcc2 deficient cells were found to be hypersensitive to temozolomide, fotemustine and mafosfamide. They were also hypersensitive to cisplatin but not to taxol. The data reveal that Xrcc2 plays a role in the protection against a wide range of anticancer drugs and, therefore, suggest Xrcc2 to be a determinant of anticancer drug resistance. They also indicate that HR is involved in the processing of DNA damage induced by simple alkylating agents.

  1. Investigation of J-shaped dose-responses induced by exposure to the alkylating agent N-methyl-N-nitrosourea.

    PubMed

    Chapman, Katherine E; Hoffmann, George R; Doak, Shareen H; Jenkins, Gareth J S

    2017-07-01

    Hormesis is defined as a biphasic dose-response where biological effects of low doses of a stressor demonstrate the opposite effect to high-dose effects of the same stressor. Hormetic, or J-shaped, dose-response relationships are relatively rarely observed in toxicology, resulting in a limited understanding and even some skepticism of the concept. Low dose-response studies for genotoxicity endpoints have been performed at Swansea University for over a decade. However, no statistically significant decreases below control genotoxicity levels have been detected until recently. A hormetic-style dose-response following a 24h exposure to the alkylating agent N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) was observed in a previous study for HPRT mutagenesis in the human lymphoblastoid cell line AHH-1. A second recent study demonstrated a J-shaped dose-response for the induction of micronuclei by MNU in a 24h treatment in a similar test system. Following mechanistic investigations, it was hypothesized that p53 may be responsible for the observed hormetic phenomenon. As genotoxic carcinogens are a major causative factor of many cancers, consideration of hormesis in carcinogenesis could be important in safety assessment. The data examined here offer possible insights into hormesis, including its estimated prevalence, underlying mechanisms and lack of generalizability. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. Stereospecific Nickel-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling Reactions of Alkyl Grignard Reagents and Identification of Selective Anti-Breast Cancer Agents**

    PubMed Central

    Osborne, Charlotte A.; Moore, Curtis E.; Morrissette, Naomi S.; Jarvo, Elizabeth R.

    2014-01-01

    β-Hydrogen-containing alkyl Grignard reagents were used in a stereospecific nickel-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction to form sp3–sp3 carbon–carbon bonds. Aryl Grignard reagents were also utilized to synthesize 1,1-diarylalkanes. Several compounds synthesized by this method exhibited selective inhibition of proliferation of MCF-7 breast cancer cells. PMID:24478275

  3. ALKYL PYROPHOSPHATE METAL SOLVENT EXTRACTANTS AND PROCESS

    DOEpatents

    Long, R.L.

    1958-09-30

    A process is presented for the recovery of uranium from aqueous mineral acidic solutions by solvent extraction. The extractant is a synmmetrical dialkyl pyrophosphate in which the alkyl substituents have a chain length of from 4 to 17 carbon atoms. Mentioned as a preferred extractant is dioctyl pyrophosphate. The uranium is precipitated irom the organic extractant phase with an agent such as HF, fluoride salts. alcohol, or ammonia.

  4. DNA injection and genetic recombination of alkylated bacteriophage T7 in the presence of nalidixic acid.

    PubMed Central

    Karska-Wysocki, B; Mamet-Bratley, M D; Przewlocki, G

    1977-01-01

    Marker rescue experiments with alkylated T7 bacteriophage carried out in the presence and in the absence of nalidixic acid suggest that the gradient in rescue is due to two alkylation-induced causes: a DNA injection defect and an interference with DNA synthesis. PMID:916036

  5. Synthesis and serotonin transporter activity of sulphur-substituted alpha-alkyl phenethylamines as a new class of anticancer agents.

    PubMed

    Cloonan, Suzanne M; Keating, John J; Butler, Stephen G; Knox, Andrew J S; Jørgensen, Anne M; Peters, Günther H; Rai, Dilip; Corrigan, Desmond; Lloyd, David G; Williams, D Clive; Meegan, Mary J

    2009-12-01

    The discovery that some serotonin reuptake transporter (SERT) ligands have the potential to act as pro-apoptotic agents in the treatment of cancer adds greatly to their diverse pharmacological application. 4-Methylthioamphetamine (MTA) is a selective ligand for SERT over other monoamine transporters. In this study, a novel library of structurally diverse 4-MTA analogues were synthesised with or without N-alkyl and/or C-alpha methyl or ethyl groups so that their potential SERT-dependent antiproliferative activity could be assessed. Many of the compounds displayed SERT-binding activity as well as cytotoxic activity. While there was no direct correlation between these two effects, a number of derivatives displayed anti-tumour effects in lymphoma, leukaemia and breast cancer cell lines, showing further potential to be developed as possible chemotherapeutic agents.

  6. O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase activity is associated with response to alkylating agent therapy and with MGMT promoter methylation in glioblastoma and anaplastic glioma

    PubMed Central

    Bobola, Michael S.; Alnoor, Mohammad; Chen, John Y.-S.; Kolstoe, Douglas D.; Silbergeld, Daniel L.; Rostomily, Robert C.; Blank, A.; Chamberlain, Marc C.; Silber, John R.

    2014-01-01

    Background CpG methylation in the O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter is associated with better outcome following alkylating agent chemotherapy in glioblastoma (GBM) and anaplastic glioma (AG). To what extent improved response reflects low or absent MGMT activity in glioma tissue has not been unequivocally assessed. This information is central to developing anti-resistance therapies. Methods We examined the relationship of MGMT activity in 91 GBMs and 84 AGs with progression-free survival (PFS) following alkylator therapy and with promoter methylation status determined by methylation-specific PCR (MSP). Results Cox regression analysis revealed that GBMs with high activity had a significantly greater risk for progression in dichotomous (P ≤ 0.001) and continuous (P ≤ 0.003) models, an association observed for different alkylator regimens, including concurrent chemo-radiation with temozolomide. Analysis of MGMT promoter methylation status in 47 of the GBMs revealed that methylated tumors had significantly lower activity (P ≤ 0.005) and longer PFS (P ≤ 0.036) compared to unmethylated tumors, despite overlapping activities. PFS was also significantly greater in methylated vs. unmethylated GBMs with comparable activity (P ≤ 0.005), and among unmethylated tumors with less than median activity (P ≤ 0.026), suggesting that mechanisms in addition to MGMT promote alkylator resistance. Similar associations of MGMT activity with PFS and promoter methylation status were observed for AGs. Conclusions Our results provide strong support for the hypotheses that MGMT activity promotes alkylator resistance and reflects promoter methylation status in malignant gliomas. General significance MGMT activity is an attractive target for anti-resistance therapy regardless of methylation status. PMID:25558448

  7. 4-Alkylated homoibotenic acid (HIBO) analogues: versatile pharmacological agents with diverse selectivity profiles towards metabotropic and ionotropic glutamate receptor subtypes.

    PubMed

    Madsen, Ulf; Pickering, Darryl S; Nielsen, Birgitte; Bräuner-Osborne, Hans

    2005-01-01

    4-Alkylated analogues of homoibotenic acid (HIBO) have previously shown high potency and selectivity at ionotropic and metabotropic glutamic acid receptor (iGluR and mGluR) subtypes. Compounds with different selectivity profiles are valuable pharmacological tools for neuropharmacological studies, and the series of 4-alkyl-HIBO analogues have been extended in this paper in the search for versatile agents. Pharmacological characterization of five new analogues, branched and unbranched 4-alkyl-HIBO analogues, have been carried out. The present compounds are all weak antagonists at Group I mGluRs (mGluR1 and 5) presenting only small differences in potencies (Ki values ranging from 89 to 670 microM). Affinities were studied at native and cloned iGluRs, and the compounds described show preference for the AMPA receptor subtypes GluR1 and 2 over GluR3 and 4. However, compared to previous 4-alkyl-HIBO analogues, these compounds show a remarkably high affinity for the Kain preferring subtype GluR5. The observed GluR5 affinities were either similar or higher compared to their GluR1 and 2 affinity. Isopropyl-HIBO showed the highest affinity for GluR5 (Ki=0.16 microM), and represents a unique compound with high affinity towards the three subtypes GluR1, 2 and 5. In general, these compounds represent new selectivity profiles compared to previously reported Glu receptor analogues.

  8. A comparative study on cytogenetic and antineoplastic effects induced by two modified steroidal alkylating agents.

    PubMed

    Papageorgiou, A; Tsavdaridis, D; Geromichalos, G D; Camoutsis, C; Karaberis, E; Mourelatos, D; Chrysogelou, E; Houvartas, S; Kotsis, A

    2001-01-01

    We investigated the effects of two newly synthesized steroidal derivatives of nitrogen mustard on sister chromatid exchange rates and on human lymphocyte proliferation kinetics. The compound 33-hydroxy-5alpha,22alpha-spirostan- 12-one-p-(N,N-bis(2-chloroethyl)amino)phenylacetate(1) was, on a molar basis, less effective in inducing sister chromatid exchange and suppressing cell proliferation rate indices than compound 3beta-hydroxy-12alpha-aza-C-homo-5alpha,22alpha-spirostan-12-one-p-(N,N-bis(2-chloroethyl)amino)phenylacetate(2). A correlation was observed between the magnitude of the sister chromatid exchange response and the depression of cell proliferation index. We also studied the effects of the aforementioned compounds on Lewis lung carcinoma. The order of the percent inhibition of tumor growth achieved by the compounds coincides with the order of the cytogenetic effects they induce.

  9. Dynamic adsorption properties of n-alkyl glucopyranosides determine their ability to inhibit cytolysis mediated by acoustic cavitation.

    PubMed

    Sostaric, Joe Z; Miyoshi, Norio; Cheng, Jason Y; Riesz, Peter

    2008-10-09

    Suspensions of human leukemia (HL-60) cells readily undergo cytolysis when exposed to ultrasound above the acoustic cavitation threshold. However, n-alkyl glucopyranosides (hexyl, heptyl, and octyl) completely inhibit ultrasound-induced (1057 kHz) cytolysis (Sostaric, et al. Free Radical Biol. Med. 2005, 39, 1539-1548). The efficacy of protection from ultrasound-induced cytolysis was determined by the n-alkyl chain length of the glucopyranosides, indicating that protection efficacy depended on adsorption of n-alkyl glucopyranosides to the gas/solution interface of cavitation bubbles and/or the lipid membrane of cells. The current study tests the hypothesis that "sonoprotection" (i.e., protection of cells from ultrasound-induced cytolysis) in vitro depends on the adsorption of glucopyranosides at the gas/solution interface of cavitation bubbles. To test this hypothesis, the effect of ultrasound frequency (from 42 kHz to 1 MHz) on the ability of a homologous series of n-alkyl glucopyranosides to protect cells from ultrasound-induced cytolysis was investigated. It is expected that ultrasound frequency will affect sonoprotection ability since the nature of the cavitation bubble field will change. This will affect the relative importance of the possible mechanisms for ultrasound-induced cytolysis. Additionally, ultrasound frequency will affect the lifetime and rate of change of the surface area of cavitation bubbles, hence the dynamically controlled adsorption of glucopyranosides to their surface. The data support the hypothesis that sonoprotection efficiency depends on the ability of glucopyranosides to adsorb at the gas/solution interface of cavitation bubbles.

  10. Spectroscopic studies of STZ-induced methylated-DNA in both in vivo and in vitro conditions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bathaie, S. Z.; Sedghgoo, F.; Jafarnejad, A.; Farzami, B.; Khayatian, M.

    2008-12-01

    Alkylating agents after formation of DNA adduct not only posses their harmful role on living cells but also can transfer this information to the next generation. Different techniques have been introduced to study the alkylated DNA, most of which are specific and designed for investigation of specific target DNA. But the exact differences between spectroscopic and functional properties of alkylated DNA are not seen in the literature. In the present study DNA was methylated using streptozotocin (STZ) by both in vitro and in vivo protocols, then methylated-DNA was investigated by various techniques. Our results show that (1) the binding of ethidium bromide as an intercalating dye decreases to methylated-DNA in comparison with normal DNA, (2) CD spectra of methylated-DNA show changes including a decrease in the positive band at 275 nm and a shift from 258 nm crossover to a longer wavelength, which is caused by reduction of water around it, due to the presence of additional hydrophobic methyl groups, (3) the stability of methylated-DNA against DTAB as a denaturant is decreased and (4) the enzyme-like activity of methylated-DNA in an electron transfer reaction is reduced. In conclusion, additional methyl groups not only protrude water around DNA, but also cause the loss of hydrogen bonding, loosening of conformation, preventing desired interactions and thus normal function of DNA.

  11. Genome-wide maps of alkylation damage, repair, and mutagenesis in yeast reveal mechanisms of mutational heterogeneity.

    PubMed

    Mao, Peng; Brown, Alexander J; Malc, Ewa P; Mieczkowski, Piotr A; Smerdon, Michael J; Roberts, Steven A; Wyrick, John J

    2017-10-01

    DNA base damage is an important contributor to genome instability, but how the formation and repair of these lesions is affected by the genomic landscape and contributes to mutagenesis is unknown. Here, we describe genome-wide maps of DNA base damage, repair, and mutagenesis at single nucleotide resolution in yeast treated with the alkylating agent methyl methanesulfonate (MMS). Analysis of these maps revealed that base excision repair (BER) of alkylation damage is significantly modulated by chromatin, with faster repair in nucleosome-depleted regions, and slower repair and higher mutation density within strongly positioned nucleosomes. Both the translational and rotational settings of lesions within nucleosomes significantly influence BER efficiency; moreover, this effect is asymmetric relative to the nucleosome dyad axis and is regulated by histone modifications. Our data also indicate that MMS-induced mutations at adenine nucleotides are significantly enriched on the nontranscribed strand (NTS) of yeast genes, particularly in BER-deficient strains, due to higher damage formation on the NTS and transcription-coupled repair of the transcribed strand (TS). These findings reveal the influence of chromatin on repair and mutagenesis of base lesions on a genome-wide scale and suggest a novel mechanism for transcription-associated mutation asymmetry, which is frequently observed in human cancers. © 2017 Mao et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

  12. Isomeric Detergent Comparison for Membrane Protein Stability: Importance of Inter-Alkyl-Chain Distance and Alkyl Chain Length

    PubMed Central

    Cho, Kyung Ho; Hariharan, Parameswaran; Mortensen, Jonas S.; Du, Yang; Nielsen, Anne K.; Byrne, Bernadette; Kobilka, Brian K.; Loland, Claus J.; Guan, Lan

    2017-01-01

    Membrane proteins encapsulated by detergent micelles are widely used for structural study. Because of their amphipathic property, detergents have the ability to maintain protein solubility and stability in an aqueous medium. However, conventional detergents have serious limitations in their scope and utility, particularly for eukaryotic membrane proteins and membrane protein complexes. Thus, a number of new agents have been devised; some have made significant contributions to membrane protein structural studies. However, few detergent design principles are available. In this study, we prepared meta and ortho isomers of the previously reported para-substituted xylene-linked maltoside amphiphiles (XMAs), along with alkyl chain-length variation. The isomeric XMAs were assessed with three membrane proteins, and the meta isomer with a C12 alkyl chain was most effective at maintaining solubility/stability of the membrane proteins. We propose that interplay between the hydrophile–lipophile balance (HLB) and alkyl chain length is of central importance for high detergent efficacy. In addition, differences in inter-alkyl-chain distance between the isomers influence the ability of the detergents to stabilise membrane proteins. PMID:27981750

  13. Case report of a KIT-mutated melanoma patient with an excellent response to apatinib and temozolomide combination therapy.

    PubMed

    Luo, Cong; Shen, Jiayu; Ying, Jieer; Fang, Xianhua; Wang, Xiaohong; Fu, Zhixuan; Liu, Peng

    2017-01-01

    Malignant melanoma is one kind of malignant disease which has high rates of mortality, metastasis, and poor prognosis. The therapeutic landscape is rapidly changing with the development of novel agents in recent decades, such as anti-PD-1 agents, anti-CTLA-4 agents, and BRAF inhibitors. However, since most of these novel agents are very expensive, not all patients can afford them. Apatinib is a novel oral small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor targeting the intracellular domain of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR-2) and may also be effective on Ret, c-KIT, and c-src. Temozolomide (TMZ) is a second-generation alkylating agent and a cytotoxic drug for melanoma treatment. In this work, we reported a case of metastatic melanoma with an excellent response to apatinib/TMZ combination therapy with progression-free survival for more than one year. This patient showed high expression of CD117, VEGFR-3, and KIT mutation in exon 11, suggesting that apatinib may induce clinical response via inhibiting VEGFR and c-KIT. Apatinib/TMZ combination therapy could be a new option for the treatment of advanced melanoma with KIT mutation.

  14. Induction of mutagenesis and transformation in BALB/c-3T3 clone A31-1 cells by diverse chemical carcinogens

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Lubet, R.A.; Kouri, R.E.; Curren, R.A.

    1990-01-01

    BALB/c-3T3 cells were employed to examine the genotoxic potential of a variety of known chemical carcinogens. BALB/c-3T3 cells displayed a dose-dependent transformation response to a variety of carcinogens (polycyclic hydrocarbons, methylating agents, ethylating agents, aflatoxin B{sub 1} (AFT{sub 1}), and 4-nitroquinoline-N-oxide (4-NQO)). When the ability of these compounds to induce mutagenesis to resistance to the cardiac glycoside ouabain (OUA{sup R}) was examined, the authors found the short chain alkylating agents to be particularly effective mutagens, causing biologic effects at doses below those necessary to induce a transformation response. In contrast, the polycyclic hydrocarbons which were potent transforming agents were weaker,more » albeit significant, mutagens for the OUA{sup R} locus in this system, while AFB{sub 1} was quite weak. Further studies were performed with 5-azacytidine (5-AZA) and the nongenotoxic carcinogen cinnamyl anthranilate (CIN). 5-AZA was a potent transforming agent, but failed to cause mutagenesis. CIN similarly caused in vitro transformation. When a series of eight structurally diverse compounds were examined in both the BALB/c-3T3 and C3H10T1/2 mouse fibroblast transformation systems, the BALB/c-3T3 system was shown to be sensitive to a wide variety of potential carcinogens, whereas the C3H10T1/2 system proved routinely sensitive only to the polycyclic hydrocarbons.« less

  15. Mechanism of the protective effects of long chain n-alkyl glucopyranosides against ultrasound-induced cytolysis of HL-60 cells.

    PubMed

    Cheng, Jason Y; Riesz, Peter

    2007-07-01

    Recently it has been shown that long chain (C5-C8) n-alkyl glucopyranosides completely inhibit ultrasound-induced cytolysis [J.Z. Sostaric, N. Miyoshi, P. Riesz, W.G. DeGraff, and J.B. Mitchell, Free Radical Biol. Med., 39 (2005) 1539]. This protective effect has possible applications in HIFU (high intensity focused ultrasound) for tumor treatment, and in ultrasound assisted drug delivery and gene therapy. n-Alkyl glucopyranosides with hexyl (5mM), heptyl (3mM), octyl (2mM) n-alkyl chains protected 100% of HL-60 cells in vitro from 1.057 MHz ultrasound-induced cytolysis under a range of conditions that resulted in 35-100% cytolysis in the absence of glucopyranosides. However the hydrophilic methyl-beta-d-glucopyranoside did not protect cells. The surface active n-alkyl glucopyranosides accumulate at the gas-liquid interface of cavitation bubbles. The OH radicals and H atoms formed in collapsing cavitation bubbles react by H-atom abstraction from either the n-alkyl chain or the glucose moiety of the n-alkyl glucopyranosides. Owing to the high concentration of the long chain surfactants at the gas-liquid interface of cavitation bubbles, the initially formed carbon radicals on the alkyl chains are transferred to the glucose moieties to yield radicals which react with oxygen leading to the formation of hydrogen peroxide. In this work, we find that the sonochemically produced hydrogen peroxide yields from oxygen-saturated solutions of long chain (hexyl, octyl) n-alkyl glucopyranosides at 614 kHz and 1.057 MHz ultrasound increase with increasing n-alkyl glucopyranoside concentration but are independent of concentration for methyl-beta-D-glucopyranoside. These results are consistent with the previously proposed mechanism of sonoprotection [J.Z. Sostaric, N. Miyoshi, P. Riesz, W.G. DeGraff, and J.B. Mitchell, Free Radical Biol. Med., 39 (2005) 1539]. This sequence of events prevents sonodynamic cell killing by initiation of lipid peroxidation chain reactions in cellular membranes by peroxyl and/or alkoxyl radicals [V. Misik, P. Riesz, Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci., 899 (2000) 335].

  16. Flavanone silibinin treatment attenuates nitrogen mustard-induced toxic effects in mouse skin

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Jain, Anil K.; Tewari-Singh, Neera; Inturi, Swetha

    Currently, there is no effective antidote to prevent skin injuries by sulfur mustard (SM) and nitrogen mustard (NM), which are vesicating agents with potential relevance to chemical warfare, terrorist attacks, or industrial/laboratory accidents. Our earlier report has demonstrated the therapeutic efficacy of silibinin, a natural flavanone, in reversing monofunctional alkylating SM analog 2-chloroethyl ethyl sulfide-induced toxic effects in mouse skin. To translate this effect to a bifunctional alkylating vesicant, herein, efficacy studies were carried out with NM. Topical application of silibinin (1 or 2 mg) 30 min after NM exposure on the dorsal skin of male SKH-1 hairless mice significantlymore » decreased NM-induced toxic lesions at 24, 72 or 120 h post-exposure. Specifically, silibinin treatment resulted in dose-dependent reduction of NM-induced increase in epidermal thickness, dead and denuded epidermis, parakeratosis and microvesication. Higher silibinin dose also caused a 79% and 51%reversal in NM-induced increases in myeloperoxidase activity and COX-2 levels, respectively. Furthermore, silibinin completely prevented NM-induced H2A.X phosphorylation, indicating reversal of DNA damage which could be an oxidative DNA damage as evidenced by high levels of 8-oxodG in NM-exposed mouse skin that was significantly reversed by silibinin. Together, these findings suggest that attenuation of NM-induced skin injury by silibinin is due to its effects on the pathways associated with DNA damage, inflammation, vesication and oxidative stress. In conclusion, results presented here support the optimization of silibinin as an effective treatment of skin injury by vesicants. - Highlights: • Silibinin treatment attenuated nitrogen mustard (NM)-induced skin injury. • Silibinin affects pathways associated with DNA damage, inflammation and vesication. • The efficacy of silibinin could also be associated with oxidative stress. • These results support testing and optimization of silibinin against SM-induced skin injury.« less

  17. Diepoxybutane Interstrand Cross-Links Induce DNA Bending

    PubMed Central

    Millard, Julie T.; McGowan, Erin E.; Bradley, Sharonda Q.

    2011-01-01

    The bifunctional alkylating agent 1,2,3,4-diepoxybutane (DEB) is thought to be a major contributor to the carcinogenicity of 1,3-butadiene, from which it is derived in vivo. DEB forms DNA interstrand cross-links primarily between distal deoxyguanosine residues at the duplex sequence 5’-GNC. In order for the short butanediol tether to span this distance, distortion of the DNA target has been postulated. We determined that the electrophoretic mobility of ligated DNA oligomers containing DEB cross-links was retarded in comparison with control, uncross-linked DNA. Our data are consistent with DNA bending of ~34° per lesion towards the major groove. PMID:21839139

  18. INCREASE IN THE CHEMOTHERAPEUTIC COEFFICIENT OF MECHLORETHAMINE BY THE ACTION OF THE RADIOPROTECTIVE AGENT SODIUM DIETHYLDITHIOCARBAMATE (in Italian)

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Cima, L; Pozza, F

    1963-01-01

    In mice of the SMZ strain the protective effect of various kinds of radioprotectant agents against the toxicity of the alkylating agent mechiorethamine (HN2) was investigated. HN2 was injected subcutaneously in doses of 6 mg/kg, corresponding to the LD/sub 99/6/. The most effective protective agent tested was the chelating agent Na diethyldithiocarbamate (DEDTC), which when injected intraperitoneally in doses of 335 mg/kg raised the 4-day survival rate to 90% from a control value of 20%. Other chelating agents were less effective, showing the specific action of the dithiocarbamate anion: tetraethylthiuram disulfide (disulfiram), 2-guanidinothiazolidone, and diethylamine. Moderately effective against the toxicitymore » of HN2 were (in decreasing order): reserpine, chlorpromazine, propylene glycol, malononitrile, glutathione, cysteamine, oxytocin, and Na ethylenediaminetatraacetate. Tryptamine was ineffective and cysteine augmented the toxicity of HN2. DEDTC did not modify the carcinostatic effect of HN2 against Ehrlich ascites tumor and thus, by markedly reducing the toxicity of HN2, enhances the therapeutic index of HN2 3 fold. The protective effect of DEDTC and the other radioprotectant agents against HN2 suggest that alkylating agents and ionizing radiation have analogous effects on tissue constituents. (H.H.D.)« less

  19. SOLVENT EXTRACTION PROCESS FOR THE RECOVERY OF METALS FROM PHOSPHORIC ACID

    DOEpatents

    Bailes, R.H.; Long, R.S.

    1958-11-01

    > A solvent extraction process is presented for recovering metal values including uranium, thorium, and other lanthanide and actinide elements from crude industrial phosphoric acid solutions. The process conslsts of contacting said solution with an immisclble organic solvent extractant containing a diluent and a material selected from the group consisting of mono and di alkyl phosphates, alkyl phosphonates and alkyl phosphites. The uranlum enters the extractant phase and is subsequently recovered by any of the methods known to the art. Recovery is improved if the phosphate solution is treated with a reducing agent such as iron or aluminum powder prior to the extraction step.

  20. Disulfiram is a direct and potent inhibitor of human O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) in brain tumor cells and mouse brain and markedly increases the alkylating DNA damage

    PubMed Central

    Srivenugopal, Kalkunte S.

    2014-01-01

    The alcohol aversion drug disulfiram (DSF) reacts and conjugates with the protein-bound nucleophilic cysteines and is known to elicit anticancer effects alone or improve the efficacy of many cancer drugs. We investigated the effects of DSF on human O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT), a DNA repair protein and chemotherapy target that removes the mutagenic O6-akyl groups from guanines, and thus confers resistance to alkylating agents in brain tumors. We used DSF, copper-chelated DSF or CuCl2–DSF combination and found that all treatments inhibited the MGMT activity in two brain tumor cell lines in a rapid and dose-dependent manner. The drug treatments resulted in the loss of MGMT protein from tumor cells through the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. Evidence showed that Cys145, a reactive cysteine, critical for DNA repair was the sole site of DSF modification in the MGMT protein. DSF was a weaker inhibitor of MGMT, compared with the established O6-benzylguanine; nevertheless, the 24–36h suppression of MGMT activity in cell cultures vastly increased the alkylation-induced DNA interstrand cross-linking, G2/M cell cycle blockade, cytotoxicity and the levels of apoptotic markers. Normal mice treated with DSF showed significantly attenuated levels of MGMT activity and protein in the liver and brain tissues. In nude mice bearing T98 glioblastoma xenografts, there was a preferential inhibition of tumor MGMT. Our studies demonstrate a strong and direct inhibition of MGMT by DSF and support the repurposing of this brain penetrating drug for glioma therapy. The findings also imply an increased risk for alkylation damage in alcoholic patients taking DSF. PMID:24193513

  1. Synthesis of Thymoquinone derivatives and its activity analysis: In-silico approach

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ulfa, Siti Mariyah; Sholikhah, Shoimatus; Utomo, Edi Priyo

    2017-03-01

    Thymoquinone derivatives which synthesized in this research is bromoalkylquinones with alkyl chain consist of seven carbons (C7) and ten carbons (C10). The synthesis was carried out by oxidation of 2,3-dimethylhydroquinone followed by alkylation using reflux for 1.5 hours. The alkylation products were successfully characterized as 5-(7-bromoheptyl)-2,3-dimethyl-1,4-benzoquinone (C7) and 5-(10-bromodecyl)-2,3-dimethyl-1,4-benzoquinone (C10) in 31.93 and 16.89%, respectively. These compounds were fully characterized using FT-IR, 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR. Thus, the activity of C7 and C10 was analyzed by in silico approach with molecular docking using macromolecule model extracted from Protein Data Bank (PDB). Macromolecules used in this research is mitochondrial translocator protein (TSPO) as an antioxidant receptor, glycogen phosphorylase (GPA) as antidiabetic receptor and phosphatase tensin homolog (PTEN) as an anticancer agent. The result showed that C7 and C10 has a very good activity as antioxidant and antidiabetic agents with IC50 2.03 and 1.02 ppm (TSPO) and 16.98 and 14.88 ppm (GPA) compared with Thymoquinone. While the activity of C7 and C10 against PTEN gave the IC50 23.13 and 18.31 ppm showed a good candidate for an anticancer agent.

  2. Molecular characterization of an adaptive response to alkylating agents in the opportunistic pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus.

    PubMed

    O'Hanlon, Karen A; Margison, Geoffrey P; Hatch, Amy; Fitzpatrick, David A; Owens, Rebecca A; Doyle, Sean; Jones, Gary W

    2012-09-01

    An adaptive response to alkylating agents based upon the conformational change of a methylphosphotriester (MPT) DNA repair protein to a transcriptional activator has been demonstrated in a number of bacterial species, but this mechanism appears largely absent from eukaryotes. Here, we demonstrate that the human pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus elicits an adaptive response to sub-lethal doses of the mono-functional alkylating agent N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG). We have identified genes that encode MPT and O(6)-alkylguanine DNA alkyltransferase (AGT) DNA repair proteins; deletions of either of these genes abolish the adaptive response and sensitize the organism to MNNG. In vitro DNA repair assays confirm the ability of MPT and AGT to repair methylphosphotriester and O(6)-methylguanine lesions respectively. In eukaryotes, the MPT protein is confined to a select group of fungal species, some of which are major mammalian and plant pathogens. The evolutionary origin of the adaptive response is bacterial and rooted within the Firmicutes phylum. Inter-kingdom horizontal gene transfer between Firmicutes and Ascomycete ancestors introduced the adaptive response into the Fungal kingdom. Our data constitute the first detailed characterization of the molecular mechanism of the adaptive response in a lower eukaryote and has applications for development of novel fungal therapeutics targeting this DNA repair system.

  3. Molecular characterization of an adaptive response to alkylating agents in the opportunistic pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus

    PubMed Central

    O’Hanlon, Karen A.; Margison, Geoffrey P.; Hatch, Amy; Fitzpatrick, David A.; Owens, Rebecca A.; Doyle, Sean; Jones, Gary W.

    2012-01-01

    An adaptive response to alkylating agents based upon the conformational change of a methylphosphotriester (MPT) DNA repair protein to a transcriptional activator has been demonstrated in a number of bacterial species, but this mechanism appears largely absent from eukaryotes. Here, we demonstrate that the human pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus elicits an adaptive response to sub-lethal doses of the mono-functional alkylating agent N-methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG). We have identified genes that encode MPT and O6-alkylguanine DNA alkyltransferase (AGT) DNA repair proteins; deletions of either of these genes abolish the adaptive response and sensitize the organism to MNNG. In vitro DNA repair assays confirm the ability of MPT and AGT to repair methylphosphotriester and O6-methylguanine lesions respectively. In eukaryotes, the MPT protein is confined to a select group of fungal species, some of which are major mammalian and plant pathogens. The evolutionary origin of the adaptive response is bacterial and rooted within the Firmicutes phylum. Inter-kingdom horizontal gene transfer between Firmicutes and Ascomycete ancestors introduced the adaptive response into the Fungal kingdom. Our data constitute the first detailed characterization of the molecular mechanism of the adaptive response in a lower eukaryote and has applications for development of novel fungal therapeutics targeting this DNA repair system. PMID:22669901

  4. Asymmetric intramolecular α-cyclopropanation of aldehydes using a donor/acceptor carbene mimetic

    PubMed Central

    Luo, Chaosheng; Wang, Zhen; Huang, Yong

    2015-01-01

    Enantioselective α-alkylation of carbonyl is considered as one of the most important processes for asymmetric synthesis. Common alkylation agents, that is, alkyl halides, are notorious substrates for both Lewis acids and organocatalysts. Recently, olefins emerged as a benign alkylating species via photo/radical mechanisms. However, examples of enantioselective alkylation of aldehydes/ketones are scarce and direct asymmetric dialkylation remains elusive. Here we report an intramolecular α-cyclopropanation reaction of olefinic aldehydes to form chiral cyclopropane aldehydes. We demonstrate that an α-iodo aldehyde can function as a donor/acceptor carbene equivalent, which engages in a formal [2+1] annulation with a tethered double bond. Privileged bicyclo[3.1.0]hexane-type scaffolds are prepared in good optical purity using a chiral amine. The synthetic utility of the products is demonstrated by versatile transformations of the bridgehead formyl functionality. We expect the concept of using α-iodo iminium as a donor/acceptor carbene surrogate will find wide applications in chemical reaction development. PMID:26644194

  5. Catalytic enantioselective synthesis of atropisomeric biaryls by a cation-directed O-alkylation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jolliffe, John D.; Armstrong, Roly J.; Smith, Martin D.

    2017-06-01

    Axially chiral biaryls, as exemplified by 1,1‧-bi-2-naphthol (BINOL), are key components of catalysts, natural products and medicines. These materials are synthesized conventionally in enantioenriched form through metal-mediated cross coupling, de novo construction of an aromatic ring, point-to-axial chirality transfer or an atropselective transformation of an existing biaryl. Here, we report a highly enantioselective organocatalytic method for the synthesis of atropisomeric biaryls by a cation-directed O-alkylation. Treatment of racemic 1-aryl-2-tetralones with a chiral quinidine-derived ammonium salt under basic conditions in the presence of an alkylating agent leads to atropselective O-alkylation with e.r. up to 98:2. Oxidation with DDQ gives access to C2-symmetric and non-symmetric BINOL derivatives without compromising e.r. We propose that the chiral ammonium counterion differentiates between rapidly equilibrating atropisomeric enolates, leading to highly atropselective O-alkylation. This dynamic kinetic resolution process offers a general approach to the synthesis of enantioenriched atropisomeric materials.

  6. Acrolein-induced activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling is mediated by alkylation of thioredoxin reductase and thioredoxin 1.

    PubMed

    Randall, Matthew J; Spiess, Page C; Hristova, Milena; Hondal, Robert J; van der Vliet, Albert

    2013-01-01

    Cigarette smoking remains a major health concern worldwide, and many of the adverse effects of cigarette smoke (CS) can be attributed to its abundant electrophilic aldehydes, such as acrolein (2-propenal). Previous studies indicate that acrolein readily reacts with thioredoxin reductase 1 (TrxR1), a critical enzyme involved in regulation of thioredoxin (Trx)-mediated redox signaling, by alkylation at its selenocysteine (Sec) residue. Because alkylation of Sec within TrxR1 has significant implications for its enzymatic function, we explored the potential importance of TrxR1 alkylation in acrolein-induced activation or injury of bronchial epithelial cells. Exposure of human bronchial epithelial HBE1 cells to acrolein (1-30 μM) resulted in dose-dependent loss of TrxR thioredoxin reductase activity, which coincided with its alkylation, as determined by biotin hydrazide labeling, and was independent of initial GSH status. To test the involvement of TrxR1 in acrolein responses in HBE1 cells, we suppressed TrxR1 using siRNA silencing or augmented TrxR1 by cell supplementation with sodium selenite. Acrolein exposure of HBE1 cells induced dose-dependent activation of the MAP kinases, extracellular regulated kinase (ERK), c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), and p38, and activation of JNK was markedly enhanced after selenite-mediated induction of TrxR1, and was associated with increased alkylation of TrxR1. Conversely, siRNA silencing of TrxR1 significantly suppressed the ability of acrolein to activate JNK, and also appeared to attenuate acrolein-dependent activation of ERK and p38. Alteration of initial TrxR1 levels by siRNA or selenite supplementation also affected initial Trx1 redox status and acrolein-mediated alkylation of Trx1, but did not significantly affect acrolein-mediated activation of HO-1 or cytotoxicity. Collectively, our findings indicate that alkylation of TrxR1 and/or Trx1 may contribute directly to acrolein-mediated activation of MAP kinases such as JNK, and may therefore be important in acrolein-induced alterations in airway epithelial function, as a contributing mechanism in tobacco-related respiratory disease.

  7. Effect of chemotherapy with alkylating agents on the yield of CD34+ cells in patients with multiple myeloma. Results of the Spanish Myeloma Group (GEM) Study.

    PubMed

    de la Rubia, Javier; Bladé, Joan; Lahuerta, Juan-José; Ribera, Josep M; Martínez, Rafael; Alegre, Adrián; García-Laraña, José; Fernández, Pascual; Sureda, Anna; de Arriba, Felipe; Carrera, Dolores; Besalduch, Joan; García Boyero, Raimundo; Palomera Bernal, Luis; Hernández, Miguel T; García, Paz Ribas; Pérez-Calvo, Javier; Alcalá, Antonio; Casado, Luis Felipe; San Miguel, Jesús

    2006-05-01

    Although alkylating agents are clearly beneficial in multiple myeloma (MM), their deleterious effect on bone marrow hematopoietic progenitor cells usually precludes their use as front-line therapy in patients scheduled to undergo autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). We analyzed the impact of first-line chemotherapy with alkylating agents on stem cell collection in MM patients. Seven hundred and eighty-nine patients included in the Spanish multicenter protocol GEM-2000 underwent mobilization therapy after four courses of alternating VBMCP/VBAD chemotherapy. The mobilization regimens consisted of standard or high-dose granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) in 551 (70%) patients, and chemotherapy and G-CSF in 206 (26%) patients. The CD34+ cell yield was lower than 4x10(6)/kg in 388 patients (49%), and equal or greater than 4x10(6)/kg in 401 patients (51%). Multivariate analysis indicated that advanced age (p<0.0001) and longer interval between diagnosis and mobilization (p=0.012) were the two variables associated with a lower CD34+ cell yield. Significant differences in CD34+ cell yield were not observed between the mobilization regimens. Of the 789 patients included in the protocol, 726 (92%) underwent the planned ASCT, whereas 25 (3%) patients did not because of the low number of CD34+ cells collected. Following ASCT, 0.5x10(9) neutrophils/L could be recovered after 11 days (median time; range, 5-71 days) and 20x10(9) platelets/L could be recovered after 12 days (median time; range, 6-69 days). A short-course of therapy with alkylating agents according to the GEM-2000 protocol was associated with an appropriate CD34+ cell collection, and allowed the planned ASCT to be performed in the majority of MM patients.

  8. Bioenergetic metabolites regulate base excision repair dependent cell death in response to DNA damage

    PubMed Central

    Tang, Jiang-bo; Goellner, Eva M.; Wang, Xiao-hong; Trivedi, Ram N.; Croix, Claudette M. St; Jelezcova, Elena; Svilar, David; Brown, Ashley R.; Sobol, Robert W.

    2009-01-01

    Base excision repair (BER) protein expression is important for resistance to DNA damage-induced cytotoxicity. Conversely, BER imbalance (Polß deficiency or repair inhibition) enhances cytotoxicity of radiation and chemotherapeutic DNA-damaging agents. Whereas inhibition of critical steps in the BER pathway result in the accumulation of cytotoxic DNA double-strand breaks, we report that DNA damage-induced cytotoxicity due to deficiency in the BER protein Polß triggers cell death dependent on PARP activation yet independent of poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR)-mediated AIF nuclear translocation or PARG, suggesting that cytotoxicity is not from PAR or PAR-catabolite signaling. Cell death is rescued by the NAD+ metabolite NMN and is synergistic with inhibition of NAD+ biosynthesis, demonstrating that DNA damage-induced cytotoxicity mediated via BER inhibition is primarily dependent on cellular metabolite bioavailability. We offer a mechanistic justification for the elevated alkylation-induced cytotoxicity of Polß deficient cells, suggesting a linkage between DNA repair, cell survival and cellular bioenergetics. PMID:20068071

  9. Development of human cell biosensor system for genotoxicity detection based on DNA damage-induced gene expression.

    PubMed

    Zager, Valerija; Cemazar, Maja; Hreljac, Irena; Lah, Tamara T; Sersa, Gregor; Filipic, Metka

    2010-03-01

    Human exposure to genotoxic agents in the environment and everyday life represents a serious health threat. Fast and reliable assessment of genotoxicity of chemicals is of main importance in the fields of new chemicals and drug development as well as in environmental monitoring. The tumor suppressor gene p21, the major downstream target gene of activated p53 which is responsible for cell cycle arrest following DNA damage, has been shown to be specifically up-regulated by genotoxic carcinogens. The aim of our study was to develop a human cell-based biosensor system for simple and fast detection of genotoxic agents. Metabolically active HepG2 human hepatoma cells were transfected with plasmid encoding Enhanced Green Fluorescent Protein (EGFP) under the control of the p21 promoter (p21HepG2GFP). DNA damage was induced by genotoxic agents with known mechanisms of action. The increase in fluorescence intensity, due to p21 mediated EGFP expression, was measured with a fluorescence microplate reader. The viability of treated cells was determined by the colorimetric MTS assay. The directly acting alkylating agent methylmethane sulphonate (MMS) showed significant increase in EGFP production after 48 h at 20 μg/mL. The indirectly acting carcinogen benzo(a)pyren (BaP) and the cross-linking agent cisplatin (CisPt) induced a dose- dependent increase in EGFP fluorescence, which was already significant at concentrations 0.13 μg/mL and 0.41 μg/mL, respectively. Vinblastine (VLB), a spindle poison that does not induce direct DNA damage, induced only a small increase in EGFP fluorescence intensity after 24 h at the lowest concentration (0.1 μg/mL), while exposure to higher concentrations was associated with significantly reduced cell viability. The results of our study demonstrated that this novel assay based on the stably transformed cell line p21HepG2GFP can be used as a fast and simple biosensor system for detection of genetic damage caused by chemical agents.

  10. Effect of Anti-Parasite Chemotherapeutic Agents on Immune Reactions.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1980-08-01

    observations). Similar effects of a number of other alkylating agents have been noticed (9, and personal observa- tions). Similarly, corticosteroids inhibit...Wellham, L. L., and Sigel, M. M. Ef- fect of anti-cancer chemotherapeutic agents on immune reactions of mice. I. Comparison of two nitrosoureas . J...7 D-Ri138 852 EFFECT OF ANTI-PARASITE CHEMOTHERAPEUTIC AGENTS ON i/i IMMUNE REACTIONS(U) SOUTH CAROLINA UNIV COLUMBIA DEPT OF MICROBIOLOGY AND

  11. Binding of chemical warfare agent simulants as guests in a coordination cage: contributions to binding and a fluorescence-based response.

    PubMed

    Taylor, Christopher G P; Piper, Jerico R; Ward, Michael D

    2016-05-07

    Cubic coordination cages act as competent hosts for several alkyl phosphonates used as chemical warfare agent simulants; a range of cage/guest structures have been determined, contributions to guest binding analysed, and a fluorescent response to guest binding demonstrated.

  12. 21 CFR 178.3400 - Emulsifiers and/or surface-active agents.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... paperboard. α-[p-(1,1,3,3-Tetramethylbutyl)phenyl] omega-hydroxypoly(oxyethylene) produced by the... 21 Food and Drugs 3 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Emulsifiers and/or surface-active agents. 178.3400... substances: List of substances Limitations α-Alkyl-, α-alkenyl-, and α-alkylaryl-omega-hydroxypoly...

  13. In vitro induction of micronuclei by monofunctional methanesulphonic acid esters: possible role of alkylation mechanisms.

    PubMed

    Eder, Erwin; Kütt, Wolfgang; Deininger, Christoph

    2006-12-01

    Six monofunctional alkylating methanesulphonates of widely varying structures were investigated in the in vitro micronucleus assay with Syrian hamster embryo fibroblast cells. The results were compared with the alkylating activities measured in the 4-(nitrobenzyl)pyridine test (NBP-test) and the N-methyl mercaptoimidazole (MMI-test) as measures for S(N)2 reactivity as well as in the triflouoroacetic acid (TFA) solvolysis and the hydrolysis reaction as measures for S(N)1 reactivity in order to provide insights into the role of alkylation mechanisms on induction of micronuclei. Moreover we compared the results of micronucleus assay with those of the Ames tests in strain TA 100 and TA1535 and with those of the SOS chromotest with the strains PQ37, PQ243, PM21 and GC 4798. The potency of methanesulphonates to induce micronuclei depended only to a certain degree, on the total alkylating activity (S(N)1 and S(N)2 reactivity). An inverse, significant correlation between the Ames test and the micronucleus assay was observed and an inverse correlation between the micronucleus assay and the SOS chromotest with the different strains. The results indicate that the primary mechanism leading to induction of micronuclei is not O-alkylation in DNA as it is the case in the Ames test with the hisG46 strains TA1535 and TA100 and not N-alkylation as with the SOS chromotest. There is evidence that protein alkylation, e.g. in the spindle apparatus in mitosis is decisive for induction of micronuclei by alkylating compounds. The structurally voluminous methanesulphonates 2-phenyl ethyl methanesulphonate and 1-phenyl-2-propyl methanesulphonate show a clear higher micronuclei inducing potency than the other tested though the bulky methanesulphonates possess a lower total alkylating activity than the others. This effect can be explained by a higher disturbance during mitosis after alkylation of the spindle apparatus with the structurally more bulky methanesulphonates.

  14. Sensitization of gastric cancer cells to alkylating agents by glaucocalyxin B via cell cycle arrest and enhanced cell death

    PubMed Central

    Ur Rahman, Muhammad Saif; Zhang, Ling; Wu, Lingyan; Xie, Yuqiong; Li, Chunchun; Cao, Jiang

    2017-01-01

    Severe side effects are major problems with chemotherapy of gastric cancer (GC). These side effects can be reduced by using sensitizing agents in combination with therapeutic drugs. In this study, the low/nontoxic dosage of glaucocalyxin B (GLB) was used with other DNA linker agents mitomycin C (MMC), cisplatin (DDP), or cyclophosphamide (CTX) to treat GC cells. Combined effectiveness of GLB with drugs was determined by proliferation assay. The molecular mechanisms associated with cell proliferation, migration, invasion, cell cycle, DNA repair/replication, apoptosis, and autophagy were investigated by immunoblotting for key proteins involved. Cell cycle and apoptosis analysis were performed by flow cytometry. Reactive oxygen species level was also examined for identification of its role in apoptosis. Proliferation assay revealed that the addition of 5 µM GLB significantly sensitizes gastric cancer SGC-7901 cells to MMC, DDP, and CTX by decreasing half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) by up to 75.40%±5%, 45.10%±5%, and 52.10%±5%, respectively. GLB + drugs decreased the expression level of proteins involved in proliferation and migration, suggesting the anticancer potential of GLB + drugs. GLB + MMC, GLB + CTX, and GLB + DDP arrest the cells in G0/G1 and G1/S phase, respectively, which may be the consequence of significant decrease in the level of enzymes responsible for DNA replication and telomerase shortening. Combined use of GLB with these drugs also induces DNA damage and apoptosis by activating caspase/PARP pathways and increased production of reactive oxygen species and increased autophagy in GC cells. GLB dosage sensitizes GC cells to the alkylating agents via arresting the cell cycle and enhancing cell death. This is of significant therapeutic importance in the reduction of side effects associated with these drugs. PMID:28860714

  15. Spin-Center Shift-Enabled Direct Enantioselective α-Benzylation of Aldehydes with Alcohols.

    PubMed

    Nacsa, Eric D; MacMillan, David W C

    2018-03-07

    Nature routinely engages alcohols as leaving groups, as DNA biosynthesis relies on the removal of water from ribonucleoside diphosphates by a radical-mediated "spin-center shift" (SCS) mechanism. Alcohols, however, remain underused as alkylating agents in synthetic chemistry due to their low reactivity in two-electron pathways. We report herein an enantioselective α-benzylation of aldehydes using alcohols as alkylating agents based on the mechanistic principle of spin-center shift. This strategy harnesses the dual activation modes of photoredox and organocatalysis, engaging the alcohol by SCS and capturing the resulting benzylic radical with a catalytically generated enamine. Mechanistic studies provide evidence for SCS as a key elementary step, identify the origins of competing reactions, and enable improvements in chemoselectivity by rational photocatalyst design.

  16. Mechanism for stabilization of the molten globule state of papain by sodium n-alkyl sulfates: spectroscopic and calorimetric approaches.

    PubMed

    Chamani, J; Heshmati, M

    2008-06-01

    Papain exists in a molten globule (MG) state at pH 2 and in this state protein tends to aggregate in the presence of lower concentrations of guanidine hydrochloride (GuHCl). Such aggregation is prevented if low concentrations of sodium n-alkyl sulfates are also present in the buffer; in addition, stabilization of the protein is also induced. The guanidine hydrochloride and temperature-induced unfolding of papain, in the presence of n-alkyl sulfates, indicate stabilization of the protein as seen from the higher transition midpoints when monitored by fluorescence, circular dichroism, and differential scanning calorimetry. However, a similar phenomenon is not seen under neutral conditions in the presence of n-alkyl sulfate concentrations. The effect of n-alkyl sulfates on the structure of the MG state of papain was utilized to investigate the contribution of hydrophobic interaction to the stability of the MG state. The Td values of the MG states of papain in the presence of n-alkyl sulfates at different concentrations showed substantial variation. The enhancement of Td values at the stability criterion of MG states corresponded with increasing chain length of the cited n-alkyl sulfates. The present results suggest that the hydrophobic interactions play important roles in stabilizing and preventing the aggregation of the MG state of papain.

  17. Isomeric Detergent Comparison for Membrane Protein Stability: Importance of Inter-Alkyl-Chain Distance and Alkyl Chain Length.

    PubMed

    Cho, Kyung Ho; Hariharan, Parameswaran; Mortensen, Jonas S; Du, Yang; Nielsen, Anne K; Byrne, Bernadette; Kobilka, Brian K; Loland, Claus J; Guan, Lan; Chae, Pil Seok

    2016-12-14

    Membrane proteins encapsulated by detergent micelles are widely used for structural study. Because of their amphipathic property, detergents have the ability to maintain protein solubility and stability in an aqueous medium. However, conventional detergents have serious limitations in their scope and utility, particularly for eukaryotic membrane proteins and membrane protein complexes. Thus, a number of new agents have been devised; some have made significant contributions to membrane protein structural studies. However, few detergent design principles are available. In this study, we prepared meta and ortho isomers of the previously reported para-substituted xylene-linked maltoside amphiphiles (XMAs), along with alkyl chain-length variation. The isomeric XMAs were assessed with three membrane proteins, and the meta isomer with a C 12 alkyl chain was most effective at maintaining solubility/stability of the membrane proteins. We propose that interplay between the hydrophile-lipophile balance (HLB) and alkyl chain length is of central importance for high detergent efficacy. In addition, differences in inter-alkyl-chain distance between the isomers influence the ability of the detergents to stabilise membrane proteins. © 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  18. Inhibitory effects of 3-bromopyruvate in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells.

    PubMed

    Zou, Xue; Zhang, Mengxiao; Sun, Yiming; Zhao, Surong; Wei, Yingmei; Zhang, Xudong; Jiang, Chenchen; Liu, Hao

    2015-10-01

    Tumor cells depend on aerobic glycolysis for adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production, which is therefore targeted by therapeutic agents. The compound 3-bromopyruvate (3-BrPA), a strong alkylating agent and hexokinase inhibitor, inhibits tumor cell glycolysis and the production of ATP, causing apoptosis. 3-BrPA induces apoptosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cell lines HNE1 and CNE-2Z, which may be related to its molecular mechanisms. In the present study, we investigated the effects of 3-BrPA on the viability, reactive oxygen species (ROS), apoptosis and other types of programmed cell death in NPC cells in vitro and in vivo. PI staining showed significant apoptosis in NPC cells accompanied by the overproduction of ROS and downregulation of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP, ΔΨm) by 3-BrPA. However, the ROS scavenger N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) significantly reduced 3-BrPA-induced apoptosis by decreasing ROS and facilitating the recovery of MMP. We elucidated the molecular mechanisms underlying 3-BrPA activity and found that it caused mitochondrial dysfunction and ROS production, leading to necroptosis of NPC cells. We investigated the effects of the caspase inhibitor z-VAD-fmk, which inhibits apoptosis but promotes death domain receptor (DR)-induced NPC cell necrosis. Necrostatin-1 (Nec-1) inhibits necroptosis, apparently via a DR signaling pathway and thus abrogates the effects of z-VAD‑fmk. In addition, we demonstrated the effective attenuation of 3-BrPA-induced necrotic cell death by Nec-1. Finally, animal studies proved that 3-BrPA exhibited significant antitumor activity in nude mice. The present study is the first demonstration of 3-BrPA-induced non-apoptotic necroptosis and ROS generation in NPC cells and provides potential strategies for developing agents against apoptosis‑resistant cancers.

  19. Chain length effects on the vibrational structure and molecular interactions in the liquid normal alkyl alcohols

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kiefer, Johannes; Wagenfeld, Sabine; Kerlé, Daniela

    2018-01-01

    Alkyl alcohols are widely used in academia, industry, and our everyday lives, e.g. as cleaning agents and solvents. Vibrational spectroscopy is commonly used to identify and quantify these compounds, but also to study their structure and behavior. However, a comprehensive investigation and comparison of all normal alkanols that are liquid at room temperature has not been performed, surprisingly. This study aims at bridging this gap with a combined experimental and computational effort. For this purpose, the alkyl alcohols from methanol to undecan-1-ol have been analyzed using infrared and Raman spectroscopy. A detailed assignment of the individual peaks is presented and the influence of the alkyl chain length on the hydrogen bonding network is discussed. A 2D vibrational mapping allows a straightforward visualization of the effects. The conclusions drawn from the experimental data are backed up with results from Monte Carlo simulations using the simulation package Cassandra.

  20. Safety Assessment of Alkyl Ethylhexanoates as Used in Cosmetics.

    PubMed

    Fiume, Monice; Heldreth, Bart; Bergfeld, Wilma F; Belsito, Donald V; Hill, Ronald A; Klaassen, Curtis D; Liebler, Daniel C; Marks, James G; Shank, Ronald C; Slaga, Thomas J; Snyder, Paul W; Andersen, F Alan

    2015-01-01

    The Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) Expert Panel (Panel) assessed the safety of 16 alkyl ethylhexanoates for use in cosmetics, concluding that these ingredients are safe in cosmetic formulations in the present practices of use and concentrations when formulated to be nonirritating. The alkyl ethylhexanoates primarily function as skin-conditioning agents in cosmetics. The highest concentration of use reported for any of the alkyl ethylhexanoates is 77.3% cetyl ethylhexanoate in rinse-off formulations used near the eye, and the highest leave-on use reported is 52% cetyl ethylhexanoate in lipstick formulations. The Panel reviewed available animal and clinical data related to these ingredients, and the similarities in structure, properties, functions, and uses of ingredients from previous CIR assessments on constituent alcohols that allowed for extrapolation of the available toxicological data to assess the safety of the entire group. © The Author(s) 2015.

  1. Dose-Response for Multiple Biomarkers of Exposure and Genotoxic Effect Following Repeated Treatment of Rats with the Alkylating Agents, MMS and MNU.

    PubMed

    Ji, Zhiying; LeBaron, Matthew J; Schisler, Melissa R; Zhang, Fagen; Bartels, Michael J; Gollapudi, B Bhaskar; Pottenger, Lynn H

    2016-05-01

    The nature of the dose-response relationship for various in vivo endpoints of exposure and effect were investigated using the alkylating agents, methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) and methylnitrosourea (MNU). Six male F344 rats/group were dosed orally with 0, 0.5, 1, 5, 25 or 50mg/kg bw/day (mkd) of MMS, or 0, 0.01, 0.1, 1, 5, 10, 25 or 50 mkd of MNU, for 4 consecutive days and sacrificed 24h after the last dose. The dose-responses for multiple biomarkers of exposure and genotoxic effect were investigated. In MMS-treated rats, the hemoglobin adduct level, a systemic exposure biomarker, increased linearly with dose (r (2) = 0.9990, P < 0.05), indicating the systemic availability of MMS; however, the N7MeG DNA adduct, a target exposure biomarker, exhibited a non-linear dose-response in blood and liver tissues. Blood reticulocyte micronuclei (MN), a genotoxic effect biomarker, exhibited a clear no-observed-genotoxic-effect-level (NOGEL) of 5 mkd as a point of departure (PoD) for MMS. Two separate dose-response models, the Lutz and Lutz model and the stepwise approach using PROC REG both supported a bilinear/threshold dose-response for MN induction. Liver gene expression, a mechanistic endpoint, also exhibited a bilinear dose-response. Similarly, in MNU-treated rats, hepatic DNA adducts, gene expression changes and MN all exhibited clear PoDs, with a NOGEL of 1 mkd for MN induction, although dose-response modeling of the MNU-induced MN data showed a better statistical fit for a linear dose-response. In summary, these results provide in vivo data that support the existence of clear non-linear dose-responses for a number of biologically significant events along the pathway for genotoxicity induced by DNA-reactive agents. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the UK Environmental Mutagen Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  2. Direct Aldehyde C-H Arylation and Alkylation via the Combination of Nickel, Hydrogen Atom Transfer, and Photoredox Catalysis.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Xiaheng; MacMillan, David W C

    2017-08-23

    A mechanism that enables direct aldehyde C-H functionalization has been achieved via the synergistic merger of photoredox, nickel, and hydrogen atom transfer catalysis. This mild, operationally simple protocol transforms a wide variety of commercially available aldehydes, along with aryl or alkyl bromides, into the corresponding ketones in excellent yield. This C-H abstraction coupling technology has been successfully applied to the expedient synthesis of the medicinal agent haloperidol.

  3. Stereospecific nickel-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions of alkyl Grignard reagents and identification of selective anti-breast-cancer agents.

    PubMed

    Yonova, Ivelina M; Johnson, A George; Osborne, Charlotte A; Moore, Curtis E; Morrissette, Naomi S; Jarvo, Elizabeth R

    2014-02-24

    Alkyl Grignard reagents that contain β-hydrogen atoms were used in a stereospecific nickel-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction to form C(sp(3))-C(sp(3)) bonds. Aryl Grignard reagents were also utilized to synthesize 1,1-diarylalkanes. Several compounds synthesized by this method exhibited selective inhibition of proliferation of MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Copyright © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  4. Novel Thioredoxin Inhibitors for Breast Cancer Therapy

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2001-07-01

    of TH-223, the cesium salt of diol 3 16] was alkylated and cyclized under oxidative conditions. All of these compounds have been fully characterized...selectivity for Trx-1 over TrxR. Alkylation at the phenol as shown in the SR-series of analogs mostly abolished activity, with the exception of SR...with either MDA-MB 231 or MCF-7 cells were quite active as antiproliferative agents . Generally, MCF-7 cells were slightly more sensitive than the p53

  5. Selective alkylation of T–T mismatched DNA using vinyldiaminotriazine–acridine conjugate

    PubMed Central

    Onizuka, Kazumitsu; Usami, Akira; Yamaoki, Yudai; Kobayashi, Tomohito; Hazemi, Madoka E; Chikuni, Tomoko; Sato, Norihiro; Sasaki, Kaname; Katahira, Masato

    2018-01-01

    Abstract The alkylation of the specific higher-order nucleic acid structures is of great significance in order to control its function and gene expression. In this report, we have described the T–T mismatch selective alkylation with a vinyldiaminotriazine (VDAT)–acridine conjugate. The alkylation selectively proceeded at the N3 position of thymidine on the T–T mismatch. Interestingly, the alkylated thymidine induced base flipping of the complementary base in the duplex. In a model experiment for the alkylation of the CTG repeats DNA which causes myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1), the observed reaction rate for one alkylation increased in proportion to the number of T–T mismatches. In addition, we showed that primer extension reactions with DNA polymerase and transcription with RNA polymerase were stopped by the alkylation. The alkylation of the repeat DNA will efficiently work for the inhibition of replication and transcription reactions. These functions of the VDAT–acridine conjugate would be useful as a new biochemical tool for the study of CTG repeats and may provide a new strategy for the molecular therapy of DM1. PMID:29309639

  6. Anti-biofilm action of nitric oxide-releasing alkyl-modified poly(amidoamine) dendrimers against Streptococcus mutans.

    PubMed

    Backlund, Christopher J; Worley, Brittany V; Schoenfisch, Mark H

    2016-01-01

    The effect of nitric oxide (NO)-releasing dendrimer hydrophobicity on Streptococcus mutans killing and biofilm disruption was examined at pH 7.4 and 6.4, the latter relevant to dental caries. Generation 1 (G1) poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers were modified with alkyl epoxides to generate propyl-, butyl-, hexyl-, octyl-, and dodecyl-functionalized dendrimers. The resulting secondary amines were reacted with NO to form N-diazeniumdiolate NO donor-modified dendrimer scaffolds (total NO ∼1μmol/mg). The bactericidal action of the NO-releasing dendrimers against both planktonic and biofilm-based S. mutans proved greatest with increasing alkyl chain length and at lower pH. Improved bactericidal efficacy at pH 6.4 was attributed to increased scaffold surface charge that enhanced dendrimer-bacteria association and ensuing membrane damage. For shorter alkyl chain (i.e., propyl and butyl) dendrimer modifications, increased antibacterial action at pH 6.4 was due to faster NO-release kinetics from proton-labile N-diazeniumdiolate NO donors. Octyl- and dodecyl-modified PAMAM dendrimers proved most effective for eradicating S. mutans biofilms with NO release mitigating dendrimer scaffold cytotoxicity. We report the antibacterial and anti-biofilm efficacy of dual-action nitric oxide (NO)-releasing dendrimers against S. mutans, an etiological agent in dental caries. This work was undertaken to enhance the anti-biofilm action of these scaffolds by employing various alkyl chain modifications. Furthermore, we evaluated the ability of NO to eradicate cariogenic biofilms. We found that at the lower pH associated with dental caries (pH ∼6.4), NO has a more pronounced antibacterial effect for alkyl modifications less capable of biofilm penetration and membrane disruption. Of greatest significance, we introduce dendrimers as a new macromolecular antibacterial agent against the cariogenic bacteria S. mutans. Copyright © 2015 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. How cyclophosphamide at environmentally relevant concentration influences Daphnia magna life history and its proteome.

    PubMed

    Grzesiuk, Małgorzata; Mielecki, Damian; Pilżys, Tomasz; Garbicz, Damian; Marcinkowski, Michał; Grzesiuk, Elżbieta

    2018-01-01

    The waste of commonly used medicines is known to contaminate freshwater ecosystems. Pharmaceuticals can be toxic, mutagenic, or modifying to freshwater organisms even at low concentrations if consider their permanent presence in the environment. Chemotherapeutics used to treat cancer, and in particular alkylating agents, contribute significantly to this form of pollution, the latter introducing cytotoxic and/or mutagenic lesions to the DNA and RNA of organisms which can be disruptive to their cells. The aim of the present study was to investigate the influence of the alkylating anticancer agent cyclophosphamide (CP) on Daphnia magna clones. We evaluated the life history parameters and protein profiles of this crustacean following exposure to environmentally relevant CP concentration of 10 ng L-1. Even at this low concentration, the alkylating agent caused modification of the life history parameters and proteome profile of the Daphnia. These changes were clone-specific and involved growth rate, age at first reproduction, neonate number, and proteins related to cell cycle and redox state regulation. The disturbance caused by pharmaceuticals contaminating freshwater ecosystem is probably weaker and unlikely to be cytotoxic in character due to the high dilution of these substances in the water. However, our results indicate that prolonged exposure of organisms to these toxins may lead to modifications on the organismal and molecular levels with unpredictable significance for the entire ecosystem.

  8. Therapeutic journery of nitrogen mustard as alkylating anticancer agents: Historic to future perspectives.

    PubMed

    Singh, Rajesh K; Kumar, Sahil; Prasad, D N; Bhardwaj, T R

    2018-05-10

    Cancer is considered as one of the most serious health problems today. The discovery of nitrogen mustard as an alkylating agent in 1942, opened a new era in the cancer chemotherapy. This valuable class of alkylating agent exerts its biological activity by binding to DNA, cross linking two strands, preventing DNA replication and ultimate cell death. At the molecular level, nitrogen lone pairs of nitrogen mustard generate a strained intermediate "aziridinium ion" which is very reactive towards DNA of tumor cell as well as normal cell resulting in various adverse side effects alogwith therapeutic implications. Over the last 75 years, due to its high reactivity and peripheral cytotoxicity, numerous modifications have been made in the area of nitrogen mustard to improve its efficacy as well as enhancing drug delivery specifically to tumor cells. This review mainly discusses the medicinal chemistry aspects in the development of various classes of nitrogen mustards (mechlorethamine, chlorambucil, melphalan, cyclophosphamide and steroidal based nitrogen mustards). The literature collection includes the historical and the latest developments in these areas. This comprehensive review also attempted to showcase the recent progress in the targeted delivery of nitrogen mustards that includes DNA directed nitrogen mustards, antibody directed enzyme prodrug therapy (ADEPT), gene directed enzyme prodrug therapy (GDEPT), nitrogen mustard activated by glutathione transferase, peptide based nitrogen mustards and CNS targeted nitrogen mustards. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  9. PML expression in soft tissue sarcoma: prognostic and predictive value in alkylating agents/antracycline-based first line therapy.

    PubMed

    Vincenzi, Bruno; Santini, Daniele; Schiavon, Gaia; Frezza, Anna Maria; Silletta, Marianna; Crucitti, Pierfilippo; Casali, Paolo; Dei Tos, Angelo P; Rossi, Sabrina; Rizzo, Sergio; Badalamenti, Giuseppe; Tomasino, Rosa Maria; Russo, Antonio; Butrynski, James E; Tonini, Giuseppe

    2012-04-01

    Soft tissue sarcomas are aggressive tumors representing <1% of all adult neoplasms. Aim of our study was to evaluate promyelocytic leukemia gene expression value as prognostic factor and as a factor predicting response to alkylating agents/antracycline-based first line therapy. One hundred eleven patients affected by locally advanced and metastatic soft tissue sarcoma were selected. PML expression was evaluated by immunohistochemical analysis in pathological samples and in the corresponding normal tissue from each case. PML immunohistochemical results were correlated with prognosis and with radiological response to alkylating agents/antracycline-based first line therapy. PML expression was significantly reduced in synovial sarcomas (P < 0.0001), in myofibroblastic sarcomas (P < 0.0001), angiosarcomas (P < 0.0001), in leiomyosarcomas (P = 0.003), in mixoid liposarcomas (P < 0.0001), and in dedifferentiated liposarcomas (P < 0.0001). No significant difference was found for pleomorphic sarcoma [31.8 (95% CI: 16.7-41.0); P = 0.21]. and pleomorphic liposarcomas (P = 0.51). Loss of PML expression was found to be statistically correlated with TTP (P < 0.0001), median duration of response (P = 0.007), and OS (P = 0.02). No correlation was observed between PML expression and treatment efficacy. PML IHC expression is down-regulated in synovial sarcomas, myofibroblastic sarcomas, angiosarcomas, liposarcoma, and leiomyosarcomas and its expression correlated with prognosis. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  10. The Fanconi anemia (FA) pathway confers glioma resistance to DNA alkylating agents.

    PubMed

    Chen, Clark C; Taniguchi, Toshiyasu; D'Andrea, Alan

    2007-05-01

    DNA alkylating agents including temozolomide (TMZ) and 1,3-bis[2-chloroethyl]-1-nitroso-urea (BCNU) are the most common form of chemotherapy in the treatment of gliomas. Despite their frequent use, the therapeutic efficacy of these agents is limited by the development of resistance. Previous studies suggest that the mechanism of this resistance is complex and involves multiple DNA repair pathways. To better define the pathways contributing to the mechanisms underlying glioma resistance, we tested the contribution of the Fanconi anemia (FA) DNA repair pathway. TMZ and BCNU treatment of FA-proficient cell lines led to a dose- and time-dependent increase in FANCD2 mono-ubiquitination and FANCD2 nuclear foci formation, both hallmarks of FA pathway activation. The FA-deficient cells were more sensitive to TMZ/BCNU relative to their corrected, isogenic counterparts. To test whether these observations were pertinent to glioma biology, we screened a panel of glioma cell lines and identified one (HT16) that was deficient in the FA repair pathway. This cell line exhibited increased sensitivity to TMZ and BCNU relative to the FA-proficient glioma cell lines. Moreover, inhibition of FA pathway activation by a small molecule inhibitor (curcumin) or by small interference RNA suppression caused increased sensitivity to TMZ/BCNU in the U87 glioma cell line. The BCNU sensitizing effect of FA inhibition appeared additive to that of methyl-guanine methyl transferase inhibition. The results presented in this paper underscore the complexity of cellular resistance to DNA alkylating agents and implicate the FA repair pathway as a determinant of this resistance.

  11. Genotoxic chemical carcinogens target inducible genes in vivo

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hamilton, J.W.; McCaffrey, J.; Caron, R.M.

    1994-12-31

    Our laboratory is interested in whether carcinogen-induced DNA damage is distributed nonrandomly in the genome - that is, {open_quotes}targeted{close_quotes} to specific genes or gene regions in vivo. As an indirect measure of whether targeting occurs at the gene level, we have examined whether carcinogens differentially alter the expression of individual genes. We have compared the effects of model genotoxic carcinogens that principally induce either strand breaks, simple alkylations, bulky lesions, or DNA cross-links on the expression of several constitutive and inducible genes in a simple in vivo system, the chick embryo. Each agent was examined for its effects on genemore » expression over a 24 hour period corresponding to the period of maximal DNA damage and repair induced by each compound. The doses used in these studies represented the maximum doses that caused no overt toxicity over a 96 hour period but that induced significant levels of DNA damage. Our results demonstrate that inducible genes are targeted by chemical carcinogens. We hypothesize that such effects may be a result of DNA damage specifically altering DNA-protein interactions within the promoters of inducible genes.« less

  12. Synthesis and evaluation of thermo-rheological behaviour and ionotropic crosslinking of new gellan gum-alkyl derivatives.

    PubMed

    Agnello, Stefano; Palumbo, Fabio Salvatore; Pitarresi, Giovanna; Fiorica, Calogero; Giammona, Gaetano

    2018-04-01

    This paper reports the synthesis and the physicochemical characterization of two series of gellan gum (GG) derivatives functionalized with alkyl chains with different number of carbon, from 8 to 18. In particular, low molecular weight gellan gum samples with 52.6 or 96.7 kDa, respectively, were functionalized with octylamine (C 8 ), dodecylamine (C 12 ) and octadecylamine (C 18 ) by using bis(4-nitrophenyl) carbonate (4-NPBC) as a coupling agent. Thermo-rheological and ionotropic crosslinking properties of these gellan gum-alkyl derivatives were evaluated and related to the degree of derivatization in alkyl chains. Results suggested as length and degree of derivatization differently influenced coil-to-helix gelation mechanism of GG derivatives, ionotropic crosslinking, and strength of crosslinked hydrogels obtained in CaCl 2 0.102 M and NaCl 0.15 M. Statement of hypothesis: The insertion of alkyl chains on the gellan gum backbone interferes with coil-to-helix transition mechanism and allows the production of hydrophobically assembled hydrogels. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Alkyl chitosan film-high strength, functional biomaterials.

    PubMed

    Lu, Li; Xing, Cao; Xin, Shen; Shitao, Yu; Feng, Su; Shiwei, Liu; Fusheng, Liu; Congxia, Xie

    2017-11-01

    Biofilm with strong tensile strength is a topic item in the area of tissue engineering, medicine engineering, and so forth. Here we introduced an alkyl chitosan film with strong tensile strength and its possibility for an absorbable anticoagulation material in vivo was tested in the series of blood test, such as dynamic coagulation time, plasma recalcification time and hemolysis. Alkyl chitosan film was a better biomaterial than traditional chitosan film in the anticoagulation, tissue compatibility and cell compatibility. The unique trait of alkyl chitosan film may be for its greater contact angle and hydrophobicity ability to reduce the adsorption capacity for the blood component and the activity of fibrinolytic enzymes, enhance the antibacterial capacity than chitosan film. Moreover, none of chitosan film or butyl chitosan film exhibited quick inflammation or other disadvantage and degraded quickly by implanted test. Therefore, Alkyl chitosan film is of prospective properties as an implantable, absorbable agent for tissue heals, and this material need further research. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 105A: 3034-3041, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  14. Generation of an endogenous DNA-methylating agent by nitrosation in Escherichia coli.

    PubMed Central

    Taverna, P; Sedgwick, B

    1996-01-01

    Escherichia coli ada ogt mutants, which are totally deficient in O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferases, have an increased spontaneous mutation rate. This phenotype is particularly evident in starving cells and suggests the generation of an endogenous DNA alkylating agent under this growth condition. We have found that in wild-type cells, the level of the inducible Ada protein is 20-fold higher in stationary-phase and starving cells than in rapidly growing cells, thus enhancing the defense of these cells against DNA damage. The increased level of Ada in stationary cells is dependent on RpoS, a stationary-phase-specific sigma subunit of RNA polymerase. We have also identified a potential source of the mutagenic agent. Nitrosation of amides and related compounds can generate directly acting methylating agents and can be catalyzed by bacteria] enzymes. E. coli moa mutants, which are defective in the synthesis of a molybdopterin cofactor required by several reductases, are deficient in nitrosation activity. It is reported here that a moa mutant shows reduced generation of a mutagenic methylating agent from methylamine (or methylurea) and nitrite added to agar plates. Moreover, a moa mutation eliminates much of the spontaneous mutagenesis in ada ogt mutants. These observations indicate that the major endogenous mutagen is not S-adenosylmethionine but arises by bacterially catalyzed nitrosation. PMID:8752326

  15. Nature of the Elimination of the Penicillinase Plasmid from Staphylococcus aureus by Surface-Active Agents

    PubMed Central

    Sonstein, Stephen A.; Baldwin, J. N.

    1972-01-01

    Growth of Stapylococcus aureus in various ionic surface-active agents resulted in loss of the ability to produce penicillinase, whereas growth in nonionic surface-active agents had no effect on penicillinase production. The curing effect of various alkyl sulfates was found to be dependent upon the chain length. Curing by surface-active agents could be inhibited by magnesium. Reciprocal transduction experiments showed that curing by a surface-active agent was a property of the plasmid, not of the bacterial strain in which the plasmic resides. PMID:4204903

  16. Therapeutic Potential of a Non-Steroidal Bifunctional Anti-Inflammatory and Anti-Cholinergic Agent against Skin Injury Induced by Sulfur Mustard

    PubMed Central

    Chang, Yoke-Chen; Wang, James D.; Hahn, Rita A.; Gordon, Marion K.; Joseph, Laurie B.; Heck, Diane E.; Heindel, Ned D.; Young, Sherri C.; Sinko, Patrick J.; Casillas, Robert P.; Laskin, Jeffrey D.; Laskin, Debra L.; Gerecke, Donald R.

    2014-01-01

    Sulfur mustard (bis(2-chloroethyl) sulfide, SM) is a highly reactive bifunctional alkylating agent inducing edema, inflammation, and the formation of fluid-filled blisters in the skin. Medical countermeasures against SM-induced cutaneous injury have yet to be established. In the present studies, we tested a novel, bifunctional anti-inflammatory prodrug (NDH 4338) designed to target cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2), an enzyme that generates inflammatory eicosanoids, and acetylcholinesterase, an enzyme mediating activation of cholinergic inflammatory pathways in a model of SM-induced skin injury. Adult SKH-1 hairless male mice were exposed to SM using a dorsal skin vapor cup model. NDH 4338 was applied topically to the skin 24, 48, and 72 hr post-SM exposure. After 96 hr, SM was found to induce skin injury characterized by edema, epidermal hyperplasia, loss of the differentiation marker, keratin 10 (K10), upregulation of the skin wound marker keratin 6 (K6), disruption of the basement membrane anchoring protein laminin 322, and increased expression of epidermal COX2. NDH 4338 post-treatment reduced SM-induced dermal edema and enhanced skin re-epithelialization. This was associated with a reduction in COX2 expression, increased K10 expression in the suprabasal epidermis, and reduced expression of K6. NDH 4338 also restored basement membrane integrity, as evidenced by continuous expression of laminin 332 at the dermalepidermal junction. Taken together, these data indicate that a bifunctional anti-inflammatory prodrug stimulates repair of SM induced skin injury and may be useful as a medical countermeasure. PMID:25127551

  17. Therapeutic potential of a non-steroidal bifunctional anti-inflammatory and anti-cholinergic agent against skin injury induced by sulfur mustard.

    PubMed

    Chang, Yoke-Chen; Wang, James D; Hahn, Rita A; Gordon, Marion K; Joseph, Laurie B; Heck, Diane E; Heindel, Ned D; Young, Sherri C; Sinko, Patrick J; Casillas, Robert P; Laskin, Jeffrey D; Laskin, Debra L; Gerecke, Donald R

    2014-10-15

    Sulfur mustard (bis(2-chloroethyl) sulfide, SM) is a highly reactive bifunctional alkylating agent inducing edema, inflammation, and the formation of fluid-filled blisters in the skin. Medical countermeasures against SM-induced cutaneous injury have yet to be established. In the present studies, we tested a novel, bifunctional anti-inflammatory prodrug (NDH 4338) designed to target cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2), an enzyme that generates inflammatory eicosanoids, and acetylcholinesterase, an enzyme mediating activation of cholinergic inflammatory pathways in a model of SM-induced skin injury. Adult SKH-1 hairless male mice were exposed to SM using a dorsal skin vapor cup model. NDH 4338 was applied topically to the skin 24, 48, and 72 h post-SM exposure. After 96 h, SM was found to induce skin injury characterized by edema, epidermal hyperplasia, loss of the differentiation marker, keratin 10 (K10), upregulation of the skin wound marker keratin 6 (K6), disruption of the basement membrane anchoring protein laminin 322, and increased expression of epidermal COX2. NDH 4338 post-treatment reduced SM-induced dermal edema and enhanced skin re-epithelialization. This was associated with a reduction in COX2 expression, increased K10 expression in the suprabasal epidermis, and reduced expression of K6. NDH 4338 also restored basement membrane integrity, as evidenced by continuous expression of laminin 332 at the dermal-epidermal junction. Taken together, these data indicate that a bifunctional anti-inflammatory prodrug stimulates repair of SM induced skin injury and may be useful as a medical countermeasure. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Formation of N-alkylpyrroles via intermolecular redox amination.

    PubMed

    Pahadi, Nirmal K; Paley, Miranda; Jana, Ranjan; Waetzig, Shelli R; Tunge, Jon A

    2009-11-25

    A wide variety of aldehydes, ketones, and lactols undergo redox amination when allowed to react with 3-pyrroline in the presence of a mild Brønsted acid catalyst. This reaction utilizes the inherent reducing power of 3-pyrroline to perform the equivalent of a reductive amination to form alkyl pyrroles. In doing so, the reaction avoids stoichiometric reducing agents that are typically associated with reductive aminations. Moreover, the redox amination protocol allows access to alkyl pyrroles that cannot be made via standard reductive amination.

  19. Method for removing elemental sulfur in sour gas wells

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sample, T.E. Jr.

    1975-09-30

    A process is described for removing sulfur deposits from sour gas wells. The formation, well, and surface equipment are contacted with a chemical composition whose aqueous solution will solubilize the sulfur by primary chemical reaction and contains a wetting agent to facilitate and accelerate the sulfur dissolution and removal. The wetting agent or surfactant may be any of a wide variety of surface-active substances such as soaps, sodium or ammonium salts of alkyl or alkyl-aryl sulfates and sulfonates. Nonionic surfactants are preferred, such as ethoxylated substituted phenols. The aqueous solvents are capable of chemically reacting with sulfur to form water-solublemore » sulfur derivatives and include aqueous solutions of alkalies, bases (both inorganic and organic), ammonia, sulfites, bisulfites, etc. (6 claims)« less

  20. Safety Assessment of Alkyl Esters as Used in Cosmetics.

    PubMed

    Fiume, Monice M; Heldreth, Bart A; Bergfeld, Wilma F; Belsito, Donald V; Hill, Ronald A; Klaassen, Curtis D; Liebler, Daniel C; Marks, James G; Shank, Ronald C; Slaga, Thomas J; Snyder, Paul W; Andersen, F Alan

    2015-09-01

    The Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel (Panel) assessed the safety of 237 alkyl esters for use in cosmetics. The alkyl esters included in this assessment have a variety of reported functions in cosmetics, with skin-conditioning agent being the most common function. The Panel reviewed available animal and clinical data in making its determination of safety on these ingredients, and where there were data gaps, similarity in structure, properties, functions, and uses of these ingredients allowed for extrapolation of the available toxicological data to assess the safety of the entire group. The Panel concluded that these ingredients are safe in cosmetic formulations in the present practices of use and concentration when formulated to be nonirritating. © The Author(s) 2015.

  1. Alkylation Induced DNA Repair and Mutagenesis in Escherichia coli.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1987-11-23

    III (Gates and inn, 1977), Micrococcus luteus UV endo- nuclease (Grossman et al, 1978) and bacteriophage T UV endonuclease (Warner et al, 1980) have DNA...34, Garland Publishing, Inc. New York & London USA. Ather, A., Z. Ahmed and S. Riazxxddin, 1984. Adaptive response of Micrococcus luteus to alkylating...Laval, J., 3. Pierre and F. Laval. 1981. Release of 7-nmthylguanine residues frain alkylated ENA by extracts of Micrococcus luteus and Escherichia

  2. Novel multi-targeted agents for Alzheimer's disease: Synthesis, biological evaluation, and molecular modeling of novel 2-[4-(4-substitutedpiperazin-1-yl)phenyl]benzimidazoles.

    PubMed

    Ozadali-Sari, Keriman; Tüylü Küçükkılınç, Tuba; Ayazgok, Beyza; Balkan, Ayla; Unsal-Tan, Oya

    2017-06-01

    The present study describes the synthesis, pharmacological evaluation (BChE/AChE inhibition, Aβ antiaggregation, and neuroprotective effects), and molecular modeling studies of novel 2-[4-(4-substitutedpiperazin-1-yl)phenyl]benzimidazole derivatives. The alkyl-substituted derivatives exhibited selective inhibition on BChE with varying efficiency. Compounds 3b and 3d were found to be the most potent inhibitors of BChE with IC 50 values of 5.18 and 5.22μM, respectively. The kinetic studies revealed that 3b is a partial non-competitive BChE inhibitor. Molecular modeling studies also showed that the alkyl-substituted derivatives were able to reach the catalytic anionic site of the BChE. The compounds with an inhibitory effect on BChE were subsequently screened for their Aβ antiaggregating and neuroprotective activities. Compounds 3a and 3b exerted a potential neuroprotective effect against H 2 O 2 and Aβ-induced cytotoxicity in SH-SY5Y cells. Collectively, 3b was found as the most promising compound for the development of multi-target directed ligands against Alzheimer's disease. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Novel ascorbic acid based ionic liquids for the in situ synthesis of quasi-spherical and anisotropic gold nanostructures in aqueous medium.

    PubMed

    Dinda, Enakshi; Si, Satyabrata; Kotal, Atanu; Mandal, Tarun K

    2008-01-01

    A series of newly designed ascorbic acid based room temperature ionic liquids were successfully used to prepare quasi-spherical and anisotropic gold nanostructures in an aqueous medium at ambient temperature. The synthesis of these room temperature ionic liquids involves, first, the preparation of a 1-alkyl (such as methyl, ethyl, butyl, hexyl, octyl, and decyl) derivative of 3-methylimidazolium hydroxide followed by the neutralization of the derivatised product with ascorbic acid. These ionic liquids show significantly better thermal stability and their glass transition temperature (Tg) decreases with increasing alkyl chain length. The ascorbate counter anion of these ionic liquids acts as a reducing agent for HAuCl4 to produce metallic gold and the alkylated imidazolium counter cation acts as a capping/shape-directing agent. It has been found that the nature of the ionic liquids and the mole ratio of ionic liquid to HAuCl4 has a significant effect on the morphology of the formed gold nanostructures. If an equimolar mixture of ionic liquid and HAuCl4 is used, predominantly anisotropic gold nanostructures are formed and by varying the alkyl chain length attached to imidazolium cation of the ionic liquids, various particle morphologies can formed, such as quasispherical, raspberry-like, flakes or dendritic. A probable formation mechanism for such anisotropic gold nanostructures has been proposed, which is based on the results of some control experiments.

  4. The translesion polymerase Rev3L in the tolerance of alkylating anticancer drugs.

    PubMed

    Roos, Wynand Paul; Tsaalbi-Shtylik, Anastasia; Tsaryk, Roman; Güvercin, Fatma; de Wind, Niels; Kaina, Bernd

    2009-10-01

    Temozolomide and fotemustine, representing methylating and chloroethylating agents, respectively, are used in the treatment of glioma and malignant melanoma. Because chemoresistance of these tumors is a common phenomenon, identification of the underlying mechanisms is needed. Here we show that Rev3L, the catalytic subunit of the translesion DNA polymerase zeta, mediates resistance to both temozolomide and fotemustine. Rev3L knockout cells are hypersensitive to both agents. It is remarkable that cells heterozygous for Rev3L showed an intermediate sensitivity. Rev3L is not involved in the tolerance of the toxic O6-methylguanine lesion. However, a possible role of Rev3L in the tolerance of O6-chloroethylguanine or the subsequently formed N1-guanine-N3-cytosine interstrand cross-link is shown. Rev3L had no influence on base excision repair (BER) of the N-alkylation lesions but is very likely to be involved in the tolerance of N-alkylations or apurinic/apyrimidinic sites originating from them. We also show that Rev3L exerts its protective effect in replicating cells and that loss of Rev3L leads to a significant increase in DNA double-strand breaks after temozolomide and fotemustine treatment. These data show that Rev3L contributes to temozolomide and fotemustine resistance, thus acting in concert with O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase, BER, mismatch repair, and double-strand break repair in defense against simple alkylating anticancer drugs.

  5. Cell Fate of Müller Cells During Photoreceptor Regeneration in an N-Methyl-N-nitrosourea-Induced Retinal Degeneration Model of Zebrafish.

    PubMed

    Ogai, Kazuhiro; Hisano, Suguru; Sugitani, Kayo; Koriyama, Yoshiki; Kato, Satoru

    2016-01-01

    Zebrafish can regenerate several organs such as the tail fin, heart, central nervous system, and photoreceptors. Very recently, a study has demonstrated the photoreceptor regeneration in the alkylating agent N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU)-induced retinal degeneration (RD) zebrafish model, in which whole photoreceptors are lost within a week after MNU treatment and then regenerated within a month. The research has also shown massive proliferation of Müller cells within a week. To address the question of whether proliferating Müller cells are the source of regenerating photoreceptors, which remains unknown in the MNU-induced zebrafish RD model, we employed a BrdU pulse-chase technique to label the proliferating cells within a week after MNU treatment. As a result of the BrdU pulse-chase technique, a number of BrdU(+) cells were observed in the outer nuclear layer as well as the inner nuclear layer. This implies that regenerating photoreceptors are derived from proliferating Müller cells in the zebrafish MNU-induced RD model.

  6. Nitrogen Mustard-Induced Corneal Injury Involves DNA Damage and Pathways Related to Inflammation, Epithelial-Stromal Separation, and Neovascularization.

    PubMed

    Goswami, Dinesh G; Tewari-Singh, Neera; Dhar, Deepanshi; Kumar, Dileep; Agarwal, Chapla; Ammar, David A; Kant, Rama; Enzenauer, Robert W; Petrash, J Mark; Agarwal, Rajesh

    2016-02-01

    To evaluate the toxic effects and associated mechanisms in corneal tissue exposed to the vesicating agent, nitrogen mustard (NM), a bifunctional alkylating analog of the chemical warfare agent sulfur mustard. Toxic effects and associated mechanisms were examined in maximally affected corneal tissue using corneal cultures and human corneal epithelial (HCE) cells exposed to NM. Analysis of ex vivo rabbit corneas showed that NM exposure increased apoptotic cell death, epithelial thickness, epithelial-stromal separation, and levels of vascular endothelial growth factor, cyclooxygenase 2, and matrix metalloproteinase-9. In HCE cells, NM exposure resulted in a dose-dependent decrease in cell viability and proliferation, which was associated with DNA damage in terms of an increase in p53 ser15, total p53, and H2A.X ser139 levels. NM exposure also induced caspase-3 and poly ADP ribose polymerase cleavage, suggesting their involvement in NM-induced apoptotic death in the rabbit cornea and HCE cells. Similar to rabbit cornea, NM exposure caused an increase in cyclooxygenase 2, matrix metalloproteinase-9, and vascular endothelial growth factor levels in HCE cells, indicating a role of these molecules and related pathways in NM-induced corneal inflammation, epithelial-stromal separation, and neovascularization. NM exposure also induced activation of activator protein 1 transcription factor proteins and upstream signaling pathways including mitogen-activated protein kinases and Akt protein kinase, suggesting that these could be key factors involved in NM-induced corneal injury. Results from this study provide insight into the molecular targets and pathways that could be involved in NM-induced corneal injuries laying the background for further investigation of these pathways in vesicant-induced ocular injuries, which could be helpful in the development of targeted therapies.

  7. Nitrogen mustard-induced corneal injury involves DNA damage and pathways related to inflammation, epithelial-stromal separation and neovascularization

    PubMed Central

    Goswami, Dinesh G; Tewari-Singh, Neera; Dhar, Deepanshi; Kumar, Dileep; Agarwal, Chapla; Ammar, David A; Kant, Rama; Enzenauer, Robert W; Petrash, J Mark; Agarwal, Rajesh

    2015-01-01

    Purpose To evaluate the toxic effects and associated mechanisms in corneal tissue exposed to vesicating agent, nitrogen mustard (NM), a bi-functional alkylating analog of chemical warfare agent sulfur mustard (SM). Methods Toxic effects and associated mechanisms were examined in maximal affected corneal tissue employing corneal cultures and human corneal epithelial (HCE) cells exposed to nitrogen mustard (NM). Results Analysis of ex vivo rabbit corneas showed that NM exposure increased apoptotic cell death, epithelial thickness, epithelial-stromal separation and levels of VEGF, COX-2 and MMP-9. In HCE cells, NM exposure resulted in a dose-dependent decrease in cell viability and proliferation, which was associated with DNA damage in terms of an increase in p53 ser15, total p53 and H2A.X ser139 levels. NM exposure also induced caspase-3 and PARP cleavage, suggesting their involvement in NM-induced apoptotic death in rabbit cornea and HCE cells. Similar to rabbit cornea, NM exposure caused an increase in COX-2, MMP-9 and VEGF levels in HCE cells, indicating a role of these molecules and related pathways in NM-induced corneal inflammation, epithelial-stromal separation and neovascularization. NM exposure also induced activation of AP-1 transcription factor proteins and upstream signaling pathways including MAPKs and Akt, suggesting that these could be key factors involved in NM-induced corneal injury. Conclusion Results from this study provide insight into the molecular targets and pathways that could be involved in NM-induced corneal injuries laying the background for further investigation of these pathways in vesicant–induced ocular injuries, which could be helpful in the development of targeted therapies. PMID:26555588

  8. Targeting Homologous Recombination by Pharmacological Inhibitors Enhances the Killing Response of Glioblastoma Cells Treated with Alkylating Drugs.

    PubMed

    Berte, Nancy; Piée-Staffa, Andrea; Piecha, Nadine; Wang, Mengwan; Borgmann, Kerstin; Kaina, Bernd; Nikolova, Teodora

    2016-11-01

    Malignant gliomas exhibit a high level of intrinsic and acquired drug resistance and have a dismal prognosis. First- and second-line therapeutics for glioblastomas are alkylating agents, including the chloroethylating nitrosoureas (CNU) lomustine, nimustine, fotemustine, and carmustine. These agents target the tumor DNA, forming O 6 -chloroethylguanine adducts and secondary DNA interstrand cross-links (ICL). These cross-links are supposed to be converted into DNA double-strand breaks, which trigger cell death pathways. Here, we show that lomustine (CCNU) with moderately toxic doses induces ICLs in glioblastoma cells, inhibits DNA replication fork movement, and provokes the formation of DSBs and chromosomal aberrations. Since homologous recombination (HR) is involved in the repair of DSBs formed in response to CNUs, we elucidated whether pharmacologic inhibitors of HR might have impact on these endpoints and enhance the killing effect. We show that the Rad51 inhibitors RI-1 and B02 greatly ameliorate DSBs, chromosomal changes, and the level of apoptosis and necrosis. We also show that an inhibitor of MRE11, mirin, which blocks the formation of the MRN complex and thus the recognition of DSBs, has a sensitizing effect on these endpoints as well. In a glioma xenograft model, the Rad51 inhibitor RI-1 clearly enhanced the effect of CCNU on tumor growth. The data suggest that pharmacologic inhibition of HR, for example by RI-1, is a reasonable strategy for enhancing the anticancer effect of CNUs. Mol Cancer Ther; 15(11); 2665-78. ©2016 AACR. ©2016 American Association for Cancer Research.

  9. 77 FR 61515 - Alkyl Amines Polyalkoxylates; Exemption From the Requirement of a Tolerance

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-10-10

    ... polyoxyethylene polymers and fatty acids; carriers such as clay and diatomaceous earth; thickeners such as carrageenan and modified cellulose; wetting, spreading, and dispersing agents; propellants in aerosol...

  10. Design and in vitro activities of N-alkyl-N-[(8-R-2,2-dimethyl-2H-chromen-6-yl)methyl]heteroarylsulfonamides, novel small molecule Hypoxia Inducible Factor-1 (HIF-1) pathway inhibitors and anti-cancer agents

    PubMed Central

    Mun, Jiyoung; Jabbar, Adnan Abdul; Devi, Narra Sarojini; Yin, Shaoman; Wang, Yingzhe; Tan, Chalet; Culver, Deborah; Snyder, James P.; Van Meir, Erwin G.; Goodman, Mark M.

    2013-01-01

    The Hypoxia Inducible Factor (HIF) pathway is an attractive target for cancer as it controls tumor adaptation to growth under hypoxia and mediates chemo- and radiation resistance. We previously discovered 3,4-dimethoxy-N-[(2,2-dimethyl-2H-chromen-6-yl)methyl]-N-phenylbenzenesulfonamide, as a novel small molecule HIF-1 pathway inhibitor in a high-throughput cell-based assay, but its in vivo delivery is hampered by poor aqueous solubility (0.009 μM in water; logP7.4: 3.7). Here we describe the synthesis of twelve N-alkyl-N-[(8-R-2,2-dimethyl-2H-chromen-6-yl)methyl]heteroarylsulfonamides, which were designed to possess optimal lipophilicities and aqueous solubilities by in silico calculations. Experimental logP7.4 values of 8 of the 12 new analogs ranged from 1.2 ∼ 3.1. Aqueous solubilities of 3 analogs were measured, among which the most soluble N-[(8-methoxy-2,2-dimethyl-2H-chromen-6-yl)methyl]-N-(propan-2-yl)pyridine-2-sulfonamide had an aqueous solubility of 80 μM, e.g. a solubility improvement of ∼9,000-fold. The pharmacological optimization had minimal impact on drug efficacy as the compounds retained IC50 values at or below 5 μM in our HIF-dependent reporter assay. PMID:22746274

  11. Advance in Anti-tumor Mechanisms of Shikonin, Alkannin and their Derivatives.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Xu; Cui, Jia-Hua; Meng, Qing-Qing; Li, Shao-Shun; Zhou, Wen; Xiao, Sui

    2018-01-01

    Shikonin, alkannin and their derivatives, the main ingredient of Lithospermum erythrorhizon and Arnebia euchroma (Royle) Johnst native to Inner Mongolian and Northwest of China respectively, hold promising potentials for antitumor effects via multiple-target mechanisms. This review will emphasize the importance of their antitumor activity in apoptosis, necroptosis and immunogenic cell death, and expound the relationship of their antitumor activity and naphthoquinone scaffold that could generate ROS and alkylating agent. Meanwhile, the antitumor mechanisms of naturally-occurring shikonin, alkannin and their derivatives, which were divided into the direct interaction involved in alkylating agent, covalently binding the DNA and protein, as well as the indirect interaction mediated by ROS, nonspecifically influencing the mitochondria or multiple signal pathways, will be systematically summarized and discussed. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

  12. The Alkylating-HDAC Inhibition Fusion Principle: Taking Chemotherapy to the Next Level with the First in Class Molecule EDO-S101.

    PubMed

    Mehrling, Thomas; Chen, Yi

    2016-01-01

    Chemotherapy may still be an essential component to treat cancer in combination with new targeted therapies. But chemotherapy needs to get smarter in order to make those combination regimens more effective and also more tolerable, particularly for an aging population. We describe the first time the synthesis and pharmacological testing of a fusion molecule comprising of the alkylator bendamustine and the HDAC-inhibitor vorinostat. The drug was designed to allow for the exploitation of both mechanisms of action simultaneously with the goal to provide a molecule with superior efficacy over the single agents. The pharmacological testing confirms the full functional capacity of both moieties and encouraging pharmacological data raises the hope that the drug may turn out to be a great addition to the armentarium of anticancer agents.

  13. Risk of Subsequent Leukemia After a Solid Tumor in Childhood: Impact of Bone Marrow Radiation Therapy and Chemotherapy

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Allodji, Rodrigue S., E-mail: rodrigue.allodji@gustaveroussy.fr; Gustave Roussy, Villejuif; Paris Sud University, Orsay

    Purpose: To investigate the roles of radiation therapy and chemotherapy in the occurrence of subsequent leukemia after childhood cancer. Methods and Materials: We analyzed data from a case-control study with 35 cases and 140 controls. The active bone marrow (ABM) was segmented into 19 compartments, and the radiation dose was estimated in each. The chemotherapy drug doses were also estimated to enable adjustments. Models capable of accounting for radiation dose heterogeneity were implemented for analysis. Results: Univariate analysis showed a significant trend in the increase of secondary leukemia risk with radiation dose, after accounting for dose heterogeneity (P=.046). This trendmore » became nonsignificant after adjustment for doses of epipodophyllotoxins, alkylating agents, and platinum compounds and the first cancer on multivariate analysis (P=.388). The role of the radiation dose appeared to be dwarfed, mostly by the alkylating agents (odds ratio 6.9, 95% confidence interval 1.9-25.0). Among the patients who have received >16 Gy to the ABM, the radiogenic risk of secondary leukemia was about 4 times greater in the subgroup with no alkylating agents than in the subgroup receiving ≥10 g/m{sup 2}. Conclusions: Notwithstanding the limitations resulting from the size of our study population and the quite systematic co-treatment with chemotherapy, the use of detailed information on the radiation dose distribution to ABM enabled consideration of the role of radiation therapy in secondary leukemia induction after childhood cancer.« less

  14. EG-15THE METHYLATION STATUS OF MGMT IN MEDULLOBLASTOMA

    PubMed Central

    Shimizu, Yuzaburo; Kurimoto, Tomoko; Kondo, Akihide; Arai, Hajime

    2014-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Medulloblastoma is a highly malignant brain tumor in childhood. Some studies reported that alkylating chemotherapeutic drugs are effective agents in the treatment of patients with medulloblastoma. O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) is one of the DNA repair enzymes and plays a significant role in tumor resistance to alkylating agents. Low MGMT expression or MGMT promoter methylation have been found to be associated with favorable outcomes in malignant glioma patients treated with alkylating agents such as temozolomide. However, impact of MGMT status on clinical outcomes in medulloblastoma patients is not fully evaluated. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to investigate the association between MGMT status and the response for chemotherapy in pediatric patients with medulloblastoma. METHODS: Patients with medulloblastoma treated at our institution between 1995 and 2012 were reviewed retrospectively. Relevant clinical information including current disease status, tumor response to chemotherapy was obtained from the hospital charts. To evaluate the MGMT status, we performed bisulfite sequencing analysis to determine the methylation status of the MGMT promoter. RESULTS: Tumor material and detailed clinical information were available in 22 patients. Of them, 13 patients were alive (11 in CR), seven died of disease and two were lost to follow up. Five patients were with dissemination at diagnosis. We succeeded to evaluate both the MGMT status of tumors and the number of methylation sites in MGMT promoter. CONCLUSIONS: We studied the prognostic value of MGMT promoter methylation in medulloblastoma children.

  15. In vitro testing of drug combinations employing nilotinib and alkylating agents with regard to pretransplant conditioning treatment of advanced-phase chronic myeloid leukemia.

    PubMed

    Radujkovic, Aleksandar; Luft, Thomas; Dreger, Peter; Ho, Anthony D; Jens Zeller, W; Fruehauf, Stefan; Topaly, Julian

    2014-08-01

    The prognosis of patients with advanced-phase chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) remains dismal despite the availability of targeted therapies and allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT). Increasing the antileukemic efficacy of the pretransplant conditioning regimen may be a strategy to increase remission rates and duration. We therefore investigated the antiproliferative effects of nilotinib in combination with drugs that are usually used for conditioning: the alkylating agents mafosfamide, treosulfan, and busulfan. Drug combinations were tested in vitro in different imatinib-sensitive and imatinib-resistant BCR-ABL-positive cell lines. A tetrazolium-based MTT assay was used for the assessment and quantification of growth inhibition after exposure to alkylating agents alone or to combinations with nilotinib. Drug interaction was analyzed using the median-effect method of Chou and Talalay, and combination index (CI) values were calculated according to the classic isobologram equation. Treatment of imatinib-sensitive, BCR-ABL-positive K562 and LAMA84 cells with nilotinib in combination with mafosfamide, treosulfan, or busulfan resulted in synergistic (CI < 1), additive (CI ~ 1), and predominantly antagonistic (CI > 1) effects, respectively. In imatinib-resistant K562-R and LAMA84-R cells, all applied drug combinations were synergistic (CI < 1) at higher growth inhibition levels. Our in vitro data warrant further investigation and may provide the basis for nilotinib-supplemented conditioning regimens for allo-SCT in advanced-phase CML.

  16. Light of DNA-alkylating agents in castration-resistant prostate cancer cells: a novel mixed EGFR/DNA targeting combi-molecule.

    PubMed

    Liang, Guan-Can; Zheng, Hao-Feng; Chen, Yan-Xiong; Li, Teng-Cheng; Liu, Wei; Fang, You-Qiang

    2017-01-01

    The mechanism underlying the therapeutic effects of combi-molecule JDF12 on prostate cancer (PCa) DU145 cells remains still unclear. This study aimed to investigate the proteomic profile after JDF12 treatment in DU145 cells by comparing with that in Iressa treated cells and untreated cells. MTT was used to evaluate drug cytotoxicity, DAPI staining was done to assess apoptosis of cells, and flow cytometry was used to analyze cell cycle. iTRAQ and qPCR were employed to obtain the proteomic profiles of JDF12 treated, Iressa treated, and untreated DU145 cells, and validate the expression of selected differentially expressed proteins, respectively. JDF12 could significantly inhibit the proliferation and increase the apoptosis of DU145 cells when compared with Iressa or blank group. In total, 5071 proteins were obtained, out of which, 42, including 21 up-regulated and 21 down-regulated proteins, were differentially expressed in JDF12 group when compared with Iressa and blank groups. The up-regulated proteins were mainly involved in DNA damage/repair and energy metabolism; while the down-regulated proteins were mainly associated with cell apoptosis. qPCR confirmed the expression of several biologically important proteins in DU145 cells after JDF12 treatment. The molecular mechanisms of DNA alkylating agents on PCa therapy that with the assistant of EGFR-blocker were revealed on proteomic level, which may increase the possible applications of DNA alkylating agents and JDF12 on PCa therapy.

  17. Alkylating chemotherapeutic agents cyclophosphamide and melphalan cause functional injury to human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells.

    PubMed

    Kemp, Kevin; Morse, Ruth; Sanders, Kelly; Hows, Jill; Donaldson, Craig

    2011-07-01

    The adverse effects of melphalan and cyclophosphamide on hematopoietic stem cells are well-known; however, the effects on the mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) residing in the bone marrow are less well characterised. Examining the effects of chemotherapeutic agents on patient MSCs in vivo is difficult due to variability in patients and differences in the drug combinations used, both of which could have implications on MSC function. As drugs are not commonly used as single agents during high-dose chemotherapy (HDC) regimens, there is a lack of data comparing the short- or long-term effects these drugs have on patients post treatment. To help address these problems, the effects of the alkylating chemotherapeutic agents cyclophosphamide and melphalan on human bone marrow MSCs were evaluated in vitro. Within this study, the exposure of MSCs to the chemotherapeutic agents cyclophosphamide or melphalan had strong negative effects on MSC expansion and CD44 expression. In addition, changes were seen in the ability of MSCs to support hematopoietic cell migration and repopulation. These observations therefore highlight potential disadvantages in the use of autologous MSCs in chemotherapeutically pre-treated patients for future therapeutic strategies. Furthermore, this study suggests that if the damage caused by chemotherapeutic agents to marrow MSCs is substantial, it would be logical to use cultured allogeneic MSCs therapeutically to assist or repair the marrow microenvironment after HDC.

  18. The synthesis and biological evaluation of new DNA-directed alkylating agents, phenyl N-mustard-4-anilinoquinoline conjugates containing a urea linker.

    PubMed

    Marvania, Bhavin; Kakadiya, Rajesh; Christian, Wilson; Chen, Tai-Lin; Wu, Ming-Hsi; Suman, Sharda; Tala, Kiran; Lee, Te-Chang; Shah, Anamik; Su, Tsann-Long

    2014-08-18

    We synthesized a series of phenyl N-mustard-4-anilinoquinoline conjugates to study their antitumorigenic effects. These agents were prepared by the condensation of 4-[N,N-bis(2-chloroethyl)amino]phenyl isocyanate with 6-amino-4-methylamino or 4-anilinoquinolines. The structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies revealed that the C2-methylquinoline derivatives (18a-o) were generally more cytotoxic than the C2-phenylquinoline conjugates (23a-d) in inhibiting the cell growth of various human tumor cell lines in vitro. However, the methylamino or aniline substituents at C4 of quinoline did not influence the cytotoxic effects. The title conjugates were capable of inducing DNA cross-linking and promoting cell-cycle arrest at the G2/M phase. This study demonstrates that phenyl N-mustard-4-anilinoquinoline conjugates are generally more potent than phenyl N-mustard-4-anilinoquinazoline conjugates against the cell growth of various tumor cell-lines. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  19. The photochemical alkylation and reduction of heteroarenes.

    PubMed

    McCallum, T; Pitre, S P; Morin, M; Scaiano, J C; Barriault, L

    2017-11-01

    The functionalization of heteroarenes has been integral to the structural diversification of medicinally active molecules such as quinolines, pyridines, and phenanthridines. Electron-deficient heteroarenes are electronically compatible to react with relatively nucleophilic free radicals such as hydroxyalkyl. However, the radical functionalization of such heteroarenes has been marked by the use of transition-metal catalyzed processes that require initiators and stoichiometric oxidants. Herein, we describe the photochemical alkylation of quinolines, pyridines and phenanthridines, where through direct excitation of the protonated heterocycle, alcohols and ethers, such as methanol and THF, can serve as alkylating agents. We also report the discovery of a photochemical reduction of these heteroarenes using only iPrOH and HCl. Mechanistic studies to elucidate the underlying mechanism of these transformations, and preliminary results on catalytic methylations are also reported.

  20. SLURRY SOLVENT EXTRACTION PROCESS FOR THE RECOVERY OF METALS FROM SOLID MATERIALS

    DOEpatents

    Grinstead, R.R.

    1959-01-20

    A solvent extraction process is described for recovering uranium from low grade uranium bearing minerals such as carnotit or shale. The finely communited ore is made up as an aqueous slurry containing the necessary amount of acid to solubilize the uranium and simultaneously or subsequently contacted with an organic solvent extractant such as the alkyl ortho-, or pyro phosphoric acids, alkyl phosphites or alkyl phosphonates in combination with a diluent such as kerosene or carbon tetrachlorids. The extractant phase is separated from the slurry and treated by any suitable process to recover the uranium therefrom. One method for recovering the uranium comprises treating the extract with aqueous HF containing a reducing agent such as ferrous sulfate, which reduces the uranium and causes it to be precipitated as uranium tetrafluoride.

  1. Impact of Functional Group Modifications on Designer Phenethylamine Induced Hyperthermia.

    PubMed

    Grecco, Gregory G; Sprague, Jon E

    2016-05-16

    The popularity of designer phenethylamines such as synthetic cathinones ("bath salts") has led to increased reports of life-threatening hyperthermia. The diversity of chemical modifications has resulted in the toxicological profile of most synthetic cathinones being mostly uncharacterized. Here, we investigated the thermogenic effects of six recently identified designer phenethylamines (4-methylmethamphetamine, methylone, mephedrone, butylone, pentylone, and MDPV) and compared these effects to the established thermogenic agent 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). Specifically, we determined the impact of a β-ketone, α-alkyl, or pyrrolidine functional group on core-body temperature changes. Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 5-6) were administered a dose (30 mg/kg, sc) of a designer phenethylamine or MDMA, and core body temperature measurements were recorded at 30 min intervals for 150 min post treatment. MDMA elicited the greatest maximum temperature change (ΔTmax), and this effect was significantly greater than that of its β-ketone analogue, methylone. Temperature-area under the curves (TAUCs) and ΔTmax were also significantly different between 4-methylmethamphetamine (4-MMA) and its β-ketone analogue mephedrone. Lengthening the α-alkyl chain of methylone to produce butylone and pentylone significantly attenuated the thermogenic response on both TAUCs and ΔTmax compared to those of methylone; however, butylone and pentylone were not different from each other. Pyrrolidine substitution on the N-terminus of pentylone produces 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV), which did not significantly alter core body temperature. Thermogenic comparisons of MDMA vs methylone and 4-MMA vs mephedrone indicate that oxidation at the benzylic position significantly attenuates the hyperthermic response. Furthermore, either extending the α-alkyl chain to ethyl and propyl (butylone and pentylone, respectively) or extending the α-alkyl chain and adding a pyrrolidine on the N-terminus (MDPV) significantly blunted the thermogenic effects of methylone. Overall, the present study provides the first structure-activity relationship in vivo toxicological analysis of designer phenethylamines.

  2. Direct β-Alkylation of Aldehydes via Photoredox Organocatalysis

    PubMed Central

    2015-01-01

    Direct β-alkylation of saturated aldehydes has been accomplished by synergistically combining photoredox catalysis and organocatalysis. Photon-induced enamine oxidation provides an activated β-enaminyl radical intermediate, which readily combines with a wide range of Michael acceptors to produce β-alkyl aldehydes in a highly efficient manner. Furthermore, this redox-neutral, atom-economical C–H functionalization protocol can be achieved both inter- and intramolecularly. Mechanistic studies by various spectroscopic methods suggest that a reductive quenching pathway is operable. PMID:24754456

  3. Tumor prevalence and biomarkers of genotoxicity in brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus) in Chesapeake Bay tributaries

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Pinkney, Alfred E.; Harshbarger, John C.; Karouna-Renier, Natalie K.; Jenko, Kathryn; Balk, Lennart; Skarphéðinsdóttir, Halldora; Liewenborg, Birgitta; Rutter, Michael A.

    2011-01-01

    We surveyed four Chesapeake Bay tributaries for skin and liver tumors in brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus). We focused on the South River, where the highest skin tumor prevalence (53%) in the Bay watershed had been reported. The objectives were to 1) compare tumor prevalence with nearby rivers (Severn and Rhode) and a more remote river (Choptank); 2) investigate associations between tumor prevalence and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and alkylating agents; and 3) statistically analyze Chesapeake Bay bullhead tumor data from 1992 through 2008. All four South River collections exhibited high skin tumor prevalence (19% to 58%), whereas skin tumor prevalence was 2%, 10%, and 52% in the three Severn collections; 0% and 2% in the Choptank collections; and 5.6% in the Rhode collection. Liver tumor prevalence was 0% to 6% in all but one South River collection (20%) and 0% to 6% in the three other rivers. In a subset of samples, PAH-like biliary metabolites and 32P-DNA adducts were used as biomarkers of exposure and response to polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs). Adducts from alkylating agents were detected as O6-methyl-2'-deoxyguanosine (O6Me-dG) and O6-ethyl-2'-deoxyguanosine (O6Et-dG) modified DNA. Bullheads from the contaminated Anacostia River were used as a positive control for DNA adducts. 32P-DNA adduct concentrations were significantly higher in Anacostia bullhead livers compared with the other rivers. We identified alkyl DNA adducts in bullhead livers from the South and Anacostia, but not the Choptank. Neither the PAH-like bile metabolite data, sediment PAH data, nor the DNA adduct data suggest an association between liver or skin tumor prevalence and exposure to PACs or alkylating agents in the South, Choptank, Severn, or Rhode rivers. Logistic regression analysis of the Chesapeake Bay database revealed that sex and length were significant covariates for liver tumors and length was a significant covariate for skin tumors.

  4. Influence of promoter/enhancer region haplotypes on MGMT transcriptional regulation: a potential biomarker for human sensitivity to alkylating agents.

    PubMed

    Xu, Meixiang; Nekhayeva, Ilona; Cross, Courtney E; Rondelli, Catherine M; Wickliffe, Jeffrey K; Abdel-Rahman, Sherif Z

    2014-03-01

    The O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase gene (MGMT) encodes the direct reversal DNA repair protein that removes alkyl adducts from the O6 position of guanine. Several single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) exist in the MGMT promoter/enhancer (P/E) region. However, the haplotype structure encompassing these SNPs and their functional/biological significance are currently unknown. We hypothesized that MGMT P/E haplotypes, rather than individual SNPs, alter MGMT transcription and can thus alter human sensitivity to alkylating agents. To identify the haplotype structure encompassing the MGMT P/E region SNPs, we sequenced 104 DNA samples from healthy individuals and inferred the haplotypes using the data generated. We identified eight SNPs in this region, namely T7C (rs180989103), T135G (rs1711646), G290A (rs61859810), C485A (rs1625649), C575A (rs113813075), G666A (rs34180180), C777A (rs34138162) and C1099T (rs16906252). Phylogenetics and Sequence Evolution analysis predicted 21 potential haplotypes that encompass these SNPs ranging in frequencies from 0.000048 to 0.39. Of these, 10 were identified in our study population as 20 paired haplotype combinations. To determine the functional significance of these haplotypes, luciferase reporter constructs representing these haplotypes were transfected into glioblastoma cells and their effect on MGMT promoter activity was determined. Compared with the most common (reference) haplotype 1, seven haplotypes significantly upregulated MGMT promoter activity (18-119% increase; P < 0.05), six significantly downregulated MGMT promoter activity (29-97% decrease; P < 0.05) and one haplotype had no effect. Mechanistic studies conducted support the conclusion that MGMT P/E haplotypes, rather than individual SNPs, differentially regulate MGMT transcription and could thus play a significant role in human sensitivity to environmental and therapeutic alkylating agents.

  5. Disseminated cytomegalovirus infection complicating active treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus: an emerging problem.

    PubMed

    Berman, N; Belmont, H M

    2017-04-01

    Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) often require immunosuppression to induce remission of active disease exacerbations. Over the past two decades, treatment modalities for this condition have emerged leading to improved morbidity from disease related outcomes. However, as a result, infection risks and patterns have changed, leading to higher rates of opportunistic infections among this population. We report four cases of cytomegalovirus (CMV) in patients with SLE who received immunosuppressive therapy, including pulse steroids, antimetabolites such as mycophenolate mofetil, and alkylating agents such as cyclophosphamide. We propose that given the rise in prevalence of CMV, there is a need for appropriate screening for this opportunistic pathogen and studies to determine the risks and benefits of prophylactic or preemptive treatment for this virus.

  6. Verification, Dosimetry, and Biomonitoring of Mustard Gas Exposure via Immunochemical Detection of Mustard Gas Adducts to DNA and Proteins

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1993-07-01

    be a very effective alkylating agent for bases in DNA. Even in blood, with a variety of reactive sites, I out of 124 guanine bases was alkylated to...required for effective competition in the ELISA test, although it contained at least as many adducts as the single-stranded DNA. This difference is...competitor. 203 Figure 92: The effect of the concentration of mustard gas to which single-stranded calf-thymus DNA had been exposed on the 50% inhibition

  7. Synthesis of High-Load, Hybrid Silica-Immobilized Heterocyclic Benzyl Phosphate (Si–OHBP) and Triazolyl Phosphate (Si–OHTP) Alkylating Reagents

    PubMed Central

    2016-01-01

    The development of new ROMP-derived silica-immobilized heterocyclic phosphate reagents and their application in purification-free protocols is reported. Grafting of norbornenyl norbornenyl-functionalized (Nb-tagged) silica particles with functionalized Nb-tagged heterocyclic phosphate monomers efficiently yield high-load, hybrid silica-immobilized oligomeric heterobenzyl phosphates (Si–OHBP) and heterotriazolyl phosphates (Si–OHTP) as efficient alkylation agents. Applications of these reagents for the diversification of N-, O-, and S-nucleophilic species, for efficient heterobenzylation and hetero(triazolyl)methylation have been validated. PMID:27300761

  8. DNA Polymerase β as a Novel Target for Chemotherapeutic Intervention of Colorectal Cancer

    PubMed Central

    Jaiswal, Aruna S.; Banerjee, Sanjeev; Aneja, Ritu; Sarkar, Fazlul H.; Ostrov, David A.; Narayan, Satya

    2011-01-01

    Chemoprevention presents a major strategy for the medical management of colorectal cancer. Most drugs used for colorectal cancer therapy induce DNA-alkylation damage, which is primarily repaired by the base excision repair (BER) pathway. Thus, blockade of BER pathway is an attractive option to inhibit the spread of colorectal cancer. Using an in silico approach, we performed a structure-based screen by docking small-molecules onto DNA polymerase β (Pol-β) and identified a potent anti-Pol-β compound, NSC-124854. Our goal was to examine whether NSC-124854 could enhance the therapeutic efficacy of DNA-alkylating agent, Temozolomide (TMZ), by blocking BER. First, we determined the specificity of NSC-124854 for Pol-β by examining in vitro activities of APE1, Fen1, DNA ligase I, and Pol-β-directed single nucleotide (SN)- and long-patch (LP)-BER. Second, we investigated the effect of NSC-124854 on the efficacy of TMZ to inhibit the growth of mismatch repair (MMR)-deficient and MMR-proficient colon cancer cell lines using in vitro clonogenic assays. Third, we explored the effect of NSC-124854 on TMZ-induced in vivo tumor growth inhibition of MMR-deficient and MMR-proficient colonic xenografts implanted in female homozygous SCID mice. Our data showed that NSC-124854 has high specificity to Pol-β and blocked Pol-β-directed SN- and LP-BER activities in in vitro reconstituted system. Furthermore, NSC-124854 effectively induced the sensitivity of TMZ to MMR-deficient and MMR-proficient colon cancer cells both in vitro cell culture and in vivo xenograft models. Our findings suggest a potential novel strategy for the development of highly specific structure-based inhibitor for the prevention of colonic tumor progression. PMID:21311763

  9. Collision induced dissociation of protonated N-nitrosodimethylamine by ion trap mass spectrometry: Ultimate carcinogens in gas phase

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kulikova, Natalia; Baker, Michael; Gabryelski, Wojciech

    2009-12-01

    Collision induced dissociation of protonated N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) and isotopically labeled N-nitrosodimethyl-d6-amine (NDMA-d6) was investigated by sequential ion trap mass spectrometry to establish mechanisms of gas phase reactions leading to intriguing products of this potent carcinogen. The fragmentation of (NDMA + H+) occurs via two dissociation pathways. In the alkylation pathway, homolytic cleavage of the N-O bond of N-dimethyl, N'-hydroxydiazenium ion generates N-dimethyldiazenium distonic ion which reacts further by a CH3 radical loss to form methanediazonium ion. Both methanediazonium ion and its precursor are involved in ion/molecule reactions. Methanediazonium ion showed to be capable of methylating water and methanol molecules in the gas phase of the ion trap and N-dimethyldiazenium distonic ion showed to abstract a hydrogen atom from a solvent molecule. In the denitrosation pathway, a tautomerization of N-dimethyl, N'-hydroxydiazenium ion to N-nitrosodimethylammonium intermediate ion results in radical cleavage of the N-N bond of the intermediate ion to form N-dimethylaminium radical cation which reacts further through [alpha]-cleavage to generate N-methylmethylenimmonium ion. Although the reactions of NDMA in the gas phase are different to those for enzymatic conversion of NDMA in biological systems, each activation method generates the same products. We will show that collision induced dissociation of N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA) and N-nitrosodipropylamine (NDPA) is also a feasible approach to gain information on formation, stability, and reactivity of alkylating agents originating from NDEA and NDPA. Investigating such biologically relevant, but highly reactive intermediates in the condensed phase is hampered by the short life-times of these transient species.

  10. Immunosuppressive therapy for eye diseases: Effectiveness, safety, side effects and their prevention

    PubMed Central

    Hornbeak, Dana M.; Thorne, Jennifer E.

    2015-01-01

    Ocular inflammation is a significant cause of ocular morbidity and visual impairment. Topical, periocular, intraocular, and systemic corticosteroids are highly effective for treating appropriate forms of ocular inflammation. However, their use may be constrained by local and/or systemic side effects, especially if long-term therapy is required. As a result, immunosuppressive agents increasingly have been used to manage ocular inflammation alongside or in place of corticosteroids. The four categories of agents used today are antimetabolites [primarily methotrexate, mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), and azathioprine]; T-cell inhibitors (usually cyclosporine, less often tacrolimus or sirolimus); alkylating agents (cyclophos-phamide and chlorambucil); and biologic agents [tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors, lymphocyte inhibitors, and interleukin inhibitors]. The primary goals of immunosuppressive therapy are (1) to control inflammation when corticosteroids fail to do so; (2) to prevent corticosteroid-induced toxicity when the necessary corticosteroid dosage exceeds the desired or safe level (corticosteroid sparing); and (3) to treat specific high-risk uveitis syndromes known to respond poorly to corticosteroids alone. Growing evidence shows the effectiveness of immunosuppressive drugs in achieving these goals, as well as improved visual function, prevention of ocular complications, and in some cases even disease remission. However, these agents also have side effects, which must be considered in each patient's management. In this report, we summarize the effectiveness and safety of immunosuppressive drug therapy utilized in the treatment of ocular inflammatory diseases. PMID:29018691

  11. Drilling fluid containing a copolymer filtration control agent

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Lucas, J. M.

    1985-10-15

    The invention relates to an aqueous drilling fluid composition, a filtration control agent for utilization in said aqueous drilling fluid, and a method of forming a filter cake on the wall of a well for the reduction of filtrate from said drilling fluid, by utilization of a copolymer of: a (meth) acrylamido alkyl sulfonic acid or alkali metal salt thereof; and N, N-dialkyl (meth) acrylamide. The copolymer may be cross-linked with N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide or other appropriate cross-linking agent.

  12. Development of polyimide foams with blowing agents

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gagliani, John (Inventor); Sorathia, Usman A. K. (Inventor); Lee, Raymond (Inventor)

    1985-01-01

    A method of preparing a polyimide foam which includes the steps of: preparing, foaming, and curing a precursor containing at least one alkyl ester of 3,3'4,4'-benzophenonetetracarboxylic acid; a meta- or para-substituted aromatic diamine; a heterocyclic diamine; an aliphatic diamine; and a solid blowing agent. The blowing agent is added to said precursor in a concentration which is sufficient to effect at least one of the following attributes of the foam: cell size, proportion of open cells, cell density, and indentation load deflection.

  13. Alkylation of histidine residues of Bothrops jararacussu venom proteins and isolated phospholipases A2: a biotechnological tool to improve the production of antibodies.

    PubMed

    Guimarães, C L S; Andrião-Escarso, S H; Moreira-Dill, L S; Carvalho, B M A; Marchi-Salvador, D P; Santos-Filho, N A; Fernandes, C A H; Fontes, M R M; Giglio, J R; Barraviera, B; Zuliani, J P; Fernandes, C F C; Calderón, L A; Stábeli, R G; Albericio, F; da Silva, S L; Soares, A M

    2014-01-01

    Crude venom of Bothrops jararacussu and isolated phospholipases A2 (PLA2) of this toxin (BthTX-I and BthTX-II) were chemically modified (alkylation) by p-bromophenacyl bromide (BPB) in order to study antibody production capacity in function of the structure-function relationship of these substances (crude venom and PLA2 native and alkylated). BthTX-II showed enzymatic activity, while BthTX-I did not. Alkylation reduced BthTX-II activity by 50% while this process abolished the catalytic and myotoxic activities of BthTX-I, while reducing its edema-inducing activity by about 50%. Antibody production against the native and alkylated forms of BthTX-I and -II and the cross-reactivity of antibodies to native and alkylated toxins did not show any apparent differences and these observations were reinforced by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) data. Histopathological analysis of mouse gastrocnemius muscle sections after injection of PBS, BthTX-I, BthTX-II, or both myotoxins previously incubated with neutralizing antibody showed inhibition of the toxin-induced myotoxicity. These results reveal that the chemical modification of the phospholipases A2 (PLA2) diminished their toxicity but did not alter their antigenicity. This observation indicates that the modified PLA2 may provide a biotechnological tool to attenuate the toxicity of the crude venom, by improving the production of antibodies and decreasing the local toxic effects of this poisonous substance in animals used to produce antivenom.

  14. Alkylarylnitrosoureas--stability in aqueous solution, partition coefficient, alkylating activity and its relationship to SCE induction in Chinese hamster V 79-E cells.

    PubMed

    Mendel, J; Thust, R; Schwarz, H

    1982-01-01

    The alkylating activity, chemical stability in aqueous solution (pH 7.0; 37 degrees C), and partition coefficient (octanol/water) of the following compounds were determined: 1-methyl-3-phenyl-1-nitrosourea (MPNU), 1-ethyl-3-phenyl-1-nitrosourea (EPNU), 1-isopropyl-3-phenyl-1-nitrosourea (i-PrPNU), 1-methyl-3-(p-fluorophenyl)-1-nitrosourea (F-MPNU), 1-methyl-3-(p-chlorophenyl)-1-nitrosourea (Cl-MPNU), 1-methyl-3-(p-bromophenyl)-1-nitrosourea (Br-MPNU), 1,3-dimethyl-3-phenyl-1-nitrosourea (DMPNU), and 1-methyl-3-naphthyl-1-nitrosocarbamate (NCA). 1-Methyl-1-nitrosourea (MNU) and 1-ethyl-1-nitrosourea (ENU) were used for the comparison. THe rate of decomposition in aqueous solution is discussed concerning the influences of the substituents at the 1- and 3-N-atom. The mono- and disubstituted N-nitrosoureas showed a coarse correlation between alkylating activity and SCE induction in Chinese hamster V 79-E cells. On the other hand, this correlation is missing in the case of NCA, which is a potent SCE inducer despite relatively low alkylating activity. DMPNU is the strongest SCE inducer, but this compound shows a high stability in aqueous solution and, consequently, we were not able to detect an alkylating activity.

  15. Mechanisms underlying 3-bromopyruvate-induced cell death in colon cancer.

    PubMed

    Sun, Yiming; Liu, Zhe; Zou, Xue; Lan, Yadong; Sun, Xiaojin; Wang, Xiu; Zhao, Surong; Jiang, Chenchen; Liu, Hao

    2015-08-01

    3-Bromopyruvate (3BP) is an energy-depleting drug that inhibits Hexokinase II activity by alkylation during glycolysis, thereby suppressing the production of ATP and inducing cell death. As such, 3BP can potentially serve as an anti-tumorigenic agent. Our previous research showed that 3BP can induce apoptosis via AKT /protein Kinase B signaling in breast cancer cells. Here we found that 3BP can also induce colon cancer cell death by necroptosis and apoptosis at the same time and concentration in the SW480 and HT29 cell lines; in the latter, autophagy was also found to be a mechanism of cell death. In HT29 cells, combined treatment with 3BP and the autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine (3-MA) exacerbated cell death, while viability in 3BP-treated cells was enhanced by concomitant treatment with the caspase inhibitor benzyloxycarbonyl-Val-Ala-Asp fluoromethylketone (z-VAD-fmk) and the necroptosis inhibitor necrostatin (Nec)-1. Moreover, 3BP inhibited tumor growth in a SW480 xenograft mouse model. These results indicate that 3BP can suppress tumor growth and induce cell death by multiple mechanisms at the same time and concentration in different types of colon cancer cell by depleting cellular energy stores.

  16. Reversion of 6-thioguanine resistant Chinese hamster cell lines: agent specificity and evidence for the repair of promutagenic lesions.

    PubMed

    Hodgkiss, R J; Brennand, J; Fox, M

    1980-02-01

    The kinetics and mutagen specificity of reversion of an HGPRT(-)TG(R) line of Chinese hamster cells have been examined in detail by measuring the frequency of HAT(R) colonies. Alkylating agents which produce relatively high levels of O-atom reaction were effective in inducing reversion. MMS, DMS and u.v. were less efficient, and aflatoxin B1, acridine orange and N-acetoxy-AAF were completely ineffective. For agents which were effective, the relationship between HAT(R) colony frequency and dose of mutagen was linear at early expression times (6 h). HAT(R) colony frequency fell subsequently at all doses and the rate and extent of the fall was inversely related to dose. These observations suggest repair of a pro-mutagenic DNA lesion. Other TG(R) mutants isolated from the same wild-type cell line under different selective conditions were also tested for revertibility after exposure to the same mutagens. The majority did not revert, this suggests that they carry deletions within the structural gene for HGPRT. The infrequent revertible lines all arose spontaneously and our evidence suggests that they carry nonsense mutations.

  17. Α-aryl-N-alkyl nitrones, as potential agents for stroke treatment: synthesis, theoretical calculations, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, and brain-blood barrier permeability properties.

    PubMed

    Chioua, Mourad; Sucunza, David; Soriano, Elena; Hadjipavlou-Litina, Dimitra; Alcázar, Alberto; Ayuso, Irene; Oset-Gasque, María Jesús; González, María Pilar; Monjas, Leticia; Rodríguez-Franco, María Isabel; Marco-Contelles, José; Samadi, Abdelouahid

    2012-01-12

    We report the synthesis, theoretical calculations, the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective properties, and the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) of (Z)-α-aryl and heteroaryl-N-alkyl nitrones as potential agents for stroke treatment. The majority of nitrones compete with DMSO for hydroxyl radicals, and most of them are potent lipoxygenase inhibitors. Cell viability-related (MTT assay) studies clearly showed that nitrones 1-3 and 10 give rise to significant neuroprotection. When compounds 1-11 were tested for necrotic cell death (LDH release test) nitrones 1-3, 6, 7, and 9 proved to be neuroprotective agents. In vitro evaluation of the BBB penetration of selected nitrones 1, 2, 10, and 11 using the PAMPA-BBB assay showed that all of them cross the BBB. Permeable quinoline nitrones 2 and 3 show potent combined antioxidant and neuroprotective properties and, therefore, can be considered as new lead compounds for further development in specific tests for potential stroke treatment.

  18. A Short Review on the Synthetic Strategies of Duocarmycin Analogs that are Powerful DNA Alkylating Agents.

    PubMed

    Patil, Pravin C; Satam, Vijay; Lee, Moses

    2015-01-01

    The duocarmycins and CC-1065 are members of a class of DNA minor groove, AT-sequence selective, and adenine-N3 alkylating agents, isolated from Streptomyces sp. that exhibit extremely potent cytotoxicity against the growth of cancer cells grown in culture. Initial synthesis and structural modification of the cyclopropa[c] pyrrolo[3,2-e]indole (CPI) DNA-alkylating motif as well as the indole non-covalent binding region in the 1980s have led to several compounds that entered clinical trials as potential anticancer drugs. However, due to significant systemic toxicity none of the analogs have passed clinical evaluation. As a result, the intensity in the design, synthesis, and development of novel analogs of the duocarmycins has continued. Accordingly, in this review, which covers a period from the 1990s through the present time, the design and synthesis of duocarmycin SA are described along with the synthesis of novel and highly cytotoxic analogs that lack the chiral center. Examples of achiral analogs of duocarmycin SA described in this review include seco-DUMSA (39 and 40), seco-amino-CBI-TMI (13, Centanamycin), and seco-hydroxy-CBI-TMI (14). In addition, another novel class of biologically active duocarmycin SA analogs that contained the seco-iso-cyclopropylfurano[2,3-e]indoline (seco-iso-CFI) and seco-cyclopropyltetrahydrofurano[2,3-f]quinoline (seco-CFQ) DNA alkylating submit was also designed and synthesized. The synthesis of seco-iso-CFI-TMI (10, Tafuramycin A) and seco-CFQ-TMI (11, Tafuramycin B) is included in this review.

  19. Synthesis and antibacterial activity of Schiff bases and amines derived from alkyl 2-(2-formyl-4-nitrophenoxy)alkanoates.

    PubMed

    Goszczyńska, Agata; Kwiecień, Halina; Fijałkowski, Karol

    A series of novel Schiff bases and secondary amines were obtained in good yields, as a result of the reductive amination of alkyl 2-(2-formyl-4-nitrophenoxy)alkanoates with both aniline and 4-methoxyaniline under established mild reaction conditions. Sodium triacetoxyborohydride as well as hydrogen in the presence of palladium on carbon were used as efficient reducing agents of the Schiff bases, in both direct and stepwise reductive amination processes. The Schiff bases, amines, and amine hydrochlorides were designed as potential antibacterial agents, and structure-activity relationship could be established following in vitro assays against Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The minimal inhibitory concentration and zone of inhibition were also determined. In these tests, some of Schiff bases and secondary amine hydrochlorides showed moderate-to-good activity against Gram-positive bacteria, including S. aureus , M. luteus , and S. mutans .

  20. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometric studies of O-alkyl O-2-(N,N-dialkylamino) ethyl alkylphosphonites(phosphonates) for chemical weapons convention verification.

    PubMed

    Saeidian, Hamid; Babri, Mehran; Ramezani, Atefeh; Ashrafi, Davood; Sarabadani, Mansour; Naseri, Mohammad Taghi

    2013-01-01

    The electron ionization (EI) mass spectra of a series of O-alkyl O-2-(N,N-dialkylaminolethyl alkylphosphonites(phosphonates), which are precursors of nerve agents, were studied for Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) verification. General El fragmentation pathways were constructed and discussed. Proposed fragment structures were confirmed through analyzing fragment ions of deuterated analogs and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The observed fragment ions are due to different fragmentation pathways such as hydrogen and McLafferty+1 rearrangements, alkene, amine and alkoxy elimination by alpha- or beta-cleavage process. Fragment ions distinctly allow unequivocal identification of the interested compounds including those of isomeric compounds. The presence and abundance of fragment ions were found to depend on the size and structure of the alkyl group attached to nitrogen, phosphorus and oxygen atoms.

  1. 2-Sulfonylpyrimidines: Mild alkylating agents with anticancer activity toward p53-compromised cells.

    PubMed

    Bauer, Matthias R; Joerger, Andreas C; Fersht, Alan R

    2016-09-06

    The tumor suppressor p53 has the most frequently mutated gene in human cancers. Many of p53's oncogenic mutants are just destabilized and rapidly aggregate, and are targets for stabilization by drugs. We found certain 2-sulfonylpyrimidines, including one named PK11007, to be mild thiol alkylators with anticancer activity in several cell lines, especially those with mutationally compromised p53. PK11007 acted by two routes: p53 dependent and p53 independent. PK11007 stabilized p53 in vitro via selective alkylation of two surface-exposed cysteines without compromising its DNA binding activity. Unstable p53 was reactivated by PK11007 in some cancer cell lines, leading to up-regulation of p53 target genes such as p21 and PUMA. More generally, there was cell death that was independent of p53 but dependent on glutathione depletion and associated with highly elevated levels of reactive oxygen species and induction of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, as also found for the anticancer agent PRIMA-1(MET)(APR-246). PK11007 may be a lead for anticancer drugs that target cells with nonfunctional p53 or impaired reactive oxygen species (ROS) detoxification in a wide variety of mutant p53 cells.

  2. Subclinical impairment of ovarian reserve in systemic lupus erythematosus patients with normal menstruation not using alkylating therapy.

    PubMed

    Ma, Wenhong; Zhan, Zhongping; Liang, Xiaoyan; Chen, Jianhui; Huang, Xingfang; Liao, Caiyun

    2013-12-01

    Disease activity is a major factor in menstrual disorders in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients not receiving alkylating therapy. However, the ovarian reserve of SLE women with normal menstruation is still unclear. Twenty-three SLE patients naïve to cytotoxic agents (SLE group) and nineteen SLE patients receiving current or previous cyclophosphamide (CTX) therapy (without other cytotoxic agents; SLE-CTX group) were enrolled. Twenty-one age-matched healthy women served as controls. All patients and controls had a regular menstrual cycle. Basal hormone levels, including follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), estradiol (E2), and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH), and antral follicle count (AFC) were analyzed in the two study groups and compared with the control group. No significant differences were found between the SLE, SLE-CTX, and control groups in age, body mass index (BMI), and basal FSH and LH levels. The E2 (P=0.023) levels were high and the AMH (P=0.000) values and AFC (P=0.001) were significantly lower in the SLE and SLE-CTX groups compared to control. However, these values were similar between the SLE and SLE-CTX groups. SLE patients not receiving alkylating therapy who had normal menstruation and short illness duration still had an impaired ovarian reserve.

  3. Effects of treatment on fertility in long-term survivors of childhood or adolescent cancer

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Byrne, J.; Mulvihill, J.J.; Myers, M.H.

    In a retrospective cohort study of survivors of cancer and of controls, we estimated the risk of infertility after treatment for cancer during childhood or adolescence. We interviewed 2283 long-term survivors of childhood or adolescent cancer diagnosed in the period from 1945 through 1975, who were identified at five cancer centers in the United States. Requirements for admission to the study were diagnosis before the age of 20, survival for at least five years, and attainment of the age of 21. In addition, 3270 controls selected from among the survivors' siblings were interviewed. Cox regression analysis showed that cancer survivorsmore » who married and were presumed to be at risk of pregnancy were less likely than their sibling controls to have ever begun a pregnancy (relative fertility, 0.85; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.78 to 0.92). Radiation therapy directed below the diaphragm depressed fertility in both sexes by about 25 percent. Chemotherapy with alkylating agents, with or without radiation to sites below the diaphragm, was associated with a fertility deficit of about 60 percent in the men. Among the women, there was no apparent effect of alkylating-agent therapy administered alone (relative fertility, 1.02) and only a moderate fertility deficit when alkylating-agent therapy was combined with radiation below the diaphragm (relative fertility, 0.81). Relative fertility in the survivors varied considerably according to sex, site of cancer, and type of treatment; these factors should be taken into consideration in counseling survivors about the long-term consequences of disease.« less

  4. Impact of Radiation and Chemotherapy on Risk of Dental Abnormalities: A Report from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study

    PubMed Central

    Kaste, Sue C.; Goodman, Pamela; Leisenring, Wendy; Stovall, Marilyn; Hayashi, Robert; Yeazel, Mark; Beiraghi, Soraya; Hudson, Melissa M.; Sklar, Charles A.; Robison, Leslie L.; Baker, K. Scott

    2009-01-01

    Purpose Describe frequencies and risk factors of altered oral health and odontogenesis in childhood cancer survivors. Patients and Methods 9308 survivors, diagnosed between 1970–1986, and 2951 siblings from Childhood Cancer Survivor Study completed a survey containing oral-dental health information. We analyzed treatment impact, socioeconomic data and patient demographics on dental outcomes using univariate and multivariate logistic regression models to estimate odds ratios (OR). Results In multivariate analysis, survivors more likely reported microdontia (OR 3.0, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.4–3.8), hypodontia (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.4–2.0), root abnormalities (OR 3.0, 95% CI 2.2–4.0), abnormal enamel (OR 2.4, 95% CI 2.0–2.9), teeth loss ≥6 (OR 2.6, 95% CI 1.9–3.6), severe gingivitis (OR 1.2, 95% CI 1.0–1.5), xerostomia (OR 9.7, 95% CI 4.8–19.7). Controlling for chemotherapy and socio-economic factors, radiation exposure of ≥20Gy to dentition was significantly associated with increased risk of ≥1 dental abnormality. Dose-dependent alkylating agent therapy significantly increased risk ≥1 anatomic/developmental dental abnormalities in survivors diagnosed <5 years of age (OR 1.7, 2.7, 3.3 for alkylating agent score of 1, 2, 3, respectively). Conclusion Radiation and chemotherapy are independent risk factors for adverse oral-dental sequelae among childhood cancer survivors. Patients receiving alkylating agents at < 5 years should be closely monitored. PMID:19834960

  5. Anti-tumor activities of lipids and lipid analogues and their development as potential anticancer drugs.

    PubMed

    Murray, Michael; Hraiki, Adam; Bebawy, Mary; Pazderka, Curtis; Rawling, Tristan

    2015-06-01

    Lipids have the potential for development as anticancer agents. Endogenous membrane lipids, such as ceramides and certain saturated fatty acids, have been found to modulate the viability of tumor cells. In addition, many tumors over-express cyclooxygenase, lipoxygenase or cytochrome P450 enzymes that mediate the biotransformation of ω-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) to potent eicosanoid regulators of tumor cell proliferation and cell death. In contrast, several analogous products from the biotransformation of ω-3 PUFAs impair particular tumorigenic pathways. For example, the ω-3 17,18-epoxide of eicosapentaenoic acid activates anti-proliferative and proapoptotic signaling cascades in tumor cells and the lipoxygenase-derived resolvins are effective inhibitors of inflammatory pathways that may drive tumor expansion. However, the development of potential anti-cancer drugs based on these molecules is complex, with in vivo stability a major issue. Nevertheless, recent successes with the antitumor alkyl phospholipids, which are synthetic analogues of naturally-occurring membrane phospholipid esters, have provided the impetus for development of further molecules. The alkyl phospholipids have been tested against a range of cancers and show considerable activity against skin cancers and certain leukemias. Very recently, it has been shown that combination strategies, in which alkyl phospholipids are used in conjunction with established anticancer agents, are promising new therapeutic approaches. In future, the evaluation of new lipid-based molecules in single-agent and combination treatments may also be assessed. This could provide a range of important treatment options in the management of advanced and metastatic cancer. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Expression in mammalian cells of the Escherichia coli O6 alkylguanine-DNA-alkyltransferase gene ogt reduces the toxicity of alkylnitrosoureas.

    PubMed Central

    Harris, L. C.; Margison, G. P.

    1993-01-01

    V79 Chinese hamster cells expressing either the O6-alkylguanine-DNA-alkyltransferase (ATase) encoded by the E. coli ogt gene or a truncated version of the E. coli ada gene have been exposed to various alkylnitrosoureas to investigate the contribution of ATase repairable lesions to the toxicity of these compounds. Both ATases are able to repair O6-alkylguanine (O6-AlkG) and O4-alkylthymine (O4-AlkT) but the ogt ATase is more efficient in the repair of O4-methylthymine (O4-MeT) and higher alkyl derivatives of O6-AlkG than is the ada ATase. Expression of the ogt ATase provided greater protection against the toxic effects of the alkylating agents then the ada ATase particularly with N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) and N-butyl-N-nitrosourea (BNU) to which the ada ATase expressing cells were as sensitive as parent vector transfected cells. Although ogt was expressed at slightly higher levels than the truncated ada in the transfected cells, this could not account for the differential protection observed. For-N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) the increased protection in ogt-transfected cells is consistent with O4-MeT acting as a toxic lesion. For the longer chain alkylating agents and chloroethylating agents, the protection afforded by the ogt protein may be a consequence of the more efficient repair of O6-AlkG, O4-AlkT or both of these lesions in comparison with the ada-encoded ATase. Images Figure 2 Figure 3 PMID:8512805

  7. Exposure to a First World War blistering agent.

    PubMed

    Le, H Q; Knudsen, S J

    2006-04-01

    Sulfur mustards act as vesicants and alkylating agents. They have been used as chemical warfare since 1917 during the first world war. This brief report illustrates the progression of injury on a primary exposed patient to a first world war blistering agent. This case documents the rapid timeline and progression of symptoms. It emphasises the importance of appropriate personal protective equipment and immediate medical response plan with rapid decontamination and proper action from military and civilian medical treatment facilities. This case reports the first US active duty military exposure to a blistering agent in the age of global terrorism.

  8. Immunomodulatory therapy for ocular inflammatory disease: a basic manual and review of the literature.

    PubMed

    Okada, Annabelle A

    2005-01-01

    Corticosteroids are used as first-line treatment for many ocular inflammatory conditions. The risk of adverse effects, however, necessitates conversion to steroid-sparing immunomodulatory therapy (IMT) for disease that is recurrent, chronic, or poorly responsive to treatment. Combination drug treatments with multiple agent 'recipes' are also considered. Immunomodulatory agents include the broad categories of antimetabolites (azathioprine, methotrexate, mycophenolate mofetil), alkylating agents (cyclophosphamide, chlorambucil), T-cell inhibitors (cyclosporine, tacrolimus), and cytokines (interferon alfa). This article reviews and summarizes the evidence for IMT agent use in the treatment of various forms of ocular inflammation.

  9. Inflammatory biomarkers of sulfur mustard analog 2-chloroethyl ethyl sulfide-induced skin injury in SKH-1 hairless mice.

    PubMed

    Tewari-Singh, Neera; Rana, Sumeet; Gu, Mallikarjuna; Pal, Arttatrana; Orlicky, David J; White, Carl W; Agarwal, Rajesh

    2009-03-01

    Sulfur mustard (HD) is an alkylating and cytotoxic chemical warfare agent, which inflicts severe skin toxicity and an inflammatory response. Effective medical countermeasures against HD-caused skin toxicity are lacking due to limited knowledge of related mechanisms, which is mainly attributed to the requirement of more applicable and efficient animal skin toxicity models. Using a less toxic analog of HD, chloroethyl ethyl sulfide (CEES), we identified quantifiable inflammatory biomarkers of CEES-induced skin injury in dose- (0.05-2 mg) and time- (3-168 h) response experiments, and developed a CEES-induced skin toxicity SKH-1 hairless mouse model. Topical CEES treatment at high doses caused a significant dose-dependent increase in skin bi-fold thickness indicating edema. Histopathological evaluation of CEES-treated skin sections revealed increases in epidermal and dermal thickness, number of pyknotic basal keratinocytes, dermal capillaries, neutrophils, macrophages, mast cells, and desquamation of epidermis. CEES-induced dose-dependent increases in epidermal cell apoptosis and basal cell proliferation were demonstrated by the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (tdt)-mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling and proliferative cell nuclear antigen stainings, respectively. Following an increase in the mast cells, myeloperoxidase activity in the inflamed skin peaked at 24 h after CEES exposure coinciding with neutrophil infiltration. F4/80 staining of skin integuments revealed an increase in the number of macrophages after 24 h of CEES exposure. In conclusion, these results establish CEES-induced quantifiable inflammatory biomarkers in a more applicable and efficient SKH-1 hairless mouse model, which could be valuable for agent efficacy studies to develop potential prophylactic and therapeutic interventions for HD-induced skin toxicity.

  10. Michael Additions of Highly Basic Enolates to ortho-Quinone Methides

    PubMed Central

    Lewis, Robert S.; Garza, Christopher J.; Dang, Ann T.; Pedro, Te Kie A.; Chain, William J.

    2015-01-01

    A protocol by which ketone or ester enolates and ortho-quinone methides (o-QMs) are generated in situ in a single reaction flask from silylated precursors under the action of anhydrous fluoride is reported. The reaction partners are joined to give a variety of β-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-carbonyl compounds in 32–94% yield in a single laboratory operation. The intermediacy of o-QMs is supported by control experiments utilizing enolate precursors and conventional alkyl halides as competitive alkylating agents and the isolation of 1,5-dicarbonyl products resulting from conjugate additions that do not restore the aromatic system. PMID:25906358

  11. The self-organization and functional activity of binary system based on erucyl amidopropyl betaine - alkylated polyethyleneimine

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gaynanova, Gulnara A.; Valiakhmetova, Alsu R.; Kuryashov, Dmitry A.; Kudryashova, Yuliana R.; Lukashenko, Svetlana S.; Syakaev, Victor V.; Latypov, Shamil K.; Bukharov, Sergey V.; Bashkirtseva, Natalia Yu.; Zakharova, Lucia Ya.

    2013-11-01

    The self-organization in individual and binary aqueous solutions of a zwitterionic surfactant erucyl amidopropyl betaine and alkylated polyethyleneimine is carried out with a wide range of physical and chemical methods, including tensiometry, conductometry, dynamic light scattering, pH-metry, spectrophotometry, and fluorescence spectroscopy. The data obtained strongly support the formation of nanosized aggregates in the systems and provide information on their structure and probable morphological transitions. High solubilization capacity and data on the contact angle showed a possibility of the application of these systems as nanocontainers or oil wetting agents in the oil recovery.

  12. Simultaneous photocatalytic and microbial degradation of dye-containing wastewater by a novel g-C3N4-P25/photosynthetic bacteria composite

    PubMed Central

    Zhang, Xinying; Wu, Yan; Xiao, Gao; Tang, Zhenping; Wang, Meiyin; Liu, Fuchang; Zhu, Xuefeng

    2017-01-01

    Azo dyes are very resistant to light-induced fading and biodegradation. Existing advanced oxidative pre-treatment methods based on the generation of non-selective radicals cannot efficiently remove these dyes from wastewater streams, and post-treatment oxidative dye removal is problematic because it may leave many byproducts with unknown toxicity profiles in the outgoing water, or cause expensive complete mineralization. These problems could potentially be overcome by combining photocatalysis and biodegradation. A novel visible-light-responsive hybrid dye removal agent featuring both photocatalysts (g-C3N4-P25) and photosynthetic bacteria encapsulated in calcium alginate beads was prepared by self-assembly. This system achieved a removal efficiency of 94% for the dye reactive brilliant red X-3b and also reduced the COD of synthetic wastewater samples by 84.7%, successfully decolorized synthetic dye-contaminated wastewater and reduced its COD, demonstrating the advantages of combining photocatalysis and biocatalysis for wastewater purification. The composite apparently degrades X-3b by initially converting the dye into aniline and phenol derivatives whose aryl moieties are then attacked by free radicals to form alkyl derivatives, preventing the accumulation of aromatic hydrocarbons that might suppress microbial activity. These alkyl intermediates are finally degraded by the photosynthetic bacteria. PMID:28273118

  13. The mucosal toxicity of different benzalkonium chloride analogues evaluated with an alternative test using slugs.

    PubMed

    Adriaens, E; Dierckens, K; Bauters, T G; Nelis, H J; van Goethem, F; Vanparys, P; Remon, J P

    2001-07-01

    The objective of this study was to evaluate the mucosal toxicity of different benzalkonium chloride (BAC) analogues using slugs as the alternative test organism. The effect of different BAC analogues on the mucosal tissue of slugs was determined from the protein, lactate dehydrogenase, and alkaline phosphatase released from the foot mucosa after treatment. Additionally, mucus production and reduction in body weight of the slugs were measured. The eye irritation potency of the molecules was evaluated with the Bovine Corneal Opacity and Permeability (BCOP) assay. The antimicrobial activity of the different BAC analogues was also assessed. All BAC analogues induced severe damage to the mucosal epithelium of the slugs, and the irritation increased with decreasing alkyl chain length: BAC-C16 < BAC-C14 < BAC-C12 approximately BAC-mix. A similar ranking was obtained with the BCOP assay for eye irritation. The relative order of activities among the three BAC analogues was the same, i.e., BAC-C14 > or = BAC-C16 > BAC-C12. The BAC-C14 exhibited higher activity than the BAC-mix. The toxicity and activity of BAC analogues depend on the alkyl chain length. The use of BAC-C14 as a conservative agent in pharmaceutical preparations instead of the BAC-mix should be considered.

  14. Silibinin derivatives as anti-prostate cancer agents: Synthesis and cell-based evaluations.

    PubMed

    Vue, Bao; Zhang, Sheng; Zhang, Xiaojie; Parisis, Konstantinos; Zhang, Qiang; Zheng, Shilong; Wang, Guangdi; Chen, Qiao-Hong

    2016-02-15

    This study aims to systematically explore the alkylation effect of 7-OH in silibinin and 2,3-dehydrosilibinin on the antiproliferative potency toward three prostate cancer cell lines. Eight 7-O-alkylsilibinins, eight 7-O-alkyl-2,3-dehydrosilibinins, and eight 3,7-O-dialkyl-2,3-dehydrosilibinins have been synthesized from commercially available silibinin for the in vitro cell-based evaluation. The WST-1 cell proliferation assay indicates that nineteen out of twenty-four silibinin derivatives have significantly improved antiproliferative potency when compared with silibinin. 7-O-Methylsilibinin (2) and 7-O-ethylsilibinin (3) have been identified as the most potent compounds with 98- and 123-fold enhanced potency against LNCaP human androgen-dependent prostate cancer cell line. Among 2,3-dehydrosilibinin derivatives, 7-O-methyl-2,3-dehydrosilibinin (10) and 7-O-ethyl-2,3-dehydrosilibinin (11) have been identified as the optimal compounds with the highest potency towards both androgen-dependent LNCaP and androgen-independent PC-3 prostate cancer cell lines. 7-O-Ethyl-2,3-dehydrosilibinin (11) was demonstrated to arrest PC-3 cell cycle at the G0/G1 phase and to induce PC-3 cell apoptosis. The findings in this study suggest that antiproliferative potency of silibinin and 2,3-dehydrosilibinin can be appreciably enhanced through suitable chemical modifications on the phenolic hydroxyl group at C-7 and that introduction of a chemical moiety with the potential to improve bioavailability through a linker to 7-OH in silibinin and 2,3-dehydrosilibinin would be a feasible strategy for the development of silibinin derivatives as anti-prostate cancer agents. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.

  15. Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerase 1, PARP1, modifies EZH2 and inhibits EZH2 histone methyltransferase activity after DNA damage

    PubMed Central

    Lauretti, Elisabetta; Hulse, Michael; Siciliano, Micheal; Lupey-Green, Lena N.; Abraham, Aaron; Skorski, Tomasz; Tempera, Italo

    2018-01-01

    The enzyme Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) plays a very important role in the DNA damage response, but its role in numerous aspects is not fully understood. We recently showed that in the absence of DNA damage, PARP1 regulates the expression of the chromatin-modifying enzyme EZH2. Work from other groups has shown that EZH2 participates in the DNA damage response. These combined data suggest that EZH2 could be a target of PARP1 in both untreated and genotoxic agent-treated conditions. In this work we tested the hypothesis that, in response to DNA damage, PARP1 regulates EZH2 activity. Here we report that PARP1 regulates EZH2 activity after DNA damage. In particular, we find that EZH2 is a direct target of PARP1 upon induction of alkylating and UV-induced DNA damage in cells and in vitro. PARylation of EZH2 inhibits EZH2 histone methyltransferase (H3K27me) enzymatic activity. We observed in cells that the induction of PARP1 activity by DNA alkylating agents decreases the association of EZH2 with chromatin, and PARylation of histone H3 reduces EZH2 affinity for its target histone H3. Our findings establish that PARP1 and PARylation are important regulators of EZH2 function and link EZH2-mediated heterochromatin formation, DNA damage and PARylation. These findings may also have clinical implications, as they suggest that inhibitors of EZH2 can improve anti-tumor effects of PARP1 inhibitors in BRCA1/2-deficient cancers. PMID:29535829

  16. DNA Alkylating Agent Protects Against Spontaneous Hepatocellular Carcinoma Regardless of O6-Methylguanine-DNA Methyltransferase Status.

    PubMed

    Herzig, Maryanne C S; Zavadil, Jessica A; Street, Karah; Hildreth, Kim; Drinkwater, Norman R; Reddick, Traci; Herbert, Damon C; Hanes, Martha A; McMahan, C Alex; Reddick, Robert L; Walter, Christi A

    2016-03-01

    Hepatocellular carcinoma is increasingly important in the United States as the incidence rate rose over the last 30 years. C3HeB/FeJ mice serve as a unique model to study hepatocellular carcinoma tumorigenesis because they mimic human hepatocellular carcinoma with delayed onset, male gender bias, approximately 50% incidence, and susceptibility to tumorigenesis is mediated through multiple genetic loci. Because a human O(6)-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (hMGMT) transgene reduces spontaneous tumorigenesis in this model, we hypothesized that hMGMT would also protect from methylation-induced hepatocarcinogenesis. To test this hypothesis, wild-type and hMGMT transgenic C3HeB/FeJ male mice were treated with two monofunctional alkylating agents: diethylnitrosamine (DEN; 0.025 μmol/g body weight) on day 12 of life with evaluation for glucose-6-phosphatase-deficient (G6PD) foci at 16, 24, and 32 weeks or N-methyl-N-nitrosurea (MNU; 25 mg MNU/kg body weight) once monthly for 7 months starting at 3 months of age with evaluation for liver tumors at 12 to 15 months of age. No difference in abundance or size of G6PD foci was measured with DEN treatment. In contrast, it was unexpectedly found that MNU reduces liver tumor prevalence in wild-type and hMGMT transgenic mice despite increased tumor prevalence in other tissues. hMGMT and MNU protections were additive, suggesting that MNU protects through a different mechanism, perhaps through the cytotoxic N7-alkylguanine and N3-alkyladenine lesions which have low mutagenic potential compared with O(6)-alkylguanine lesions. Together, these results suggest that targeting the repair of cytotoxic lesions may be a good preventative for patients at high risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma. ©2015 American Association for Cancer Research.

  17. Structural characterization of a novel derivative of myricetin from Mimosa pudica as an anti-proliferative agent for the treatment of cancer.

    PubMed

    Jose, Joby; Dhanya, A T; Haridas, Karickal R; Sumesh Kumar, T M; Jayaraman, Sony; Variyar, E Jayadevi; Sudhakaran, Sudheesh

    2016-12-01

    The study was initiated to determine the anticancer activity of a novel compound isolated from the plant Mimosa pudica. The structure of the compound was identified as a derivative of myricetin having alkyl, hydroxy alkyl and methyl substitutions on the basis of spectral evidences (UV-vis, FT-IR, 1 H NMR and Mass spectra). The isolated compound was interpreted as 2-(2',6'-dimethyl-3',4',5'-alkyl or hydroxy alkyl substituted phenyl)-3-oxy-(alkyl or hydoxy alkyl)- 5,7-dihydroxy-chromen-4-one. In vitro evaluation of anticancer activity against human lung adenocarcinoma cell line (A549) and human erythroleukemic cell line (K562) were conducted using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. In vivo anticancer activity was determined against Dalton's Ascites Lymphoma (DAL) in Swiss albino mice. The mice were treated with intraperitoneal administration of the compound at 25mg/kg and 100mg/kg body weight and were compared with the normal, DAL control and standard drug cyclophosphamide treated groups. The histology revealed that the compound could protect the cellular architecture of liver and kidney. The results from the in vitro, in vivo and histological examinations confirmed the ethnopharmacological significance of the isolated compound and could be considered further for the development of an effective drug against cancer. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  18. Corticosteroid treatment inhibits airway hyperresponsiveness and lung injury in a murine model of chemical-induced airway inflammation.

    PubMed

    Wigenstam, Elisabeth; Jonasson, Sofia; Koch, Bo; Bucht, Anders

    2012-11-15

    Exposure to toxic alkylating mustard agents causes both acute and long-term effects to the lungs as indicated by increased number of inflammatory cells in airways, lung edema and lung tissue fibrosis. We have previously demonstrated that treatment with the corticosteroid dexamethasone 1 h after lung exposure to the nitrogen mustard analog melphalan protects mice from acute and sub-acute inflammatory responses, as well as from lung tissue fibrosis. In order to address the importance of early anti-inflammatory treatment, we investigated the therapeutic effect of dexamethasone administered 1, 2 or 6 h following exposure to melphalan. C57BL/6 mice were exposed to melphalan and treated with dexamethasone 1, 2 or 6 h after exposure. Twenty hours or 14 days post exposure mice were subjected to analysis of respiratory mechanics where the effects of incremental doses of methacholine on central and peripheral lung components were measured. We also determined the amount of inflammatory cells in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and measured the amount of collagen content in the lungs. Melphalan exposure increased airway hyperresponsiveness in both central and peripheral airways and induced an airway inflammation dominated by infiltration of macrophages and neutrophils. Dexamethasone given 1 h after exposure to melphalan provided better protection against airway inflammation than administration 2 or 6 h after exposure. Collagen deposition 14 days after exposure was decreased due to dexamethasone treatment. Early treatment with dexamethasone is important in order to reduce the airway hyperresponsiveness and inflammation caused by toxic alkylating mustards such as melphalan. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. [New toxicity of fotemustine: diffuse interstitial lung disease].

    PubMed

    Bertrand, M; Wémeau-Stervinou, L; Gauthier, S; Auffret, M; Mortier, L

    2012-04-01

    Fotemustine is an alkylating cytostatic drug belonging to the nitrosourea family and is used in particular in the treatment of disseminated malignant melanoma. Herein, we report a case of interstitial lung disease associated with fotemustine. An 81-year-old man treated with fotemustine for metastatic melanoma presented acute interstitial lung disease 20 days after a fourth course of fotemustine monotherapy. The condition regressed spontaneously, with the patient returning to the clinical, radiological and blood gas status that had preceded fotemustine treatment. After other potential aetiologies had been ruled out, acute fotemustine-induced lung toxicity was considered and this treatment was definitively withdrawn. Other cytostatic agents belonging to the nitrosourea family can cause similar pictures, with a number of cases of interstitial lung disease thus being ascribed to fotemustine and dacarbazine. To our knowledge, this is the first case of interstitial lung disease induced by fotemustine monotherapy. This diagnosis should be considered where respiratory signs appear in melanoma patients undergoing fotemustine treatment. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  20. Temporal and spatial features of the formation of DNA adducts in sulfur mustard-exposed skin.

    PubMed

    Batal, Mohamed; Boudry, Isabelle; Mouret, Stéphane; Wartelle, Julien; Emorine, Sandy; Bertoni, Marine; Bérard, Izabel; Cléry-Barraud, Cécile; Douki, Thierry

    2013-12-15

    Sulfur mustard (SM) is a chemical warfare agent that targets skin where it induces large blisters. DNA alkylation is a critical step to explain SM-induced cutaneous symptoms. We determined the kinetics of formation of main SM-DNA adducts and compare it with the development of the SM-induced pathogenesis in skin. SKH-1 mice were exposed to 2, 6 and 60 mg/kg of SM and treated skin was biopsied between 6h and 21 days. Formation of SM DNA adducts was dose-dependent with a maximum immediately after exposure. However, adducts were persistent and still detectable 21 days post-exposure. The time-dependent formation of DNA adducts was also found to be correlated with the appearance of apoptotic cells. This temporal correlation suggests that these two early events are responsible for the severity of the damage to the skin. Besides, SM-DNA adducts were also detected in areas located next to contaminated zone, thus suggesting that SM diffuses in skin. Altogether, this work provides for the first time a clear picture of SM-induced genotoxicity using DNA adducts as a marker. © 2013.

  1. Recent advances in cancer therapy.

    PubMed

    Mercado, I; Baez, L; Caceres, W

    1997-01-01

    The treatment of cancer has developed substantially from its conception in the first years of the 20th century. Since the introduction of alkylating agents during second World War, the oncology specialty has markedly grown. In the recent years, new drugs have been approved for the treatment of cancer. Such examples include the taxanes (Docetaxel and Paclitaxel), Vinorelbine, Irinotecan, Topotecan, Gemcitabine and Gliadel. We will discuss these new chemotherapuetic agents, their pharmacology, indications, toxicity and appropriate dosing. There is no doubt that further clinical research is needed to determine the optimal use of these agents.

  2. The photochemical alkylation and reduction of heteroarenes† †Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c7sc03768f Click here for additional data file.

    PubMed Central

    McCallum, T.; Pitre, S. P.; Morin, M.

    2017-01-01

    The functionalization of heteroarenes has been integral to the structural diversification of medicinally active molecules such as quinolines, pyridines, and phenanthridines. Electron-deficient heteroarenes are electronically compatible to react with relatively nucleophilic free radicals such as hydroxyalkyl. However, the radical functionalization of such heteroarenes has been marked by the use of transition-metal catalyzed processes that require initiators and stoichiometric oxidants. Herein, we describe the photochemical alkylation of quinolines, pyridines and phenanthridines, where through direct excitation of the protonated heterocycle, alcohols and ethers, such as methanol and THF, can serve as alkylating agents. We also report the discovery of a photochemical reduction of these heteroarenes using only iPrOH and HCl. Mechanistic studies to elucidate the underlying mechanism of these transformations, and preliminary results on catalytic methylations are also reported. PMID:29163892

  3. Protective Effect of Quercetin on Melphalan-Induced Oxidative Stress and Impaired Renal and Hepatic Functions in Rat

    PubMed Central

    Ola, Olaniyi Solomon; Adeyemo, Oluwatobi Adewumi

    2014-01-01

    One major challenge with the use of anticancer agents is the phenomenon of drug-induced toxicity. Melphalan (MPLN) is an alkylating anticancer agent, while quercetin (QCT) is an antioxidant. We investigated the protective role of quercetin against MPLN-induced toxicity. Twenty-five male Wistar rats (160–170 g) were randomized into five treatment groups; (I) control, (II) MPLN (0.2 mg/kg b.w.), (III) pre-treated with QCT (20 mg/kg b.w.) for 7 days followed by MPLN (0.2 mg/kg b.w.) for 7 days, (IV) cotreated with QCT (20 mg/kg b.w.) and MPLN (0.2 mg/kg b.w.) for 7 days, and (V) QCT (20 mg/kg b.w.) alone. MPLN caused a significant increase in plasma bilirubin, urea, and creatinine by 122.2%, 102.3%, and 188%, respectively (P < 0.05). Similarly, plasma ALP, ALT, AST, and γ-GT activities increased significantly by 57.9%, 144.3%, 71.3%, and 307.2%, respectively, relative to control. However, pre or cotreatment with QCT ameliorated the levels of renal and hepatic function indices. Hepatic ascorbic acid and GSH and activities of glutathione-S-transferase, SOD, and catalase decreased significantly by 36.2%, 188%, 46.5%, 34.4%, and 55.2%, respectively, followed by increase in MDA content by 46.5% relative to control. Pre- and cotreatment with QCT reestablished the hepatic antioxidant status and lipid peroxidation. Overall, quercetin protected against MPLN-induced renal and hepatic toxicity in rats. PMID:25574394

  4. Enhanced Histone Deacetylase Activity in Malignant Melanoma Provokes RAD51 and FANCD2-Triggered Drug Resistance.

    PubMed

    Krumm, Andrea; Barckhausen, Christina; Kücük, Pelin; Tomaszowski, Karl-Heinz; Loquai, Carmen; Fahrer, Jörg; Krämer, Oliver Holger; Kaina, Bernd; Roos, Wynand Paul

    2016-05-15

    DNA-damaging anticancer drugs remain a part of metastatic melanoma therapy. Epigenetic reprogramming caused by increased histone deacetylase (HDAC) activity arising during tumor formation may contribute to resistance of melanomas to the alkylating drugs temozolomide, dacarbazine, and fotemustine. Here, we report on the impact of class I HDACs on the response of malignant melanoma cells treated with alkylating agents. The data show that malignant melanomas in situ contain a high level of HDAC1/2 and malignant melanoma cells overexpress HDAC1/2/3 compared with noncancer cells. Furthermore, pharmacologic inhibition of class I HDACs sensitizes malignant melanoma cells to apoptosis following exposure to alkylating agents, while not affecting primary melanocytes. Inhibition of HDAC1/2/3 caused sensitization of melanoma cells to temozolomide in vitro and in melanoma xenografts in vivo HDAC1/2/3 inhibition resulted in suppression of DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair by homologous recombination because of downregulation of RAD51 and FANCD2. This sensitized cells to the cytotoxic DNA lesion O(6)-methylguanine and caused a synthetic lethal interaction with the PARP-1 inhibitor olaparib. Furthermore, knockdown experiments identified HDAC2 as being responsible for the regulation of RAD51. The influence of class I HDACs on DSB repair by homologous recombination and the possible clinical implication on malignant melanoma therapy with temozolomide and other alkylating drugs suggests a combination approach where class I HDAC inhibitors such as valproic acid or MS-275 (entinostat) appear to counteract HDAC- and RAD51/FANCD2-mediated melanoma cell resistance. Cancer Res; 76(10); 3067-77. ©2016 AACR. ©2016 American Association for Cancer Research.

  5. Determination of methyl-, 2-hydroxyethyl- and 2-cyanoethylmercapturic acids as biomarkers of exposure to alkylating agents in cigarette smoke.

    PubMed

    Scherer, Gerhard; Urban, Michael; Hagedorn, Heinz-Werner; Serafin, Richard; Feng, Shixia; Kapur, Sunil; Muhammad, Raheema; Jin, Yan; Sarkar, Mohamadi; Roethig, Hans-Juergen

    2010-10-01

    Alkylating agents occur in the environment and are formed endogenously. Tobacco smoke contains a variety of alkylating agents or precursors including, among others, N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK), acrylonitrile and ethylene oxide. We developed and validated a method for the simultaneous determination of methylmercapturic acid (MMA, biomarker for methylating agents such as NDMA and NNK), 2-hydroxyethylmercapturic acid (HEMA, biomarker for ethylene oxide) and 2-cyanoethylmercapturic acid (CEMA, biomarker for acrylonitrile) in human urine using deuterated internal standards of each compound. The method involves liquid/liquid extraction of the urine sample, solid phase extraction on anion exchange cartridges, derivatization with pentafluorobenzyl bromide (PFBBr), liquid/liquid extraction of the reaction mixture and LC-MS/MS analysis with positive electrospray ionization. The method was linear in the ranges of 5.00-600, 1.00-50.0 and 1.50-900 ng/ml for MMA, HEMA and CEMA, respectively. The method was applied to two clinical studies in adult smokers of conventional cigarettes who either continued smoking conventional cigarettes, were switched to test cigarettes consisting of either an electrically heated cigarette smoking system (EHCSS) or having a highly activated carbon granule filter that were shown to have reduced exposure to specific smoke constituents, or stopped smoking. Urinary excretion of MMA was found to be unaffected by switching to the test cigarettes or stop smoking. Urinary HEMA excretion decreased by 46 to 54% after switching to test cigarettes and by approximately 74% when stopping smoking. Urinary CEMA excretion decreased by 74-77% when switching to test cigarettes and by approximately 90% when stopping smoking. This validated method for urinary alkylmercapturic acids is suitable to distinguish differences in exposure not only between smokers and nonsmokers but also between smoking of conventional and the two test cigarettes investigated in this study. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. MRI brain in monohalomethane toxic encephalopathy: A case report.

    PubMed

    Deshmukh, Yogeshwari S; Atre, Ashish; Shah, Darshan; Kothari, Sudhir

    2013-07-01

    Monohalomethanes are alkylating agents that have been used as methylating agents, laboratory reagents, refrigerants, aerosol propellants, pesticides, fumigants, fire-extinguishing agents, anesthetics, degreasers, blowing agents for plastic foams, and chemical intermediates. Compounds in this group are methyl chloride, methyl bromide, methyl iodide (MI), and methyl fluoride. MI is a colorless volatile liquid used as a methylating agent to manufacture a few pharmaceuticals and is also used as a fumigative insecticide. It is a rare intoxicant. Neurotoxicity is known with both acute and chronic exposure to MI. We present the characteristic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain findings in a patient who developed neuropsychiatric symptoms weeks after occupational exposure to excessive doses of MI.

  7. Fanconi Anemia Proteins, DNA Interstrand Crosslink Repair Pathways, and Cancer Therapy

    PubMed Central

    Andreassen, Paul R.; Ren, Keqin

    2016-01-01

    DNA interstrand crosslinkers, a chemically diverse group of compounds which also induce alkylation of bases and DNA intrastrand crosslinks, are extensively utilized for cancer therapy. Understanding the cellular response to DNA damage induced by these agents is critical for more effective utilization of these compounds and for the identification of novel therapeutic targets. Importantly, the repair of DNA interstrand crosslinks (ICLs) involves many distinct DNA repair pathways, including nucleotide excision repair, translesion synthesis (TLS), and homologous recombination (HR). Additionally, proteins implicated in the pathophysiology of the multigenic disease Fanconi anemia (FA) have a role in the repair of ICLs that is not well understood. Cells from FA patients are hypersensitive to agents that induce ICLs, therefore FA proteins are potentially novel therapeutic targets. Here we will review current research directed at identifying FA genes and understanding the function of FA proteins in DNA damage responses. We will also examine interactions of FA proteins with other repair proteins and pathways, including signaling networks, which are potentially involved in ICL repair. Potential approaches to the modulation of FA protein function to enhance therapeutic outcome will be discussed. Also, mutation of many genes that encode proteins involved in ICL repair, including FA genes, increases susceptibility to cancer. A better understanding of these pathways is therefore critical for the design of individualized therapies tailored to the genetic profile of a particular malignancy. For this purpose, we will also review evidence for the association of mutation of FA genes with cancer in non-FA patients. PMID:19200054

  8. Histopathological and immunohistochemical evaluation of nitrogen mustard-induced cutaneous effects in SKH-1 hairless and C57BL/6 mice.

    PubMed

    Jain, Anil K; Tewari-Singh, Neera; Inturi, Swetha; Orlicky, David J; White, Carl W; Agarwal, Rajesh

    2014-03-01

    Sulfur mustard (SM) is a vesicant warfare agent which causes severe skin injuries. Currently, we lack effective antidotes against SM-induced skin injuries, in part due to lack of appropriate animal model(s) that can be used for efficacy studies in laboratory settings to identify effective therapies. Therefore, to develop a relevant mouse skin injury model, we examined the effects of nitrogen mustard (NM), a primary vesicant and a bifunctional alkylating agent that induces toxic effects comparable to SM. Specifically, we conducted histopathological and immunohistochemical evaluation of several applicable cutaneous pathological lesions following skin NM (3.2mg) exposure for 12-120h in SKH-1 and C57BL/6 mice. NM caused a significant increase in epidermal thickness, incidence of microvesication, cell proliferation, apoptotic cell death, inflammatory cells (neutrophils, macrophages and mast cells) and myleoperoxidase activity in the skin of both mouse strains. However, there was a more prominent NM-induced increase in epidermal thickness, and macrophages and mast cell infiltration, in SKH-1 mice relative to what was seen in C57BL/6 mice. NM also caused collagen degradation and edema at early time points (12-24h); however, at later time points (72 and 120h), dense collagen staining was observed, indicating either water loss or start of integument repair in both the mouse strains. This study provides quantitative measurement of NM-induced histopathological and immunohistochemical cutaneous lesions in both hairless and haired mouse strains that could serve as useful tools for screening and identification of effective therapies for treatment of skin injuries due to NM and SM. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

  9. N-methylpurine DNA glycosylase and DNA polymerase β modulate BER inhibitor potentiation of glioma cells to temozolomide

    PubMed Central

    Tang, Jiang-bo; Svilar, David; Trivedi, Ram N.; Wang, Xiao-hong; Goellner, Eva M.; Moore, Briana; Hamilton, Ronald L.; Banze, Lauren A.; Brown, Ashley R.; Sobol, Robert W.

    2011-01-01

    Temozolomide (TMZ) is the preferred chemotherapeutic agent in the treatment of glioma following surgical resection and/or radiation. Resistance to TMZ is attributed to efficient repair and/or tolerance of TMZ-induced DNA lesions. The majority of the TMZ-induced DNA base adducts are repaired by the base excision repair (BER) pathway and therefore modulation of this pathway can enhance drug sensitivity. N-methylpurine DNA glycosylase (MPG) initiates BER by removing TMZ-induced N3-methyladenine and N7-methylguanine base lesions, leaving abasic sites (AP sites) in DNA for further processing by BER. Using the human glioma cell lines LN428 and T98G, we report here that potentiation of TMZ via BER inhibition [methoxyamine (MX), the PARP inhibitors PJ34 and ABT-888 or depletion (knockdown) of PARG] is greatly enhanced by over-expression of the BER initiating enzyme MPG. We also show that methoxyamine-induced potentiation of TMZ in MPG expressing glioma cells is abrogated by elevated-expression of the rate-limiting BER enzyme DNA polymerase β (Polβ), suggesting that cells proficient for BER readily repair AP sites in the presence of MX. Further, depletion of Polβ increases PARP inhibitor-induced potentiation in the MPG over-expressing glioma cells, suggesting that expression of Polβ modulates the cytotoxic effect of combining increased repair initiation and BER inhibition. This study demonstrates that MPG overexpression, together with inhibition of BER, sensitizes glioma cells to the alkylating agent TMZ in a Polβ-dependent manner, suggesting that the expression level of both MPG and Polβ might be used to predict the effectiveness of MX and PARP-mediated potentiation of TMZ in cancer treatment. PMID:21377995

  10. ALTERATION OF IMMUNE FUNCTION IN MICE FOLLOWING CARCINOGEN EXPOSURE

    EPA Science Inventory

    Treatment of mice with the direct-acting alkylating agent methyl methanesulfonate produced marked suppression of the humoral response to sheep erythrocytes and suppression of T cell responses to foreign antigens. These effects occurred without loss of spleen, thymus or body weigh...

  11. What Has Cancer Taught Us about the Cell?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hatton, Mary E.; Hatton, Mark P.

    1997-01-01

    Discusses what is cancer; proto-oncogenes that encode four classes of proteins including growth factors, growth factor receptors, intracellular signaling messengers, and transcription factors; tumor suppressors; and cancer therapy including metabolic inhibitors, alkylating agents and antibiotics, mitotic inhibitors, and hormone-related therapy.…

  12. Potential development of a new cotton-based antimicrobial wipe

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The adsorption of alkyl-dimethyl-benzyl-ammonium chloride (ADBAC), a cationic surfactant commonly employed as an antimicrobial agent, on greige and bleached nonwoven cotton fabrics was investigated using UV/visible spectroscopy. Initial results have shown that greige cotton adsorbs roughly three tim...

  13. USDA research enables total quat release from cotton nonwoven disinfecting wipes

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The adsorption of alkyl-dimethyl-benzyl-ammonium chloride (ADBAC), a cationic surfactant commonly employed as an antimicrobial agent, on various cotton, cotton-blend, and synthetic nonwoven fabrics was investigated at varying surfactant concentrations using UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy. Modifying ...

  14. 3-Bromopyruvate induces apoptosis in breast cancer cells by downregulating Mcl-1 through the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

    PubMed

    Liu, Zhe; Zhang, Yuan-Yuan; Zhang, Qian-Wen; Zhao, Su-Rong; Wu, Cheng-Zhu; Cheng, Xiu; Jiang, Chen-Chen; Jiang, Zhi-Wen; Liu, Hao

    2014-04-01

    The hexokinase inhibitor 3-bromopyruvate (3-BrPA) can inhibit glycolysis in tumor cells to reduce ATP production, resulting in apoptosis. However, as 3-BrPA is an alkylating agent, its cytotoxic action may be induced by other molecular mechanisms. The results presented here reveal that 3-BrPA-induced apoptosis is caspase independent. Further, 3-BrPA induces the generation of reactive oxygen species in MDA-MB-231 cells, leading to mitochondria-mediated apoptosis. These results suggest that caspase-independent apoptosis may be induced by the generation of reactive oxygen species. In this study, we also demonstrated that 3-BrPA induces apoptosis through the downregulation of myeloid cell leukemia-1 (Mcl-1) in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. The results of Mcl-1 knockdown indicate that Mcl-1 plays an important role in 3-BrPA-induced apoptosis. Further, the upregulation of Mcl-1 expression in 3-BrPA-treated MDA-MB-231 cells significantly increases cell viability. In addition, 3-BrPA treatment resulted in the downregulation of p-Akt, suggesting that 3-BrPA may downregulate Mcl-1 through the phosphoinositide-3-kinase/Akt pathway. These findings indicate that 3-BrPA induces apoptosis in breast cancer cells by downregulating Mcl-1 through the phosphoinositide-3-kinase/Akt signaling pathway.

  15. Bendamustine-induced nephrogenic diabetes insipidus
.

    PubMed

    Derman, Benjamin A; Jain, Milli; McAninch, Elizabeth A; Gashti, Casey

    2017-01-01

    A 59-year-old man presented with polyuria and polydipsia immediately following his sixth cycle of rituximab and bendamustine for chronic lymphocytic leukemia. He initially compensated by increasing his oral fluid intake at home, but later developed septic shock and was admitted with orders to be kept nil per os (NPO). This prompted an episode of acute hypernatremia during which he exhibited continued polyuria with inappropriately dilute urine. Desmopressin challenge yielded no response in the urine osmolality, indicating a nephrogenic source of his diabetes insipidus (DI). He had no known exposure to other causative agents and had demonstrated a robust response to chemotherapy. The patient became eunatremic once oral intake was resumed and his infection was treated. Two months after presentation, he remained symptomatic. A trial with hydrochlorothiazide resulted in a significant increase in urine osmolality and subsequent decrease in urine output. To our knowledge, this is the first case of nephrogenic diabetes insipidus after rituximab and bendamustine exposure. We propose that bendamustine, similar to the alkylating agent ifosfamide, is toxic to the glomerulus and proximal tubule cells and is the most likely cause of the patient's nephrogenic DI.
.

  16. Evolutionarily Distant Streptophyta Respond Differently to Genotoxic Stress

    PubMed Central

    Vágnerová, Radka; Lukešová, Alena; Lukeš, Martin; Rožnovská, Petra; Holá, Marcela; Fulnečková, Jana; Angelis, Karel J.

    2017-01-01

    Research in algae usually focuses on the description and characterization of morpho—and phenotype as a result of adaptation to a particular habitat and its conditions. To better understand the evolution of lineages we characterized responses of filamentous streptophyte green algae of the genera Klebsormidium and Zygnema, and of a land plant—the moss Physcomitrella patens—to genotoxic stress that might be relevant to their environment. We studied the induction and repair of DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) elicited by the radiomimetic drug bleomycin, DNA single strand breaks (SSB) as consequence of base modification by the alkylation agent methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) and of ultra violet (UV)-induced photo-dimers, because the mode of action of these three genotoxic agents is well understood. We show that the Klebsormidium and Physcomitrella are similarly sensitive to introduced DNA lesions and have similar rates of DSBs repair. In contrast, less DNA damage and higher repair rate of DSBs was detected in Zygnema, suggesting different mechanisms of maintaining genome integrity in response to genotoxic stress. Nevertheless, contrary to fewer detected lesions is Zygnema more sensitive to genotoxic treatment than Klebsormidium and Physcomitrella PMID:29149093

  17. Evolutionarily Distant Streptophyta Respond Differently to Genotoxic Stress.

    PubMed

    Vágnerová, Radka; Lukešová, Alena; Lukeš, Martin; Rožnovská, Petra; Holá, Marcela; Fulnečková, Jana; Fajkus, Jiří; Angelis, Karel J

    2017-11-17

    Research in algae usually focuses on the description and characterization of morpho-and phenotype as a result of adaptation to a particular habitat and its conditions. To better understand the evolution of lineages we characterized responses of filamentous streptophyte green algae of the genera Klebsormidium and Zygnema , and of a land plant-the moss Physcomitrella patens -to genotoxic stress that might be relevant to their environment. We studied the induction and repair of DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) elicited by the radiomimetic drug bleomycin, DNA single strand breaks (SSB) as consequence of base modification by the alkylation agent methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) and of ultra violet (UV)-induced photo-dimers, because the mode of action of these three genotoxic agents is well understood. We show that the Klebsormidium and Physcomitrella are similarly sensitive to introduced DNA lesions and have similar rates of DSBs repair. In contrast, less DNA damage and higher repair rate of DSBs was detected in Zygnema , suggesting different mechanisms of maintaining genome integrity in response to genotoxic stress. Nevertheless, contrary to fewer detected lesions is Zygnema more sensitive to genotoxic treatment than Klebsormidium and Physcomitrella .

  18. A mild hand cleanser, alkyl ether sulphate supplemented with alkyl ether carboxylic acid and alkyl glucoside, improves eczema on the hand and prevents the growth of Staphylococcus aureus on the skin surface.

    PubMed

    Fukui, S; Morikawa, T; Hirahara, M; Terada, Y; Shimizu, M; Takeuchi, K; Takagi, Y

    2016-12-01

    Washing the hands using cleansers with antiseptic materials is the most popular method for hand hygiene and helps maintain health by preventing food poisoning and bacterial infections. However, repeated hand washing tends to induce eczema of the hand, such as dryness, cracking and erythema. Moreover, eczema on the hand leads to increased levels in Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) on the skin surface in contrast to expectations. Thus, mild hand cleansers which induce less eczema even with repeated washings are desired. Here, we evaluated the efficacy of a hand cleanser formulated with alkyl ether sulphate (AES), alkyl ether carboxylic acid (AEC) and alkyl glucoside (AG) that contains isopropyl methylphenol (IPMP) on skin symptoms and S. aureus levels. Eczema of the hand and the presence of S. aureus on the skin surface were analysed prior to and following 4 weeks of usage of the hand cleanser. A soap-based hand cleanser with IPMP was used as a reference cleanser. Eczema and cutaneous conditions were evaluated by visual grading, transepidermal water loss (TEWL), stratum corneum moisture-retention ability (MRA) and skin surface pH. The repeated use of the soap-based hand cleanser significantly worsened the hand dryness, scaling and cracks on the tips of the fingers and significantly increased the TEWL and decreased the MRA. In contrast, usage of the test cleanser only induced a significant increase in skin dryness but did not induce skin scaling or cracking and did not increase TEWL or decrease the MRA. Corresponding to these changes in skin symptoms, the presence of S. aureus increased the following use of the reference cleanser but not the test cleanser. There was no significant difference in skin surface pH between the two cleansers. Moreover, the increase in S. aureus was significantly correlated to the worsening of skin dryness and scaling. These results suggest that not only antimicrobial activity but also the mildness, which minimizes cutaneous effects, are important for hand cleansers to prevent the growth of S. aureus. The cleanser formulated with AES, AEC and AG containing IPMP is mild and is effective to promote hand hygiene. © 2016 Society of Cosmetic Scientists and the Société Française de Cosmétologie.

  19. Treatment Response and Outcomes of Grade 3 Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Neoplasms Based on Morphology: Well Differentiated Versus Poorly Differentiated.

    PubMed

    Raj, Nitya; Valentino, Emily; Capanu, Marinela; Tang, Laura H; Basturk, Olca; Untch, Brian R; Allen, Peter J; Klimstra, David S; Reidy-Lagunes, Diane

    2017-03-01

    Emerging data suggest that not all grade 3 (G3) pancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (panNENs) behave the same; tumor differentiation may predict outcome. Patients with G3 panNENs treated at our institution between 1999 and 2014 were identified. Demographics, response to therapy, and overall survival were determined. Forty-five patients were identified, 16 with G3 well differentiated pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (WD-panNETs) and 29 with poorly differentiated neuroendocrine carcinomas (PDNEC). Median overall survival in G3 WD-panNET patients was 52.2 months (95% confidence interval, 19.3-86.9 months) compared with 10.1 months (95% confidence interval, 6.9-12.4 months) in PDNEC patients (P = 0.0009). Response rate to platinum agents was 10% in G3 WD-panNETs and 37% in PDNEC. Response rate to alkylating agents was 50% in G3 WD-panNETs and 50% in PDNEC. Both G3 WD-panNETs and PDNEC responded to platinum and alkylating agents. Overall survival was significantly greater in G3 WD-panNETs compared with PDNEC. These findings challenge current classification and suggest that G3 panNENs should be classified by morphology.

  20. Immunosuppression for Membranous Nephropathy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of 36 Clinical Trials

    PubMed Central

    Chen, Yizhi; Schieppati, Arrigo; Cai, Guangyan; Zamora, Javier; Giuliano, Giovanni A.; Braun, Norbert

    2013-01-01

    Summary Background and objectives The efficacy and safety of immunosuppression for idiopathic membranous nephropathy (IMN) with nephrotic syndrome are still controversial. A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was performed. Design, setting, participants, & measurements The Cochrane Library, PUBMED, EMBASE, Chinese Database, and Clinical Trial Registries (June 2012) were searched to identify RCTs investigating the effect of immunosuppression on adults with IMN and nephrotic syndrome. Results This review was an update (36 RCTs, 1762 participants) of the 2004 version (18 RCTs, 1025 participants). Immunosuppression significantly reduced all-cause mortality or ESRD (15 RCTs, 791 participants; risk ratio, 0.58 [95% confidence interval, 0.36–0.95]; P=0.03). However, the result was not consistent when prespecified subgroup analyses were undertaken. Immunosuppression increased complete or partial remission (CR + PR) (16 RCTs, 864 participants; 1.31 [1.01–1.70]; P=0.04) but resulted in more withdrawals or hospitalizations (16 RCTs, 880 participants; 5.35 [2.19–13.02]; P=0.002). Corticosteroids combined with alkylating agents significantly reduced all-cause mortality or ESRD (8 RCTs, 448 participants; 0.44 [0.26–0.75]; P=0.002) and increased CR + PR (7 RCTs, 422 participants; 1.46 [1.13–1.89]; P=0.004) but led to more adverse events (4 RCTs, 303 participants; 4.20 [1.15–15.32]; P=0.03). Cyclophosphamide was safer than chlorambucil (3 RCTs, 147 participants; 0.48 [0.26–0.90]; P=0.02). Cyclosporine and mycophenolate mofetil failed to show superiority over alkylating agents. Tacrolimus and adrenocorticotropic hormone significantly reduced proteinuria. Conclusions Alkylating agents plus corticosteroids had long-term and short-term benefits for adult IMN, but resulted in more withdrawals or hospitalizations. PMID:23449768

  1. [Cancer chemotherapy with special reference to pharmacokinetics of nitrosoureas].

    PubMed

    Wakui, A

    1982-08-01

    This paper provides an overview of cancer chemotherapy with special reference to the pharmacokinetics of the nitrosoureas. At physiological PH, the chloroethylnitrosoureas can be decomposed into an isocyanate and 2-chloroethyl diazene hydroxide. Therefore, it is clear that they have both alkylation and carbamoylation actions. In addition to the spontaneous chemical dissociation, the nitrosoureas can be metabolized by liver microsomal enzymes to more polar hydroxylated products, and certain nitrosoureas can be denitrosated by these enzymes to the parent urea. Since the lipid-soluble nitrosoureas and some of the water-soluble nitrosoureas such as ACNU and MCNU demonstrated to cross the blood-brain barrier, they have been used in the treatment of primary brain tumors and tumors and tumors of metastatic origin. It has been demonstrated from the results of our study and other reports that the alkylation of DNA by ACNU progresses more slowly as compared with that of other alkylating agents. This is an important finding in relation to the appearance of delayed myelosuppression of the nitrosoureas and in the design of dose schedules of these agents. The major clinical emphasis has been directed towards the more active chloroethylnitrosoureas with reduced myelosuppression, and attempts are now made for this purpose. Unfortunately, the results of phase I and II trials of the newly developed nitrosoureas suggest that these agents produce delayed and cumulative bone marrow toxicity. Antitumor activity of the nitrosoureas is frequestly observed in chronic myelocytic leukemia, malignant lymphoma, brain tumors and small cell carcinoma of the lung, and less frequently in gastrointestinal carcinoma, multiple myeloma and malignant melanoma. In order to enhance clinical effects of the nitrosoureas, further investigation of the design in therapeutic schedules on the basis of their pharmacokinetic characteristics will be needed.

  2. Conformational explosion: Understanding the complexity of short chain para-dialkylbenzene potential energy surfaces

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mishra, Piyush; Hewett, Daniel M.; Zwier, Timothy S.

    2018-05-01

    The single-conformation ultraviolet and infrared spectroscopy of three short-chain para-dialkylbenzenes (para-diethylbenzene, para-dipropylbenzene, and para-dibutylbenzene) is reported for the jet-cooled, isolated molecules. The present study builds off previous work on single-chain n-alkylbenzenes, where an anharmonic local mode Hamiltonian method was developed to account for stretch-bend Fermi resonance in the alkyl CH stretch region [D. P. Tabor et al., J. Chem. Phys. 144, 224310 (2016)]. The jet-cooled molecules are interrogated using laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) excitation, fluorescence dip infrared spectroscopy, and dispersed fluorescence. The LIF spectra in the S1 ← S0 origin region show a dramatic increase in the number of resolved transitions with increasing length of the alkyl chains, reflecting an explosion in the number of unique low-energy conformations formed when two independent alkyl chains are present. Since the barriers to isomerization of the alkyl chain are similar in size, this results in an "egg carton" shaped potential energy surface. A combination of electronic frequency shift and alkyl CH stretch infrared spectra is used to generate a consistent set of conformational assignments. Using these experimental techniques in conjunction with computational methods, subsets of origin transitions in the LIF excitation spectrum can be classified into different conformational families. Two conformations are resolved in para-diethylbenzene, seven in para-dipropylbenzene, and about nineteen in para-dibutylbenzene. These chains are largely independent of each other as there are no new single-chain conformations induced by the presence of a second chain. A cursory LIF excitation scan of para-dioctylbenzene shows a broad congested spectrum at frequencies consistent with interactions of alkyl chains with the phenyl π cloud.

  3. Conformational explosion: Understanding the complexity of short chain para-dialkylbenzene potential energy surfaces.

    PubMed

    Mishra, Piyush; Hewett, Daniel M; Zwier, Timothy S

    2018-05-14

    The single-conformation ultraviolet and infrared spectroscopy of three short-chain para-dialkylbenzenes (para-diethylbenzene, para-dipropylbenzene, and para-dibutylbenzene) is reported for the jet-cooled, isolated molecules. The present study builds off previous work on single-chain n-alkylbenzenes, where an anharmonic local mode Hamiltonian method was developed to account for stretch-bend Fermi resonance in the alkyl CH stretch region [D. P. Tabor et al., J. Chem. Phys. 144, 224310 (2016)]. The jet-cooled molecules are interrogated using laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) excitation, fluorescence dip infrared spectroscopy, and dispersed fluorescence. The LIF spectra in the S 1 ← S 0 origin region show a dramatic increase in the number of resolved transitions with increasing length of the alkyl chains, reflecting an explosion in the number of unique low-energy conformations formed when two independent alkyl chains are present. Since the barriers to isomerization of the alkyl chain are similar in size, this results in an "egg carton" shaped potential energy surface. A combination of electronic frequency shift and alkyl CH stretch infrared spectra is used to generate a consistent set of conformational assignments. Using these experimental techniques in conjunction with computational methods, subsets of origin transitions in the LIF excitation spectrum can be classified into different conformational families. Two conformations are resolved in para-diethylbenzene, seven in para-dipropylbenzene, and about nineteen in para-dibutylbenzene. These chains are largely independent of each other as there are no new single-chain conformations induced by the presence of a second chain. A cursory LIF excitation scan of para-dioctylbenzene shows a broad congested spectrum at frequencies consistent with interactions of alkyl chains with the phenyl π cloud.

  4. Genomic phenotyping by barcode sequencing broadly distinguishes between alkylating agents, oxidizing agents, and non-genotoxic agents, and reveals a role for aromatic amino acids in cellular recovery after quinone exposure.

    PubMed

    Svensson, J Peter; Quirós Pesudo, Laia; McRee, Siobhan K; Adeleye, Yeyejide; Carmichael, Paul; Samson, Leona D

    2013-01-01

    Toxicity screening of compounds provides a means to identify compounds harmful for human health and the environment. Here, we further develop the technique of genomic phenotyping to improve throughput while maintaining specificity. We exposed cells to eight different compounds that rely on different modes of action: four genotoxic alkylating (methyl methanesulfonate (MMS), N-Methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU), N,N'-bis(2-chloroethyl)-N-nitroso-urea (BCNU), N-ethylnitrosourea (ENU)), two oxidizing (2-methylnaphthalene-1,4-dione (menadione, MEN), benzene-1,4-diol (hydroquinone, HYQ)), and two non-genotoxic (methyl carbamate (MC) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)) compounds. A library of S. cerevisiae 4,852 deletion strains, each identifiable by a unique genetic 'barcode', were grown in competition; at different time points the ratio between the strains was assessed by quantitative high throughput 'barcode' sequencing. The method was validated by comparison to previous genomic phenotyping studies and 90% of the strains identified as MMS-sensitive here were also identified as MMS-sensitive in a much lower throughput solid agar screen. The data provide profiles of proteins and pathways needed for recovery after both genotoxic and non-genotoxic compounds. In addition, a novel role for aromatic amino acids in the recovery after treatment with oxidizing agents was suggested. The role of aromatic acids was further validated; the quinone subgroup of oxidizing agents were extremely toxic in cells where tryptophan biosynthesis was compromised.

  5. Genomic Phenotyping by Barcode Sequencing Broadly Distinguishes between Alkylating Agents, Oxidizing Agents, and Non-Genotoxic Agents, and Reveals a Role for Aromatic Amino Acids in Cellular Recovery after Quinone Exposure

    PubMed Central

    Svensson, J. Peter; Quirós Pesudo, Laia; McRee, Siobhan K.; Adeleye, Yeyejide; Carmichael, Paul; Samson, Leona D.

    2013-01-01

    Toxicity screening of compounds provides a means to identify compounds harmful for human health and the environment. Here, we further develop the technique of genomic phenotyping to improve throughput while maintaining specificity. We exposed cells to eight different compounds that rely on different modes of action: four genotoxic alkylating (methyl methanesulfonate (MMS), N-Methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU), N,N′-bis(2-chloroethyl)-N-nitroso-urea (BCNU), N-ethylnitrosourea (ENU)), two oxidizing (2-methylnaphthalene-1,4-dione (menadione, MEN), benzene-1,4-diol (hydroquinone, HYQ)), and two non-genotoxic (methyl carbamate (MC) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)) compounds. A library of S. cerevisiae 4,852 deletion strains, each identifiable by a unique genetic ‘barcode’, were grown in competition; at different time points the ratio between the strains was assessed by quantitative high throughput ‘barcode’ sequencing. The method was validated by comparison to previous genomic phenotyping studies and 90% of the strains identified as MMS-sensitive here were also identified as MMS-sensitive in a much lower throughput solid agar screen. The data provide profiles of proteins and pathways needed for recovery after both genotoxic and non-genotoxic compounds. In addition, a novel role for aromatic amino acids in the recovery after treatment with oxidizing agents was suggested. The role of aromatic acids was further validated; the quinone subgroup of oxidizing agents were extremely toxic in cells where tryptophan biosynthesis was compromised. PMID:24040048

  6. Neurobehavioral Teratogenicity of Perfluorinated Alkyls in an Avian Model

    PubMed Central

    Pinkas, Adi; Slotkin, Theodore A.; Brick-Turin, Yael; Van der Zee, Eddy A.; Yanai, Joseph

    2010-01-01

    Perfluorinated alkyls are widely-used agents that accumulate in ecosystems and organisms because of their slow rate of degradation. There is increasing concern that these agents may be developmental neurotoxicants and the present study was designed to develop an avian model for the neurobehavioral teratogenicity of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS). Fertilized chicken eggs were injected with 5 or 10 mg/kg of either compound on incubation day 0. On the day of hatching, imprinting behavior was impaired by both compounds. We then explored underlying mechanisms involving the targeting of protein kinase C (PKC) isoforms (α, β, γ) in the intermedial part of the hyperstriatum ventrale, the region most closely associated with imprinting. With PFOA exposure, cytosolic PKC concentrations were significantly elevated for all three isoforms; despite the overall increase in PKC expression, membrane-associated PKC was unaffected, indicating a defect in PKC translocation. In contrast, PFOS exposure evoked a significant decrease in cytosolic PKC, primarily for the β and γ isoforms, but again without a corresponding change in membrane-associated enzyme; this likely partial, compensatory increases in translocation to offset the net PKC deficiency. Our studies indicate that perfluorinated alkyls are indeed developmental neurotoxicants that affect posthatch cognitive performance but that the underlying synaptic mechanisms may differ substantially among the various members of this class of compounds, setting the stage for disparate outcomes later in life. PMID:19945530

  7. Distributed Drug Discovery, Part 2: Global Rehearsal of Alkylating Agents for the Synthesis of Resin-Bound Unnatural Amino Acids and Virtual D3 Catalog Construction

    PubMed Central

    2008-01-01

    Distributed Drug Discovery (D3) proposes solving large drug discovery problems by breaking them into smaller units for processing at multiple sites. A key component of the synthetic and computational stages of D3 is the global rehearsal of prospective reagents and their subsequent use in the creation of virtual catalogs of molecules accessible by simple, inexpensive combinatorial chemistry. The first section of this article documents the feasibility of the synthetic component of Distributed Drug Discovery. Twenty-four alkylating agents were rehearsed in the United States, Poland, Russia, and Spain, for their utility in the synthesis of resin-bound unnatural amino acids 1, key intermediates in many combinatorial chemistry procedures. This global reagent rehearsal, coupled to virtual library generation, increases the likelihood that any member of that virtual library can be made. It facilitates the realistic integration of worldwide virtual D3 catalog computational analysis with synthesis. The second part of this article describes the creation of the first virtual D3 catalog. It reports the enumeration of 24 416 acylated unnatural amino acids 5, assembled from lists of either rehearsed or well-precedented alkylating and acylating reagents, and describes how the resulting catalog can be freely accessed, searched, and downloaded by the scientific community. PMID:19105725

  8. Synthesis of Norbornane Bisether Antibiotics via Silver-mediated Alkylation

    PubMed Central

    Hickey, Shane M.; Ashton, Trent D.; White, Jonathan M.; Li, Jian; Nation, Roger L.; Yu, Heidi Y.; Elliott, Alysha G.; Butler, Mark S.; Huang, Johnny X.; Cooper, Matthew A.

    2015-01-01

    A small series of norbornane bisether diguanidines have been synthesized and evaluated as antibacterial agents. The key transformation—bisalkylation of norbornane diol 6—was not successful using Williamson methodology but has been accomplished using Ag2O mediated alkylation. Further functionalization to incorporate two guanidinium groups gave rise to a series of structurally rigid cationic amphiphiles; several of which (16d, 16g and 16h) exhibited antibiotic activity. For example, compound 16d was active against a broad range of bacteria including Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MIC = 8 µg/mL), Escherichia coli (MIC = 8 µg/mL) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MIC = 8 µg/mL). PMID:26251697

  9. The SOS and RpoS Regulons Contribute to Bacterial Cell Robustness to Genotoxic Stress by Synergistically Regulating DNA Polymerase Pol II.

    PubMed

    Dapa, Tanja; Fleurier, Sébastien; Bredeche, Marie-Florence; Matic, Ivan

    2017-07-01

    Mitomycin C (MMC) is a genotoxic agent that induces DNA cross-links, DNA alkylation, and the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). MMC induces the SOS response and RpoS regulons in Escherichia coli SOS-encoded functions are required for DNA repair, whereas the RpoS regulon is typically induced by metabolic stresses that slow growth. Thus, induction of the RpoS regulon by MMC may be coincidental, because DNA damage slows growth; alternatively, the RpoS regulon may be an adaptive response contributing to cell survival. In this study, we show that the RpoS regulon is primarily induced by MMC-induced ROS production. We also show that RpoS regulon induction is required for the survival of MMC-treated growing cells. The major contributor to RpoS-dependent resistance to MMC treatment is DNA polymerase Pol II, which is encoded by the polB gene belonging to the SOS regulon. The observation that polB gene expression is controlled by the two major stress response regulons that are required to maximize survival and fitness further emphasizes the key role of this DNA polymerase as an important factor in genome stability. Copyright © 2017 by the Genetics Society of America.

  10. Elaboration et caracterisation de nanocomposites polyethylene/montmorillonite

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stoeffler, Karen

    This research project consists in preparing polyethylene/montmorillonite nanocomposites for film packaging applications. Montmorillonite is a natural clay with an exceptional aspect ratio. In recent years, its incorporation in polymer matrices has attracted great interest. The pioneer work from Toyota on polyamide-6/montmorillonite composites has shown that it was possible to disperse the clay at a nanometric scale. Such a structure, so-called exfoliated, leads to a significant increase in mechanical, barrier and fire retardant properties, even at low volumetric fractions of clay. This allows a valorization of the polymeric material at moderate cost. Due to its high polarity, montmorilloite exfoliation in polymeric matrices is problematic. In the particular case of polyolefin matrices, the platelets dispersion remains limited: most frequently, the composites obtained exhibit conventional structures (microcomposites) or intercalated structures. To solve this problem, two techniques are commonly employed: the surface treatment of the clay, which allows the expansion of the interfoliar gallery while increasing the affinity between the clay and the polymer, and the use of a polar compatibilizing agent (grafted polyolefin). The first part of this thesis deals with the preparation and the characterization of highly thermally stable organophilic montmorillonites. Commercial organophilic montmorillonites are treated with quaternary ammonium intercalating agents. However, those intercalating agents present a poor thermal stability and are susceptible to decompose upon processing, thus affecting the clay dispersion and the final properties of the nanocomposites. In this work, it was proposed to modify the clay with alkyl pyridinium, alkyl imidazolium and alkyl phosphonium intercalating agents, which are more stable than ammonium based cations. Organophilic montmorillonites with enhanced thermal stabilites compared to commercial organoclays (+20°C to +70°C) were prepared. The effect of the chemical structure of the intercalating agent on the capacity of the organoclay to be dispersed in polyethylene matrices was analyzed. In addition, the influence of the dispersion on the thermal stability of the nanocomposites prepared is discussed. In a second part, the effect of the compatibilizing agent characteristics on the quality of the clay dispersion in polyethylene/montmorillonite nanocomposites was analyzed. The mechanical properties and the oxygen permeability of the nanocomposites were evaluated and related to the level of clay delamination and to the strength of the polymer/clay interface, which was evaluated through surface tension measurements.

  11. The impact of lymphocyte isolation on induced DNA damage in human blood samples measured by the comet assay.

    PubMed

    Bausinger, Julia; Speit, Günter

    2016-09-01

    The comet assay is frequently used in human biomonitoring for the detection of exposure to genotoxic agents. Peripheral blood samples are most frequently used and tested either as whole blood or after isolation of lymphocytes (i.e. peripheral blood mononuclear cells, PBMC). To investigate a potential impact of lymphocyte isolation on induced DNA damage in human blood samples, we exposed blood ex vivo to mutagens with different modes of genotoxic action. The comet assay was performed either directly with whole blood at the end of the exposure period or with lymphocytes isolated directly after exposure. In addition to the recommended standard protocol for lymphocyte isolation, a shortened protocol was established to optimise the isolation procedure. The results indicate that the effects of induced DNA strand breaks and alkali-labile sites induced by ionising radiation and alkylants, respectively, are significantly reduced in isolated lymphocytes. In contrast, oxidative DNA base damage (induced by potassium bromate) and stable bulky adducts (induced by benzo[a]pyrene-7,8-dihydrodiol-9,10-epoxide; BPDE) seem to be less affected. Our findings suggest that in vivo-induced DNA damage might also be reduced in isolated lymphocytes in comparison with the whole blood depending of the types of DNA damage induced. Because only small genotoxic effects can generally be expected in human biomonitoring studies with the comet assay after occupational and environmental exposure to genotoxic agents, any loss might be relevant and should be avoided. The possibility of such effects and their potential impact on variability of comet assay results in human biomonitoring should be considered when performing or evaluating such kind of studies. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the UK Environmental Mutagen Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  12. Raman studies on anticancer inorganic ring-dna interactions. Part 1. HexaziridmocyclotriphosphazeneN 3P 3(NC 2H 4) 6

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Manfait, Michel; Alix, Alain J. P.; Butour, Jean-Luc; Labarre, Jean-François; Sournies, François

    1981-02-01

    A Raman investigation of hexaziridinocyclotriphosphazene3D¯NA interactions in vitro suggests that the alkylating sites on DNA for this powerful antitumour agent are the N(7) and NH 2 positions of adenine.

  13. Relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia retreated with rituximab: interim results of the PERLE study.

    PubMed

    Chaoui, Driss; Choquet, Sylvain; Sanhes, Laurence; Mahé, Béatrice; Hacini, Maya; Fitoussi, Olivier; Arkam, Yazid; Orfeuvre, Hubert; Dilhuydy, Marie-Sarah; Barry, Marly; Jourdan, Eric; Dreyfus, Brigitte; Tempescul, Adrian; Leprêtre, Stéphane; Bardet, Aurélie; Leconte, Pierre; Maynadié, Marc; Delmer, Alain

    2017-06-01

    This prospective non-interventional study assessed the management of relapsed/refractory CLL after one or two treatments with rituximab, and retreatment with a rituximab-based regimen. An interim analysis was performed at the end of the induction period in 192 evaluable patients. Median age was 72 years [35-89], first relapse (55%), and second relapse (45%). Rituximab administered during first (68%), second (92%), or both treatment lines (20%). R-bendamustine administered in 56% of patients, R-purine analogs (21%), and R-alkylating agents (19%). The overall response rate (ORR) was 74.6%, in favor of R-purine analogs (90%), R-bendamustine (75%), and R-alkylating agents (69%). Lower ORR in Del 17p patients (43%) and third time rituximab (31%). Most frequent adverse events were hematological (23% patients) including neutropenia (11%) and infections (12%); grade 3/4 AEs (23% patients), mainly hematological (18%); death during induction treatment (7%). This first large study focusing on relapsed/refractory CLL patients retreated with rituximab-based regimens is still ongoing.

  14. Evaluation of the mutagenicity of alkylating agents, methylnitrosourea and temozolomide, using the rat Pig-a assay with total red blood cells or reticulocytes.

    PubMed

    Muto, Shigeharu; Yamada, Katsuya; Kato, Tatsuya; Ando, Masamitsu; Inoue, Yoshimi; Iwase, Yumiko; Uno, Yoshifumi

    2016-11-15

    A collaborative study of the endogenous phosphatidylinositol glycan class A (Pig-a) gene mutation assay was conducted by the Japanese Environmental Mutagen Society/Mammalian Mutagenicity Study Group with a single-dosing regimen of test chemicals administered to male rats. As a part of the study, two DNA alkylating agents, methylnitrosourea (MNU) and temozolomide (TMZ), were dosed by single oral gavage at 25, 50, and 100mg/kg body weight. Pig-a mutant analysis of total red blood cells (RBCs; RBC Pig-a assay) and reticulocytes (RETs; PIGRET assay) was performed on Days 8, 15 and 29 after the administration. Both chemicals increased Pig-a mutants among RBCs and RETs with dose dependency on all days examined. The mutant frequencies were higher among RETs compared with RBCs, indicating that the PIGRET assay could detect mutagenicity more sensitively than the RBC Pig-a assay after a single dose of test chemicals. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Polydiacetylene chromism towards toxic chemical detection via molecular size-dependent selectivity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Seo, Donghwan

    Polydiacetylene (PDA) is a pi-conjugated polymer that has unique optical properties. PDA changes color from blue to red when subjected to various stimuli such as mechanical stress, heat, photoirradiation, pH change, and binding of specific ligands. The steric effect induced by those stimuli on PDA headgroup has been investigated to understand the mechanism of PDA chromism and to apply those optical properties to the development of various sensors. In this work, pH chromism of PDA was examined in terms of the effects of the molecular size and acidity of acid analytes with the consideration of the molecular design aspect of diacetylene lipids. The pH level is an important parameter, since a low pH will produce a charge on the amine headgroup of PDA, but this does not necessarily result in PDA chromatic transition from 'blue phase' to 'red phase.' The molecular size of the counter anion was identified as another determinant condition to ensure the perturbation of the ene-yne conjugated backbone of PDA, which produces the chromatic transition. In the molecular design of the sensory diacetylene lipids, the alkyl spacer length between the amine as a receptor and the amide linker was found to strongly affect the degree of PDA chromatic transition. The longer alkyl spacer showed the less chromatic transition. The length of alkyl spacer seems to promote the flexibility of the molecule diminishing the extent of the transfer of the steric effect at PDA headgroup to the conjugated backbone. Finally, PDA chromism dependent on the molecular size of acid analytes was applied to develop the colorimetric detection of diethyl phosphate (DEP), a degraded nerve agent simulant. PDA liposome sensors successfully showed selective chromatic transition with fluorescent emission upon binding of DEP compared to other acid analytes. The molecular size and acidity of acid analytes, and alkyl spacer length have proven to be correlated with PDA chromism. These new findings provide further understanding of the mechanism of PDA chromism and the molecular design principle of diacetylene in fundamental studies and in the development of various applications.

  16. N-O chemistry for antibiotics: discovery of N-alkyl-N-(pyridin-2-yl)hydroxylamine scaffolds as selective antibacterial agents using nitroso Diels-Alder and ene chemistry.

    PubMed

    Wencewicz, Timothy A; Yang, Baiyuan; Rudloff, James R; Oliver, Allen G; Miller, Marvin J

    2011-10-13

    The discovery, syntheses, and structure-activity relationships (SAR) of a new family of heterocyclic antibacterial compounds based on N-alkyl-N-(pyridin-2-yl)hydroxylamine scaffolds are described. A structurally diverse library of ∼100 heterocyclic molecules generated from Lewis acid-mediated nucleophilic ring-opening reactions with nitroso Diels-Alder cycloadducts and nitroso ene reactions with substituted alkenes was evaluated in whole cell antibacterial assays. Compounds containing the N-alkyl-N-(pyridin-2-yl)hydroxylamine structure demonstrated selective and potent antibacterial activity against the Gram-positive bacterium Micrococcus luteus ATCC 10240 (MIC(90) = 2.0 μM or 0.41 μg/mL) and moderate activity against other Gram-positive strains including antibiotic resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Enterococcus faecalis (VRE). A new synthetic route to the active core was developed using palladium-catalyzed Buchwald-Hartwig amination reactions of N-alkyl-O-(4-methoxybenzyl)hydroxylamines with 2-halo-pyridines that facilitated SAR studies and revealed the simplest active structural fragment. This work shows the value of using a combination of diversity-oriented synthesis (DOS) and parallel synthesis for identifying new antibacterial scaffolds.

  17. N-O Chemistry for Antibiotics: Discovery of N-Alkyl-N-(pyridin-2-yl)hydroxylamine Scaffolds as Selective Antibacterial Agents Using Nitroso Diels-Alder and Ene Chemistry

    PubMed Central

    Wencewicz, Timothy A.; Yang, Baiyuan; Rudloff, James R.; Oliver, Allen G.; Miller, Marvin J.

    2011-01-01

    The discovery, syntheses, and structure-activity relationships (SAR) of a new family of heterocyclic antibacterial compounds based on N-alkyl-N-(pyridin-2-yl)hydroxylamine scaffolds are described. A structurally diverse library of ~100 heterocyclic molecules generated from Lewis acid-mediated nucleophilic ring opening reactions with nitroso Diels-Alder cycloadducts and nitroso ene reactions with substituted alkenes was evaluated in whole cell antibacterial assays. Compounds containing the N-alkyl-N-(pyridin-2-yl)hydroxylamine structure demonstrated selective and potent antibacterial activity against the Gram-positive bacterium Micrococcus luteus ATCC 10240 (MIC90 = 2.0 μM or 0.41 μg/mL) and moderate activity against other Gram-positive strains including antibiotic resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Enterococcus faecalis (VRE). A new synthetic route to the active core was developed using palladium-catalyzed Buchwald-Hartwig amination reactions of N-alkyl-O-(4-methoxybenzyl)hydroxylamines with 2-halo-pyridines that facilitated SAR studies and revealed the simplest active structural fragment. This work shows the value of using a combination of diversity-oriented synthesis (DOS) and parallel synthesis for identifying new antibacterial scaffolds. PMID:21859126

  18. Environmental Impact of Alkyl Lead(IV) Derivatives: Perspective after Their Phase-out.

    PubMed

    Filella, Montserrat; Bonet, Josep

    2017-04-10

    The use of alkyl lead derivatives as antiknock agents in gasoline can be considered as one of the main pollution disasters of the 20th century because of both the global character of the pollution emitted and the seriousness of the impact on human health. Alkyl lead derivatives in themselves cannot be considered to be persistent pollutants because they readily degrade either before being released from the tailpipes or soon afterwards in the atmosphere. However, the inorganic lead they produced has been deposited in soils all over the planet, largely, but not exclusively in urban areas and along motorways, since the direct emission of lead into the atmosphere favored its dispersal over great distances: The signal of the massive use of alkyl lead derivatives has been found all over the world, including in remote sites such as polar areas. The short residence time of lead in the atmosphere implies that this compartment is highly responsive to changes in emissions. This was demonstrated when leaded gasoline was phased-out and is in striking contrast to the very long permanence of inorganic lead in soils, where resuspension is a permanent source of toxic lead.

  19. 13C NMR spectroscopy characterization of particle-size fractionated soil organic carbon in subalpine forest and grassland ecosystems.

    PubMed

    Shiau, Yo-Jin; Chen, Jenn-Shing; Chung, Tay-Lung; Tian, Guanglong; Chiu, Chih-Yu

    2017-12-01

    Soil organic carbon (SOC) and carbon (C) functional groups in different particle-size fractions are important indicators of microbial activity and soil decomposition stages under wildfire disturbances. This research investigated a natural Tsuga forest and a nearby fire-induced grassland along a sampling transect in Central Taiwan with the aim to better understand the effect of forest wildfires on the change of SOC in different soil particle scales. Soil samples were separated into six particle sizes and SOC was characterized by solid-state 13 C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy in each fraction. The SOC content was higher in forest than grassland soil in the particle-size fraction samples. The O-alkyl-C content (carbohydrate-derived structures) was higher in the grassland than the forest soils, but the alkyl-C content (recalcitrant substances) was higher in forest than grassland soils, for a higher humification degree (alkyl-C/O-alkyl-C ratio) in forest soils for all the soil particle-size fractions. High humification degree was found in forest soils. The similar aromaticity between forest and grassland soils might be attributed to the fire-induced aromatic-C content in the grassland that offsets the original difference between the forest and grassland. High alkyl-C content and humification degree and low C/N ratios in the fine particle-size fractions implied that undecomposed recalcitrant substances tended to accumulate in the fine fractions of soils.

  20. [Synthesis of 1-substituted nitroimidazoles and its evaluation as radiosensitizing agents].

    PubMed

    Adams, D R; Martul, R; Alvarez, M V; López Zumel, M C; Espada, M

    1991-01-01

    The synthesis of various substituted nitroimidazoles with lipophilic and hydrophilic side chains as potential radiosensitizing agents is described. The starting material employed was 4(5)-nitroimidazole, which was alkylated via the sodium salt with various chloro-methylated, substituted alcohols and esters, in order to obtain analogues of misonidazole, metronidazole and desmethylmisonidazole of known radiosensitizing and bactericidal activity. Some final products were assayed for their radiosensitizing properties giving negative results under the testing conditions used.

  1. Covalently functionalized carbon nanostructures and methods for their separation

    DOEpatents

    Wang, YuHuang; Brozena, Alexandra H; Deng, Shunliu; Zhang, Yin

    2015-03-17

    The present invention is directed to carbon nanostructures, e.g., carbon nanotubes, methods of covalently functionalizing carbon nanostructures, and methods of separating and isolating covalently functionalized carbon. In some embodiments, carbon nanotubes are reacted with alkylating agents to provide water soluble covalently functionalized carbon nanotubes. In other embodiments, carbon nanotubes are reacted with a thermally-responsive agent and exposed to light in order to separate carbon nanotubes of a specific chirality from a mixture of carbon nanotubes.

  2. A Tertiary Carbon–Iron Bond as an Fe I Cl Synthon and the Reductive Alkylation of Diphosphine-Supported Iron(II) Chloride Complexes to Low-Valent Iron

    DOE PAGES

    Tondreau, Aaron M.; Scott, Brian L.; Boncella, James M.

    2016-05-23

    We explored ligand-induced reduction of ferrous alkyl complexes via homolytic cleavage of the alkyl fragment with simple chelating diphosphines. The reactivities of the sodium salts of diphenylmethane, phenyl(trimethylsilyl)methane, or diphenyl(trimethylsilyl)methane were explored in their reactivity with (py) 4FeCl 2. Furthermore, we prepared a series of monoalkylated salts of the type (py) 2FeRCl and characterized from the addition of 1 equiv of the corresponding alkyl sodium species. These complexes are isostructural and have similar magnetic properties. The double alkylation of (py) 4FeCl 2 resulted in the formation of tetrahedral high-spin iron complexes with the sodium salts of diphenylmethane and phenyl(trimethylsilyl)methane thatmore » readily decomposed. A bis(cyclohexadienyl) sandwich complex was formed with the addition of 2 equiv of the tertiary alkyl species sodium diphenyl(trimethylsilyl)methane. The addition of chelating phosphines to (py) 2FeRCl resulted in the overall transfer of Fe(I) chloride concurrent with loss of pyridine and alkyl radical. (dmpe) 2FeCl was synthesized via addition of 1 equiv of sodium diphenyl(trimethylsilyl)methane, whereas the addition of 2 equiv of the sodium compound to (dmpe) 2FeCl 2 gave the reduced Fe(0) nitrogen complex (dmpe) 2Fe(N 2). Our results demonstrate that iron–alkyl homolysis can be used to afford clean, low-valent iron complexes without the use of alkali metals.« less

  3. Involvement of stress-activated protein kinase in the cellular response to 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine and other DNA-damaging agents.

    PubMed

    Saleem, A; Datta, R; Yuan, Z M; Kharbanda, S; Kufe, D

    1995-12-01

    The cellular response to 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine (ara-C) includes activation of Jun/AP-1, induction of c-jun transcription, and programmed cell death. The stress-activated protein (SAP) kinases stimulate the transactivation function of c-jun by amino terminal phosphorylation. The present work demonstrates that ara-C activates p54 SAP kinase. The finding that SAP kinase is also activated by alkylating agents (mitomycin C and cisplatinum) and the topoisomerase I inhibitor 9-amino-camptothecin supports DNA damage as an initial signal in this cascade. The results demonstrate that ara-C also induces binding of SAP kinase to the SH2/SH3-containing adapter protein Grb2. SAP kinase binds to the SH3 domains of Grb2, while interaction of the p85 alpha-subunit of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase complex. The results also demonstrate that ara-C treatment is associated with inhibition of lipid and serine kinase activities of PI 3-kinase. The potential significance of the ara-C-induced interaction between SAP kinase and PI 3-kinase is further supported by the demonstration that Wortmannin, an inhibitor of PI 3-kinase, stimulates SAP kinase activity. The finding that Wortmannin treatment is also associated with internucleosomal DNA fragmentation may support a potential link between PI 3-kinase and regulation of both SAP kinase and programmed cell death.

  4. Carcinogen-induced mutations in the mouse c-Ha-ras gene provide evidence of multiple pathways for tumor progression.

    PubMed Central

    Brown, K; Buchmann, A; Balmain, A

    1990-01-01

    A number of mouse skin tumors initiated by the carcinogens N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG), methylnitrosourea (MNU), 3-methylcholanthrene (MCA), and 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA) have been shown to contain activated Ha-ras genes. In each case, the point mutations responsible for activation have been characterized. Results presented demonstrate the carcinogen-specific nature of these ras mutations. For each initiating agent, a distinct spectrum of mutations is observed. Most importantly, the distribution of ras gene mutations is found to differ between benign papillomas and carcinomas, suggesting that molecular events occurring at the time of initiation influence the probability with which papillomas progress to malignancy. This study provides molecular evidence in support of the existence of subsets of papillomas with differing progression frequencies. Thus, the alkylating agents MNNG and MNU induced exclusively G ---- A transitions at codon 12, with this mutation being found predominantly in papillomas. MCA initiation produced both codon 13 G ---- T and codon 61 A ---- T transversions in papillomas; only the G ---- T mutation, however, was found in carcinomas. These findings provide strong evidence that the mutational activation of Ha-ras occurs as a result of the initiation process and that the nature of the initiating event can affect the probability of progression to malignancy. Images PMID:2105486

  5. Use of LC-MS/MS and Stable Isotopes to Differentiate Hydroxymethyl and Methyl DNA Adducts from Formaldehyde and Nitrosodimethylamine

    PubMed Central

    Lu, Kun; Craft, Sessaly; Nakamura, Jun; Moeller, Benjamin C.; Swenberg, James A.

    2012-01-01

    Formaldehyde is a known human and animal carcinogen that forms DNA adducts, and causes mutations. While there is widespread exposure to formaldehyde in the environment, formaldehyde is also an essential biochemical in all living cells. The presence of both endogenous and exogenous sources of formaldehyde makes it difficult to develop exposure-specific DNA biomarkers. Furthermore, chemicals such as nitrosodimethylamine form one mole of formaldehyde for every mole of methylating agent, raising questions about potential co-carcinogenesis. Formaldehyde-induced hydroxymethyl DNA adducts are not stable and need to be reduced to stable methyl adducts for detection, which adds another layer of complexity to identifying the origins of these adducts. In this study, highly sensitive mass spectrometry methods and isotope labeled compounds were used to differentiate between endogenous and exogenous hydroxymethyl and methyl DNA adducts. We demonstrate that N2-hydroxymethyl-dG is the primary DNA adduct formed in cells following formaldehyde exposure. In addition, we show that alkylating agents induce methyl adducts at N2-dG and N6-dA positions, which are identical to the reduced forms of hydroxymethyl adducts arising from formaldehyde. The use of highly sensitive LC-MS/MS and isotope labeled compounds for exposure solves these challenges and provides mechanistic insights on the formation and role of these DNA adducts. PMID:22148432

  6. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Tondreau, Aaron M.; Scott, Brian L.; Boncella, James M.

    We explored ligand-induced reduction of ferrous alkyl complexes via homolytic cleavage of the alkyl fragment with simple chelating diphosphines. The reactivities of the sodium salts of diphenylmethane, phenyl(trimethylsilyl)methane, or diphenyl(trimethylsilyl)methane were explored in their reactivity with (py) 4FeCl 2. Furthermore, we prepared a series of monoalkylated salts of the type (py) 2FeRCl and characterized from the addition of 1 equiv of the corresponding alkyl sodium species. These complexes are isostructural and have similar magnetic properties. The double alkylation of (py) 4FeCl 2 resulted in the formation of tetrahedral high-spin iron complexes with the sodium salts of diphenylmethane and phenyl(trimethylsilyl)methane thatmore » readily decomposed. A bis(cyclohexadienyl) sandwich complex was formed with the addition of 2 equiv of the tertiary alkyl species sodium diphenyl(trimethylsilyl)methane. The addition of chelating phosphines to (py) 2FeRCl resulted in the overall transfer of Fe(I) chloride concurrent with loss of pyridine and alkyl radical. (dmpe) 2FeCl was synthesized via addition of 1 equiv of sodium diphenyl(trimethylsilyl)methane, whereas the addition of 2 equiv of the sodium compound to (dmpe) 2FeCl 2 gave the reduced Fe(0) nitrogen complex (dmpe) 2Fe(N 2). Our results demonstrate that iron–alkyl homolysis can be used to afford clean, low-valent iron complexes without the use of alkali metals.« less

  7. Toward efficient Zn(II)-based artificial nucleases.

    PubMed

    Boseggia, Elisa; Gatos, Maddalena; Lucatello, Lorena; Mancin, Fabrizio; Moro, Stefano; Palumbo, Manlio; Sissi, Claudia; Tecilla, Paolo; Tonellato, Umberto; Zagotto, Giuseppe

    2004-04-14

    A series of cis-cis-triaminocyclohexane Zn(II) complex-anthraquinone intercalator conjugates, designed in such a way to allow their easy synthesis and modification, have been investigated as hydrolytic cleaving agents for plasmid DNA. The ligand structure comprises a triaminocyclohexane platform linked by means of alkyl spacers of different length (from C(4) to C(8)) to the anthraquinone group which may intercalate the DNA. At a concentration of 5 microM, the complex of the derivative with a C(8) alkyl spacer induces the hydrolytic stand scission of supercoiled DNA with a rate of 4.6 x 10(-6) s(-1) at pH 7 and 37 degrees C. The conjugation of the metal complex with the anthraquinone group leads to a 15-fold increase of the cleavage efficiency when compared with the anthraquinone lacking Zn-triaminocyclohexane complex. The straightforward synthetic procedure employed, allowing a systematic change of the spacer length, made possible to gain more insight on the role of the intercalating group in determining the reactivity of the systems. Comparison of the reactivity of the different complexes shows a remarkable increase of the DNA cleaving efficiency with the length of the spacer. In the case of too-short spacers, the advantages due to the increased DNA affinity are canceled due to the incorrect positioning of the reactive group, thus leading to cleavage inhibition.

  8. [Methaemoglobinaemia induced by ingestion of alkyl nitrite, "poppers"].

    PubMed

    Kragsfeldt, Celina Thelberg; Nissen, Christoffer B; Brandt, Frans

    2016-08-22

    We present a case report of an 18-year-old male who was referred to the emergency department with evidence of methaemoglobinaemia. He presented with classic symptoms with peripheral cyanosis and hypoxia. Arterial blood gas showed a methaemoglobin level of 36%. This was caused by ingestion of alkyl nitrate, a widespread party drug called "poppers". When inhaled it causes euphoria, reduced pain and relaxation of the anal sphincter, but oral use may induce life-threatening methaemoglobinaemia. The treatment of choice is the antidote methylene blue. After treatment the patient regained full recovery and was discharged on the following day. We discuss classic symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of intoxication with methylene blue.

  9. Hepatoprotective Effect of Houttuynia cordata Thunb Extract against Carbon Tetrachloride-induced Hepatic Damage in Mice

    PubMed Central

    Kang, H.; Koppula, S.

    2014-01-01

    Houttuynia cordata Thunb (Saururaceae) is a traditional medicinal herb used to treat several disease symptoms. The present study was focused on the hepatoprotective effects of H. cordata ethyl acetate extract in experimental mice. Further the antioxidant potential of the extract was also evaluated to substantiate its hepatoprotective properties. Carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatic damage in mice was used to measure the serum biochemical parameters. Morphological changes in hepatocyte architecture were studied by haematoxylin and eosin staining. In vitro alkyl and hydroxyl free radical scavenging assays were performed to evaluate the antioxidant effect. Administration of H. cordata extract significantly reduced the elevated serum levels and regulated the altered levels of serum cholesterol in carbon tetrachloride-treated mice (P<0.05). The morphological changes in hepatocyte architecture were also reversed by H. cordata treatment. Further, the extract showed significant antioxidant actions by scavenging the alkyl and hydroxyl free radicals. The concentration of the extract necessary for 50% scavenging of alkyl and hydroxyl radicals was 15.5 and 410 μg/ml, respectively. H. cordata extract exhibited significant hepatoprotective property in carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatotoxicity in mice. The strong antioxidant activities possessed by the extract might be responsible for such actions. PMID:25284923

  10. Hepatoprotective Effect of Houttuynia cordata Thunb Extract against Carbon Tetrachloride-induced Hepatic Damage in Mice.

    PubMed

    Kang, H; Koppula, S

    2014-07-01

    Houttuynia cordata Thunb (Saururaceae) is a traditional medicinal herb used to treat several disease symptoms. The present study was focused on the hepatoprotective effects of H. cordata ethyl acetate extract in experimental mice. Further the antioxidant potential of the extract was also evaluated to substantiate its hepatoprotective properties. Carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatic damage in mice was used to measure the serum biochemical parameters. Morphological changes in hepatocyte architecture were studied by haematoxylin and eosin staining. In vitro alkyl and hydroxyl free radical scavenging assays were performed to evaluate the antioxidant effect. Administration of H. cordata extract significantly reduced the elevated serum levels and regulated the altered levels of serum cholesterol in carbon tetrachloride-treated mice (P<0.05). The morphological changes in hepatocyte architecture were also reversed by H. cordata treatment. Further, the extract showed significant antioxidant actions by scavenging the alkyl and hydroxyl free radicals. The concentration of the extract necessary for 50% scavenging of alkyl and hydroxyl radicals was 15.5 and 410 μg/ml, respectively. H. cordata extract exhibited significant hepatoprotective property in carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatotoxicity in mice. The strong antioxidant activities possessed by the extract might be responsible for such actions.

  11. Antithrombogenic Polymer Coating.

    DOEpatents

    Huang, Zhi Heng; McDonald, William F.; Wright, Stacy C.; Taylor, Andrew C.

    2003-01-21

    An article having a non-thrombogenic surface and a process for making the article are disclosed. The article is formed by (i) coating a polymeric substrate with a crosslinked chemical combination of a polymer having at least two amino substituted side chains, a crosslinking agent containing at least two crosslinking functional groups which react with amino groups on the polymer, and a linking agent containing a first functional group which reacts with a third functional group of the crosslinking agent, and (ii) contacting the coating on the substrate with an antithrombogenic agent which covalently bonds to a second functional group of the linking agent. In one example embodiment, the polymer is a polyamide having amino substituted alkyl chains on one side of the polyamide backbone, the crosslinking agent is a phosphine having the general formula (A).sub.3 P wherein A is hydroxyalkyl, the linking agent is a polyhydrazide and the antithrombogenic agent is heparin.

  12. Verification, Dosimetry and Biomonitoring of Mustard Gas Exposure via Immunochemical Detection of Mustard Gas Adducts to DNA and Proteins.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1990-09-01

    90% of all radioactivity. Mustard gas appeared to be a very effective alkylating agent for bases in DNA. Even in blood, with a variety of reactive...stranded than of the single-stranded material is required for effective competition in the ELISA test, probably as a result of interstrand crosslinks...first noticed by their effects on casualties. If a total ban on the use, possession and production of chemical agents will eventually materialize, the

  13. Sulfur mustard induces the formation of keratin aggregates in human epidermal keratinocytes.

    PubMed

    Dillman, James F; McGary, Kriston L; Schlager, John J

    2003-12-01

    The vesicant sulfur mustard is an alkylating agent that has the capacity to cross-link biological molecules. We are interested in identifying specific proteins that are altered upon sulfur mustard exposure. Keratins are particularly important for the structural integrity of skin, and several genetically inherited blistering diseases have been linked to mutations in keratin 5 and keratin 14. We examined whether sulfur mustard exposure alters keratin biochemistry in cultured human epidermal keratinocytes. Western blotting with specific monoclonal antibodies revealed the formation of stable high-molecular-weight "aggregates" containing keratin 14 and/or keratin 5. These aggregates begin to form within 15 min after sulfur mustard exposure. These aggregates display a complex gel electrophoresis pattern between approximately 100 and approximately 200 kDa. Purification and analysis of these aggregates by one- and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry confirmed the presence of keratin 14 and keratin 5 and indicate that at least some of the aggregates are composed of keratin 14-keratin 14, keratin 14-keratin 5, or keratin 5-keratin 5 dimers. These studies demonstrate that sulfur mustard induces keratin aggregation in keratinocytes and support further investigation into the role of keratin aggregation in sulfur mustard-induced vesication.

  14. Nrf2 Regulates the Sensitivity of Mouse Keratinocytes to Nitrogen Mustard via Multidrug Resistance-Associated Protein 1 (Mrp1)

    PubMed Central

    Udasin, Ronald G.; Wen, Xia; Bircsak, Kristin M.; Aleksunes, Lauren M.; Shakarjian, Michael P.; Kong, Ah-Ng Tony; Heck, Diane E.; Laskin, Debra L.; Laskin, Jeffrey D.

    2016-01-01

    Sulfur mustard and nitrogen mustard (mechlorethamine, HN2) are potent vesicants developed as chemical warfare agents. These electrophilic, bifunctional alkylating agents cause skin injury, including inflammation, edema, and blistering. HN2 covalently modifies macromolecules such as DNA, RNA, and proteins or is scavenged by glutathione, forming adducts that can contribute to toxicity. Multidrug resistance-associated protein 1 (Mrp1/MRP1) is a transmembrane ATPase known to efflux glutathione-conjugated electrophiles. In the present studies, we examined the effects of modulating Mrp1-mediated transport activity on the sensitivity of primary and PAM212 mouse keratinocytes to HN2. Primary keratinocytes, and to a lesser extent, PAM212 cells, express Mrp1 mRNA and protein and possess Mrp1 functional activity, as measured by calcein efflux. Sulforaphane, an activator of Nrf2, increased Mrp1 mRNA, protein, and functional activity in primary keratinocytes and PAM212 cells and decreased their sensitivity to HN2-induced growth inhibition (IC50 = 1.4 and 4.8 µM in primary keratinocytes and 1 and 13 µM in PAM212 cells, in the absence and presence of sulforaphane, respectively). The Mrp1 inhibitor, MK-571, reversed the effects of sulforaphane on HN2-induced growth inhibition in both primary keratinocytes and PAM212 cells. In primary keratinocytes from Nrf2−/− mice, sulforaphane had no impact on Mrp1 expression or activity, or on sensitivity to HN2, demonstrating that its effects depend on Nrf2. These data suggest that Mrp1-mediated efflux is important in regulating HN2-induced keratinocyte growth inhibition. Enhancing HN2 efflux from keratinocytes may represent a novel strategy for mitigating vesicant-induced cytotoxicity. PMID:26454883

  15. Immunosuppressive myeloid cells induced by chemotherapy attenuate antitumor CD4+ T-cell responses through the PD-1-PD-L1 axis.

    PubMed

    Ding, Zhi-Chun; Lu, Xiaoyun; Yu, Miao; Lemos, Henrique; Huang, Lei; Chandler, Phillip; Liu, Kebin; Walters, Matthew; Krasinski, Antoni; Mack, Matthias; Blazar, Bruce R; Mellor, Andrew L; Munn, David H; Zhou, Gang

    2014-07-01

    In recent years, immune-based therapies have become an increasingly attractive treatment option for patients with cancer. Cancer immunotherapy is often used in combination with conventional chemotherapy for synergistic effects. The alkylating agent cyclophosphamide (CTX) has been included in various chemoimmunotherapy regimens because of its well-known immunostimulatory effects. Paradoxically, cyclophosphamide can also induce suppressor cells that inhibit immune responses. However, the identity and biologic relevance of these suppressor cells are poorly defined. Here we report that cyclophosphamide treatment drives the expansion of inflammatory monocytic myeloid cells (CD11b(+)Ly6C(hi)CCR2(hi)) that possess immunosuppressive activities. In mice with advanced lymphoma, adoptive transfer (AT) of tumor-specific CD4(+) T cells following cyclophosphamide treatment (CTX+CD4 AT) provoked a robust initial antitumor immune response, but also resulted in enhanced expansion of monocytic myeloid cells. These therapy-induced monocytes inhibited long-term tumor control and allowed subsequent relapse by mediating functional tolerization of antitumor CD4(+) effector cells through the PD-1-PD-L1 axis. PD-1/PD-L1 blockade after CTX+CD4 AT therapy led to persistence of CD4(+) effector cells and durable antitumor effects. Depleting proliferative monocytes by administering low-dose gemcitabine effectively prevented tumor recurrence after CTX+CD4 AT therapy. Similarly, targeting inflammatory monocytes by disrupting the CCR2 signaling pathway markedly potentiated the efficacy of cyclophosphamide-based therapy. Besides cyclophosphamide, we found that melphalan and doxorubicin can also induce monocytic myeloid suppressor cells. These findings reveal a counter-regulation mechanism elicited by certain chemotherapeutic agents and highlight the importance of overcoming this barrier to prevent late tumor relapse after chemoimmunotherapy. ©2014 American Association for Cancer Research.

  16. Alkyl ammonium cation stabilized biocidal polyiodides with adaptable high density and low pressure.

    PubMed

    He, Chunlin; Parrish, Damon A; Shreeve, Jean'ne M

    2014-05-26

    The effective application of biocidal species requires building the active moiety into a molecular back bone that can be delivered and decomposed on demand under conditions of low pressure and prolonged high-temperature detonation. The goal is to destroy storage facilities and their contents while utilizing the biocidal products arising from the released energy to destroy any remaining harmful airborne agents. Decomposition of carefully selected iodine-rich compounds can produce large amounts of the very active biocides, hydroiodic acid (HI) and iodine (I2). Polyiodide anions, namely, I3(-), I5(-), which are excellent sources of such biocides, can be stabilized through interactions with large, symmetric cations, such as alkyl ammonium salts. We have designed and synthesized suitable compounds of adaptable high density up to 3.33 g cm(-3) that are low-pressure polyiodides with various alkyl ammonium cations, deliverable iodine contents of which range between 58.0-90.9%. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  17. Solubility, ionization, and partitioning behavior of unsymmetrical disulfide compounds: alkyl 2-imidazolyl disulfides.

    PubMed

    Hashash, Ahmad; Kirkpatrick, D Lynn; Lazo, John S; Block, Lawrence H

    2002-07-01

    Alkyl 2-imidazolyl disulfide compounds are novel antitumor agents, one of which is currently being evaluated in Phase I clinical trials. These molecules contain an unsymmetrical disulfide fragment, the lipophilic and electronic contributions of which are still not defined in the literature. Lipophilicity, ionization, and solubility of a number of alkyl 2-imidazolyl disulfides were studied. Based on the additivity of lipophilicity and ionization properties, the contribution of the unsymmetrical disulfide fragment to lipophilicity and ionization was elucidated. The unsymmetrical disulfide fragment contributed a Rekker's hydrophobic constant of 0.761 to the lipophilicity of these compounds and an approximated Hammett constant (sigma) of 0.30 to their ionization. The applicability of the general solubility equation (GSE) proposed by Jain and Yalkowsky in predicting the aqueous solubility of these analogs was evaluated. The GSE correctly ranked the aqueous solubilities of these compounds and estimated their log molar solubilities with an average absolute error of 0.35. Copyright 2002 Wiley-Liss Inc.

  18. EFFECTS OF GESTATIONAL EXPOSURE TO ETHANE DIMETHANESULFONATE IN CD-1 MICE: MICROTIA AND PRELIMINARY HEARING TESTS

    EPA Science Inventory

    Microtia is a reduction in pinna size, usually seen in humans in conjunction with other medical conditions. Here we report microtia in CD-1 mice following gestational exposure to ethane dimethanesulfonate (EDS), an alkylating agent and adult rat Leydig cell toxicant. Methods...

  19. 77 FR 74473 - Certain New Chemicals; Receipt and Status Information

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-12-14

    ... polymer. building materials. P-13-0022 10/12/2012 1/9/2013 CBI (S) Surface (G) protection agent Perfluoroacrylate for use in polymer. building materials. P-13-0023 10/12/2012 1/9/2013 CBI (G) Coating (G) Siloxanes and additive. silicones, substituted alkyl group-terminated, alkoxylated, polymers with...

  20. Defense Technology Area Plan.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1996-05-01

    Nonpolluting fouling-resistant or fouling-release hull coatings, which exploit low- surface-energy and surface-oriented perfluorinated alkyl compounds ... compounds Novel radioprotective drugs Fieldable biodosimetry capability Modeling for casualties in NBC environments Combined injury treatment protocols...Viral Agents, including encephalomyelitis viruses, variola (smallpox), and filoviridae (e.g., Ebola virus). • Neuroactive Compounds , including

  1. ION EXCHANGE SUBSTANCES BY SAPONIFICATION OF ALLYL PHOSPHATE POLYMERS

    DOEpatents

    Kennedy, J.

    1959-04-14

    An ion exchange resin having a relatively high adsorption capacity tor uranyl ion as compared with many common cations is reported. The resin comprises an alphyl-allyl hydrogen phosphate polymer, the alphyl group being either allyl or a lower alkyl group having up to 5 carbon atoins. The resin is prepared by polymerizing compounds such as alkyl-diallyl phosphate and triallyl phosphate in the presence of a free radical generating substance and then partially hydrolyzing the resulting polymer to cause partial replacement of organic radicals by cations. A preferred free radical gencrating agent is dibenzoyl peroxide. The partial hydrolysis is brought about by refluxing the polymer with concentrated aqueous NaOH for three or four hours.

  2. Theoretical DFT, vibrational and NMR studies of benzimidazole and alkyl derivatives

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Infante-Castillo, Ricardo; Rivera-Montalvo, Luis A.; Hernández-Rivera, Samuel P.

    2008-04-01

    Benzimidazoles are heterocyclic compounds that have awaked great interest during the last few years because of their proven biological activity as antiviral, antimicrobial, and antitumoral agents. For this reason, the development of a systematic FT-IR, FT-Raman and NMR study of 1-substituted compounds in 2-methylbenzimidazole constitutes a significant tool in understanding the molecular dynamics and the structural parameters that govern their behavior. Two new 1-alkyl-2-methylbenzimidazoles compounds were synthesized from reaction of 2-methylbenzimidazole with primary and secondary alkyl halides using a strong base as a catalyst. These compounds were purified and characterized by elemental analysis and different spectroscopic methods. The comparative analysis of vibrational modes of benzimidazole and its alkyl derivatives show that regions of absorption are very similar in all of them. However, changes are produced at low frequencies specifically in the C-H out of plane deformations, ring breathing and ring skeletal vibrations. The ring out-of plane bending modes shift by 10-15 cm -1 in some cases as results of alkyl substitution. The theoretical calculated spectra, using Density Functional Theory (DFT) approximation, and experimental results were consistent with each other. The GIAO method was used to calculate absolute shieldings, which agree consistently with those measured by 1H and 13C NMR. The consistency and efficiency of the GIAO 13C and 1H NMR calculations were thoroughly checked by the analysis of statistical parameters concerning computed and experimental 13C and 1H NMR chemical shift values of the studied compounds.

  3. Cooperative alpha-helix formation of beta-lactoglobulin induced by sodium n-alkyl sulfates.

    PubMed

    Chamani, J; Moosavi-Movahedi, A A; Rajabi, O; Gharanfoli, M; Momen-Heravi, M; Hakimelahi, G H; Neamati-Baghsiah, A; Varasteh, A R

    2006-01-01

    It is generally assumed that folding intermediates contain partially formed native-like secondary structures. However, if we consider the fact that the conformational stability of the intermediate state is simpler than that of the native state, it would be expected that the secondary structures in a folding intermediate would not necessarily be similar to those of the native state. beta-Lactoglobulin is a predominantly beta-sheet protein, although it has a markedly high intrinsic preference for alpha-helical structure. The formation of non-native alpha-helical intermediate of beta-lactoglobulin was induced by n-alkyl sulfates including sodium octyl sulfate, SOS; sodium decyl sulfate, SDeS; sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS; and sodium tetradecyl sulfate, STS at special condition. The effect of n-alkyl sulfates on the structure of native beta-lactoglobulin at pH 2 was utilized to investigate the contribution of hydrophobic interactions to the stability of non-native alpha-helical intermediate. The addition of various concentrations of n-alkyl sulfates to the native state of beta-lactoglobulin (pH 2) appears to support the stabilized form of non-native alpha-helical intermediate at pH 2. The m values of the intermediate state of beta-lactoglobulin by SOS, SDeS, SDS and STS showed substantial variation. The enhancement of m values as the stability criterion of non-native alpha-helical intermediate state corresponded with increasing chain length of the cited n-alkyl sulfates. The present results suggest that the folding reaction of beta-lactoglobulin follows a non-hierarchical mechanism and hydrophobic interactions play important roles in stabilizing the non-native alpha-helical intermediate state.

  4. Protective activity of Cynara scolymus L. leaf extract against chemically induced complex genomic alterations in CHO cells.

    PubMed

    Jacociunas, Laura Vicedo; de Andrade, Heloisa Helena Rodrigues; Lehmann, Mauricio; Pedersini, Larissa Wölfle; Ferraz, Alexandre de Barros Falcão; da Silva, Juliana; Dihl, Rafael Rodrigues

    2013-09-15

    Cynara scolymus L., popularly known as artichoke, has been widely used in traditional medicine as an herbal medicament for therapeutic purposes. The study aimed at assessing the protective activity of Cynara scolymus leaf extract (LE) against DNA lesions induced by the alkylating agent ethylmethnesulphonate (EMS) in Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO). The ability of C. scolymus L. LE to modulate the mutagenicity of EMS was examined using the cytokinesis block micronucleus (CBMN) cytome assay in three antigenotoxic protocols, pre- post- and simultaneous treatments. In the pre-treatment, C. scolymus L. LE reduced the frequencies of MNi and NBUDs induced by EMS in the lower concentration. In contrast, at the highest concentration (5 mg/ml) artichoke enhanced the frequency of MNi, potentiating EMS genotoxicity. In the simultaneous treatment only the induction of MNi was repressed by the exposure of cells to C. scolymus L. LE. No modification in genotoxicity was observed in LE post-treatment. The results obtained in this study suggest that lower concentrations of artichoke prevent chemically induced genomic damage in mammalian cells. In this context, the protective activity of C. scolymus L. could be associated to its constitutive antioxidants compounds. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

  5. Induction of sister chromatid exchanges and cell division delays in human lymphocytes by the anti-tumour agent homo-aza-steroidal ester of p-bis(2-chloroethyl)aminophenoxy acetic acid.

    PubMed

    Tselepi, M R; Demopoulos, N A; Catsoulacos, P

    1989-09-01

    3 beta-Hydroxy-13 alpha-amino-13,17-seco-5 alpha-androstan-17-oic-13,17-lactam-p-bis(2-chloroethyl) aminophenoxyacetate (NSC 294859) is a new modified steroidal alkylating agent. This compound was given by i.p. administration to mice bearing different types of tumour. It was found to exhibit good activity in L1210 and P388 leukaemias with maintenance of activity against advanced tumours. The treatment of colon 26 tumour and B16 melanoma resulted in positive antineoplastic activity. The drug was not shown to be active in a melphalan-resistant P388 line. In this study, NSC 294859 was found to be effective in causing statistically significant increases in sister-chromatid exchange (SCE) rates and cell division delays. The alkylating agent component, p-bis-(2-chloroethyl)aminophenoxy acetic acid, was shown to be less effective than the parent compound, while the modified steroid component, 3 beta-hydroxy-13 alpha-amino-13,17-seco-5 alpha-androstan-17-oic-13,17-lactam, showed no effect. There were no statistically significant differences among donors regarding the induction of SCEs and replication indices (RIs) for the compounds tested.

  6. Extraction-spectrophotometric determination of tris(2-chloroethyl)amine using phthaleins.

    PubMed

    Rozsypal, Tomas; Halamek, Emil

    2017-06-01

    Procedures for the extraction-spectrophotometric determination of tris(2-chloroethyl)amine, an alkylating agent known as a drug as well as a chemical warfare agent (nitrogen mustard HN-3), with 7 acid-base indicators of a triphenylmethane lactone type, phthaleins, were developed. Representatives of phthaleins without an oxygen bridge (thymolphthalein, o-cresolphthalein, naphtholphthalein) and with an oxygen bridge (fluorescein, 2',7'-dichlorofluorescein, eosin B and eosin Y) were used. The methods were based on the formation of ion pair complexes. Chloroform was used as a non-polar solvent for an extraction. The conditions to determine were optimized for the optimal pH of the buffer and the concentration of a phthalein as a reagent. The dependence on the reaction time in a water phase and the stoichiometry of extraction products were studied. The detection limits and the limits of the determination of separate procedures and conditional extraction constants were determined. Comparison with the spectrophotometric method of the group determination of alkyl halides and acyl halides using alkaline ethanol-water solution of thymolphthalein, the so-called T-135 agent, was conducted. While studying the selectivity, the possible interference of bis(2-chloroethyl)sulphide and 3 nitrogen mustards in the proposed procedures were verified. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  7. The development of GADD45α luciferase reporter assays in human cells for assessing the genotoxicity of environmental pollutants.

    PubMed

    Xin, Lili; Wang, Jianshu; Wu, Yanhu; Guo, Sifan

    2015-02-01

    In order to assess the potential carcinogenic and genotoxic responses induced by environmental pollutants, genotoxicity test systems based on a GADD45α promoter-driven luciferase reporter in human A549 and HepG2 cells were established. Four different types of environmental toxicants including DNA alkylating agents, precarcinogenic agents, DNA cross-linking agents and non-carcinogenic agents, and three environmental samples collected from a coke oven plant were used to evaluate the test systems. After treated with the tested agents and environmental samples for 12 h, the cell viabilities and luciferase activities of the luciferase reporter cells were determined, respectively. Methyl methanesulfonate, benzo[a]pyrene, formaldehyde and the extractable organic matter (EOM) from coke oven emissions in ambient air generally produced significant induction of relative luciferase activity in a similar dose-dependent manner in A549- and HepG2-luciferase cells. No significant increases in relative luciferase activity were observed in pyrene-treated A549- or HepG2-luciferase cells. Significant increase in relative luciferase activity was already evident after 2.5 µM benzo[a]pyrene, 5 µM formaldehyde, 0.006 µg/L bottom-EOM, 0.10 µg/L side-EOM or 0.06 µg/L top-EOM, where no cytotoxic damage was observed. Compared with the A549-luciferase cells, the tested pollutants produced higher induction of relative luciferase activity in HepG2-luciferase cells. Therefore, the new genotoxicity test systems can detect different types of genotoxic agents and low concentrations of environmental samples. The luciferase reporter cells, especially the HepG2-luciferase cells, could provide a valuable tool for rapid screening of the genotoxic damage of environmental pollutants and their complex mixtures.

  8. Heat-induced formation of mepiquat by decarboxylation of pipecolic acid and its betaine derivative. Part 1: Model system studies.

    PubMed

    Yuan, Yuan; Tarres, Adrienne; Bessaire, Thomas; Stadler, Richard H; Delatour, Thierry

    2017-07-15

    This study describes, for the first time, the role of pipecolic acid betaine and pipecolic acid, naturally present in some foods, in the formation of the plant growth regulator N,N-dimethylpiperidinium (mepiquat) under dry thermal conditions. The formation of mepiquat and intermediate compounds was investigated in model systems using high performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole/time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Mepiquat is released with a yield of up to 0.66mol% after thermal treatment (>150°C) of pipecolic acid betaine. Similar conversion rates are attained with the congener piperidine-2-carboxylic acid (dl-pipecolic acid), albeit in the presence of alkylating agents, such as choline, glycine betaine or trigonelline, that are fairly widespread in food crops. These new pathways to mepiquat indicate that the occurrence of low levels of this thermally induced compound is probably more widespread in processed foods than initially suspected (see Part 2 of this study on the occurrence of mepiquat in selected foodstuffs). Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate Dehydrogenase (GAPDH) Is Pyruvylated during 3-Bromopyruvate Mediated Cancer Cell Death

    PubMed Central

    Ganapathy-Kanniappan, Shanmugasundaram; Geschwind, Jean-Francois H.; Kunjithapatham, Rani; Buijs, Manon; Vossen, Josephina A.; Tchernyshyov, Irina; Cole, Robert N.; Syed, Labiq H.; Rao, Pramod P.; Ota, Shinichi; Vali, Mustafa

    2013-01-01

    Background The pyruvic acid analog 3-bromopyruvate (3BrPA) is an alkylating agent known to induce cancer cell death by blocking glycolysis. The anti-glycolytic effect of 3BrPA is considered to be the inactivation of glycolytic enzymes. Yet, there is a lack of experimental documentation on the direct interaction of 3BrPA with any of the suggested targets during its anticancer effect. Methods and Results In the current study, using radiolabeled (14C) 3BrPA in multiple cancer cell lines, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) was identified as the primary intracellular target of 3BrPA, based on two-dimensional (2D) gel electrophoretic autoradiography, mass spectrometry and immunoprecipitation. Furthermore, in vitro enzyme kinetic studies established that 3BrPA has marked affinity to GAPDH. Finally, Annexin V staining and active caspase-3 immunoblotting demonstrated that apoptosis was induced by 3BrPA. Conclusion GAPDH pyruvylation by 3BrPA affects its enzymatic function and is the primary intracellular target in 3BrPA mediated cancer cell death. PMID:20044597

  10. Long alkyl-chain imidazolium ionic liquids: Antibiofilm activity against phototrophic biofilms.

    PubMed

    Reddy, G Kiran Kumar; Nancharaiah, Y V; Venugopalan, V P

    2017-07-01

    Biofilm formation is problematic and hence undesirable in medical and industrial settings. In addition to bacteria, phototrophic organisms are an integral component of biofilms that develop on surfaces immersed in natural waters. 1-Alkyl-3-methyl imidazolium ionic liquids (IL) with varying alkyl chain length were evaluated for their influence on the formation of monospecies (Navicula sp.) and multispecies biofilms under phototrophic conditions. An IL with a long alkyl side chain, 1-hexadecyl-3-methylimidaazolium chloride ([C 16 (MIM)][Cl]) retarded growth, adhesion and biofilm formation of Navicula sp. at concentrations as low as 5μM. Interestingly, [C 16 (MIM)][Cl] was very effective in preventing multispecies phototrophic biofilms on fibre reinforced plastic surfaces immersed in natural waters (fresh and seawater). SYTOX ® Green staining and chlorophyll leakage assay confirmed that the biocidal activity of the IL was exerted through cell membrane disruption. The data show that [C 16 (MIM)][Cl] is a potent inhibitor of phototrophic biofilms at micromolar concentrations and a promising agent for biofilm control in re-circulating cooling water systems. This is the first report that ionic liquids inhibit biofilm formation by phototrophic organisms which are important members of biofilms in streams and cooling towers. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Stereospecific nickel-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions of benzylic ethers and esters.

    PubMed

    Tollefson, Emily J; Hanna, Luke E; Jarvo, Elizabeth R

    2015-08-18

    This Account presents the development of a suite of stereospecific alkyl-alkyl cross-coupling reactions employing nickel catalysts. Our reactions complement related nickel-catalyzed stereoconvergent cross-coupling reactions from a stereochemical and mechanistic perspective. Most reactions of alkyl electrophiles with low-valent nickel complexes proceed through alkyl radicals and thus are stereoablative; the correct enantioselective catalyst can favor the formation of one enantiomer. Our reactions, in contrast, are stereospecific. Enantioenriched ethers and esters are cleanly converted to cross-coupled products with high stereochemical fidelity. While mechanistic details are still to be refined, our results are consistent with a polar, two-electron oxidative addition that avoids the formation of radical intermediates. This reactivity is unusual for a first-row transition metal. The cross-coupling reactions engage a range of benzylic ethers and esters, including methyl ethers, tetrahydropyrans, tetrahydrofurans, esters, and lactones. Coordination of the arene substituent to the nickel catalyst accelerates the reactions. Arenes with low aromatic stabilization energies, such as naphthalene, benzothiophene, and furan, serve as the best ligands and provide the highest reactivity. Traceless directing groups that accelerate reactions of sluggish substrates are described, providing partial compensation for arene coordination. Kumada, Negishi, and Suzuki reactions provide incorporation of a broad range of transmetalating agents. In Kumada coupling reactions, a full complement of Grigard reagents, including methyl, n-alkyl, and aryl Grignard reagents, are employed. In reactions employing methylmagnesium iodide, ligation of the nickel catalyst by rac-BINAP or DPEphos provides the highest yield and stereospecificity. For all other Grignard reagents, Ni(dppe)Cl2 has emerged as the best catalyst. Negishi cross-coupling reactions employing dimethylzinc are reported as a strategy to increase the functional group tolerance of the reaction. We also describe Suzuki reactions using arylboronic esters. These reactions provided the first example in the series of a switch in stereochemical outcome. The reactions maintain stereospecificity, but reactions employing different achiral ligands provide opposite enantiomers of the product. Use of an N-heterocyclic carbene ligand, SIMes, provides inversion, consistent with our prior work in Kumada and Negishi coupling reactions. Use of the electron-rich phosphine PCy3, however, provides retention with stereospecificity, signaling a change in the mechanistic details. Potential applications of the reported cross-coupling reactions include the synthesis of medicinal agents containing the 2-arylalkane and 1,1-diarylalkane moieties, which are pharmacophores in medicinal chemistry. These moieties are found in compounds with activity against a broad range of indications, including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, smallpox, tuberculosis, and insomnia. We highlight representative examples of bioactive compounds that we have prepared with high enantioselectivity employing our methods, as well as the discovery of a new anti-cancer agent.

  12. Investigation into 64Cu-labeled Bis(selenosemicarbazone) and Bis(thiosemicarbazone) complexes as hypoxia imaging agents.

    PubMed

    McQuade, Paul; Martin, Katherine E; Castle, Thomas C; Went, Michael J; Blower, Philip J; Welch, Michael J; Lewis, Jason S

    2005-02-01

    Cu-diacetyl-bis(N4-methylthiosemicarbazone) [Cu-ATSM], although excellent for oncology applications, may not be suitable for delineating cardiovascular or neurological hypoxia. For this reason, new Cu hypoxia positron emission tomography (PET) imaging agents are being examined to search for a higher selectivity for hypoxic or ischemic tissue at higher oxygen concentrations found in these tissues. Two approaches are to increase alkylation or to replace the sulfur atoms with selenium, resulting in the formation of selenosemicarbazones. Three 64Cu-labeled selenosemicarbazone complexes were synthesized and one was screened for hypoxia selectivity in vitro using EMT-6 mouse mammary carcinoma cells. Rodent biodistribution and small animal PET images were obtained from BALB/c mice implanted with EMT-6 tumors. One alkylated thiosemicarbazone was synthesized and examined. Of the three bis(selenosemicarbazone) ligands synthesized and examined, only 64Cu-diacetyl-bis(selenosemicarbazone) [64Cu-ASSM] was isolated in high-enough radiochemical purity to undertake cell uptake experiments where uptake was shown to be independent of oxygen concentration. The bis(thiosemicarbazone) complex synthesized, 64Cu-diacetyl-bis(N4-ethylthiosemicarbazone) [64Cu-ATSE], showed hypoxia selectivity similar to 64Cu-ATSM although at a higher oxygen concentration. Biodistribution studies for 64Cu-ASSM and 64Cu-ATSE showed high tumor uptake at 20 min (64Cu-ASSM, 10.33+/-0.78% ID/g; 64Cu-ATSE, 7.71+/-0.46% ID/g). PET images of EMT-6 tumor-bearing mice visualized the tumor with 64Cu-ATSE and revealed hypoxia selectivity consistent with the in vitro data. Of the compounds synthesized, only 64Cu-ASSM and 64Cu-ATSE could be examined in vitro and in vivo. Although the stability of bis(selenosemicarbazone) complexes increased upon addition of methyl groups to the diimine backbone, the fully alkylated species, 64Cu-ASSM, demonstrated no hypoxia selectivity. However, the additional alkylation present in Cu-ATSE modifies the hypoxia selectivity and in vivo properties when compared with Cu-ATSM.

  13. Roles of PCNA ubiquitination and TLS polymerases κ and η in the bypass of methyl methanesulfonate-induced DNA damage

    PubMed Central

    Wit, Niek; Buoninfante, Olimpia Alessandra; van den Berk, Paul C.M.; Jansen, Jacob G.; Hogenbirk, Marc A.; de Wind, Niels; Jacobs, Heinz

    2015-01-01

    Translesion synthesis (TLS) provides a highly conserved mechanism that enables DNA synthesis on a damaged template. TLS is performed by specialized DNA polymerases of which polymerase (Pol) κ is important for the cellular response to DNA damage induced by benzo[a]pyrene-7,8-dihydrodiol-9,10-epoxide (BPDE), ultraviolet (UV) light and the alkylating agent methyl methanesulfonate (MMS). As TLS polymerases are intrinsically error-prone, tight regulation of their activity is required. One level of control is provided by ubiquitination of the homotrimeric DNA clamp PCNA at lysine residue 164 (PCNA-Ub). We here show that Polκ can function independently of PCNA modification and that Polη can function as a backup during TLS of MMS-induced lesions. Compared to cell lines deficient for PCNA modification (PcnaK164R) or Polκ, double mutant cell lines display hypersensitivity to MMS but not to BPDE or UV-C. Double mutant cells also displayed delayed post-replicative TLS, accumulate higher levels of replication stress and delayed S-phase progression. Furthermore, we show that Polη and Polκ are redundant in the DNA damage bypass of MMS-induced DNA damage. Taken together, we provide evidence for PCNA-Ub-independent activation of Polκ and establish Polη as an important backup polymerase in the absence of Polκ in response to MMS-induced DNA damage. PMID:25505145

  14. Enhanced cytogenetic and antineoplastic effects by the combined action of two esteric steroidal derivatives of nitrogen mustards.

    PubMed

    Papageorgiou, A; Nikolaropoulos, S S; Arsenou, E S; Karaberis, E; Mourelatos, D; Kotsis, A; Chryssogelou, E

    1999-01-01

    The authors studied the effect of two modified steroids containing different proportions (%) of alkylating agents alone or in combination on sister chromatid exchange (SCE) rates and on human lymphocyte proliferation kinetics. The antitumor activity of these compounds was tested on leukemia P388- and leukemia L1210-bearing mice. The two chemicals in mixtures enhance SCE induction and antitumor activity in a synergistic manner. The homo-aza-steroidal ester of p-bis(2-chloroethyl)aminophenyl acetic acid was found to be more effective than the homo-aza-steroidal ester of o-bis(2-chloroethyl)aminobenzoic acid in causing cytogenetic damage and antineoplastic activity. A correlation was observed between the magnitude of the SCE response and the depression of the cell proliferation index. The order of the antitumor effectiveness of the five different treatments tested coincided with the order of the cytogenetic effects they induced.

  15. [The significance of extravasation in oncological care].

    PubMed

    Zatkóné Puskás, Gabriella

    2008-03-01

    The treatment of cancer may be associated with various chemotherapy-induced mucocutaneous reactions. One of the mucocutaneous adverse effects of antineoplastic drugs is the toxic local tissue reaction, the extravasation, which occurs in less than 1-2% of cytotoxic infusions. The standard management of vesicant extravasation includes: discontinuing all local infusions, aspiration of any residual drug, elevating the involved limb, local cooling or warm compresses, local anesthesia, antidotes (sodium thiosulfate for alkylating agents, dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) for anthracyclines and mitomycin, and hyaluronidase for the vinca alkaloids), and finally surgical debridement with plastic surgery reconstruction. Because the anthracyclines are topoisomerase II poisons that are antagonized by topoisomerase II catalytic inhibitors such as dexrazoxane, it seems to be the treatment of choice immediately after extravasation of doxorubicin, epirubicin, daunorubicin, etc. One systemic dose of dexrazoxane after the accident may significantly reduce the toxic tissue lesions. Repeated intralesional injections of GM-CSF may accelerate the wound healing without the need of skin grafts.

  16. Successful hematopoietic stem cell transplantation following a cyclophosphamide-containing preparative regimen with concomitant phenobarbital administration.

    PubMed

    Weber, Catherine; Kasberg, Heather; Copelan, Edward

    2012-01-01

    Cyclophosphamide is an immunosuppressive agent and an anticancer prodrug which requires bioactivation catalyzed primarily by cytochrome P450 enzymes in order to be transformed into its active alkylating compounds. Concomitant administration of drugs known to inhibit or induce this enzyme system is a clinical concern. Herein, we present the case of a chronically ill 21-year-old patient who received high-dose cyclophosphamide, equine antithymocyte globulin (eATG), and total body irradiation (TBI) followed by an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) for severe aplastic anemia. Throughout her hospitalization, she continued to receive quadruple anticonvulsant therapy including phenobarbital for her long-standing seizure history. The preparative regimen was tolerated well aside from a hypersensitivity reaction to eATG, and minimal cyclophosphamide-related toxicities. Safe and effective administration of high-dose cyclophosphamide was possible with multidisciplinary care consisting of physician, nursing, pharmacy, neurology consultation, as well as social work and case management.

  17. Epigenetic: A missing paradigm in cellular and molecular pathways of sulfur mustard lung: a prospective and comparative study

    PubMed Central

    Imani, Saber; Panahi, Yunes; Salimian, Jafar; Fu, Junjiang; Ghanei, Mostafa

    2015-01-01

    Sulfur mustard (SM, bis- (2-chloroethyl) sulphide) is a chemical warfare agent that causes DNA alkylation, protein modification and membrane damage. SM can trigger several molecular pathways involved in inflammation and oxidative stress, which cause cell necrosis and apoptosis, and loss of cells integrity and function. Epigenetic regulation of gene expression is a growing research topic and is addressed by DNA methylation, histone modification, chromatin remodeling, and noncoding RNAs expression. It seems SM can induce the epigenetic modifications that are translated into change in gene expression. Classification of epigenetic modifications long after exposure to SM would clarify its mechanism and paves a better strategy for the treatment of SM-affected patients. In this study, we review the key aberrant epigenetic modifications that have important roles in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and compared with mustard lung. PMID:26557960

  18. Recent Advances in Cyanamide Chemistry: Synthesis and Applications.

    PubMed

    Prabhath, M R Ranga; Williams, Luke; Bhat, Shreesha V; Sharma, Pallavi

    2017-04-12

    The application of alkyl and aryl substituted cyanamides in synthetic chemistry has diversified multi-fold in recent years. In this review, we discuss recent advances (since 2012) in the chemistry of cyanamides and detail their application in cycloaddition chemistry, aminocyanation reactions, as well as electrophilic cyanide-transfer agents and their unique radical and coordination chemistry.

  19. Reactivity of Dual-Use Decontaminants with Chemical Warfare Agents

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-07-01

    liquid–liquid extraction of the reactor contents with 5 mL of 70/30% v/v hexane /dichloromethane (Sigma-Aldrich). Method development tests...Negative control, potential for solvent action E DF200 Alkyl(C12-16)dimethylbenzylammonium chloride, N -tallow- N , N , N ’, N ’, N ’-pentamethyl-1,3

  20. Effects of Exposure to Sulfur Mustard on Speech Aerodynamics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Heydari, Fatemeh; Ghanei, Mostafa

    2011-01-01

    Sulfur mustard is an alkylating agent with highly cytotoxic properties even at low exposure. It was used widely against both military and civilian population by Iraqi forces in the Iraq-Iran war (1983-1988). Although various aspects of mustard gas effects on patients with chemical injury have been relatively well characterized, its effects on…

  1. Novel fluconazole derivatives with promising antifungal activity.

    PubMed

    Thamban Chandrika, Nishad; Shrestha, Sanjib K; Ngo, Huy X; Howard, Kaitlind C; Garneau-Tsodikova, Sylvie

    2018-02-01

    The fungistatic nature and toxicity concern associated with the azole drugs currently on the market have resulted in an increased demand for new azole antifungal agents for which these problematic characteristics do not exist. The extensive use of azoles has resulted in fungal strains capable of resisting the action of these drugs. Herein, we report the synthesis and antifungal activity of novel fluconazole (FLC) analogues with alkyl-, aryl-, cycloalkyl-, and dialkyl-amino substituents. We evaluated their antifungal activity by MIC determination and time-kill assay as well as their safety profile by hemolytic activity against murine erythrocytes as well as cytotoxicity against mammalian cells. The best compounds from our study exhibited broad-spectrum activity against most of the fungal strains tested, with excellent MIC values against a number of clinical isolates. The most promising compounds were found to be less hemolytic than the least hemolytic FDA-approved azole antifungal agent voriconazole (VOR). Finally, we demonstrated that the synthetic alkyl-amino FLC analogues displayed chain-dependent fungal membrane disruption as well as inhibition of ergosterol biosynthesis as possible mechanisms of action. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Soft antimicrobial agents: synthesis and activity of labile environmentally friendly long chain quaternary ammonium compounds.

    PubMed

    Thorsteinsson, Thorsteinn; Másson, Már; Kristinsson, Karl G; Hjálmarsdóttir, Martha A; Hilmarsson, Hilmar; Loftsson, Thorsteinn

    2003-09-11

    A series of soft quaternary ammonium antimicrobial agents, which are analogues to currently used quaternary ammonium preservatives such as cetyl pyridinium chloride and benzalkonium chloride, were synthesized. These soft analogues consist of long alkyl chain connected to a polar headgroup via chemically labile spacer group. They are characterized by facile nonenzymatic and enzymatic degradation to form their original nontoxic building blocks. However, their chemical stability has to be adequate in order for them to have antimicrobial effects. Stability studies and antibacterial and antiviral activity measurements revealed relationship between activity, lipophilicity, and stability. Their minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was as low as 1 microg/mL, and their viral reduction was in some cases greater than 6.7 log. The structure-activity studies demonstrate that the bioactive compounds (i.e., MIC for Gram-positive bacteria of <10 microg/mL) have an alkyl chain length between 12 and 18 carbon atoms, with a polar headgroup preferably of a small quaternary ammonium group, and their acquired inactivation half-life must be greater than 3 h at 60 degrees C.

  3. Aerosolized 3-bromopyruvate inhibits lung tumorigenesis without causing liver toxicity.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Qi; Pan, Jing; North, Paula E; Yang, Shoua; Lubet, Ronald A; Wang, Yian; You, Ming

    2012-05-01

    3-Bromopyruvate, an alkylating agent and a well-known inhibitor of energy metabolism, has been proposed as a specific anticancer agent. However, the chemopreventive effect of 3-bromopyruvate in lung tumorigenesis has not been tested. In this study, we investigated the chemopreventive activity of 3-bromopyruvate in a mouse lung tumor model. Benzo(a)pyrene was used to induce lung tumors, and 3-bromopyruvate was administered by oral gavage to female A/J mice. We found that 3-bromopyruvate significantly decreased tumor multiplicity and tumor load by 58% and 83%, respectively, at a dose of 20 mg/kg body weight by gavage. Due to the known liver toxicity of 3-bromopyruvate in animal models given large doses of 3-bromopyruvate, confirmed in this study, we decided to test the chemopreventive activity of aerosolized 3-bromopyruvate in the same lung tumor model. As expected, aerosolized 3-bromopyruvate similarly significantly decreased tumor multiplicity and tumor load by 49% and 80%, respectively, at a dose of 10 mg/mL by inhalation. Interestingly, the efficacy of aerosolized 3-bromopyruvate did not accompany any liver toxicity indicating that it is a safer route of administering this compound. Treatment with 3-bromopyruvate increased immunohistochemical staining for cleaved caspase-3, suggesting that the lung tumor inhibitory effects of 3-bromopyruvate were through induction of apoptosis. 3-Bromopyruvate also dissociated hexokinase II from mitochondria, reduced hexokinase activity, and blocked energy metabolism in cancer cells, finally triggered cancer cell death and induced apoptosis through caspase-3, and PARP in human lung cancer cell line. The ability of 3-bromopyruvate to inhibit mouse lung tumorigenesis, in part through induction of apoptosis, merits further investigation of this compound as a chemopreventive agent for human lung cancer.

  4. DNA Replication Arrest and DNA Damage Responses Induced by Alkylating Minor Groove Binders

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2003-05-01

    Alkylating minor groove DNA binder adozelesin is capable of inhibiting DNA replication in treated cells through a trans-acting mechanism. The trans... replication in vitro. Using purified proteins in DNA replication initiation assays, we found that RPA purified from cells treated with adozelesin in not...adozelesin has the same single-stranded DNA binding activity and support nucleotide excision repair as normal RPA, but is not able to support SV40 DNA

  5. Differential responses of EGFR-/AGT-expressing cells to the "combi-triazene" SMA41.

    PubMed

    Matheson, Stephanie L; McNamee, James P; Jean-Claude, Bertrand J

    2003-01-01

    Previous studies have demonstrated enhanced potency associated with the binary [DNA/epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)] targeting properties of SMA41 (a chimeric 3-(alkyl)-1,2,3-triazene linked to a 4-anilinoquinazoline backbone) in the A431 (epidermal carcinoma of the vulva) cell line. We now report on the dependence of its antiproliferative effects (e.g. DNA damage, cell survival) on the EGFR and the DNA repair protein O6-alkylguanine DNA alkyltransferase (AGT) contents of 12 solid tumor cell lines, two of which, NIH3T3 and NIH3T3 HER14 (engineered to overexpress EGFR), were isogenic. Receptor type specificity was determined using ELISA for competitive binding, as well as growth factor-stimulation assays. DNA damage was studied using single-cell microelectrophoresis (comet) assays, and levels of EGFR were determined by Western blotting. The effects of SMA41 on the cell cycle of NIH3T3 cells were investigated using univariate flow cytometry. Studies of receptor type specificity showed that SMA41: (a) preferentially inhibited the kinase activity of EGFR over those of Src, insulin receptor and protein kinase C (PKC, a serine/threonine kinase), (b) induced stronger inhibition of growth stimulated with EGF than of growth stimulated with platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) or fetal bovine serum (FBS). Despite the EGFR specificity of SMA41, there was an absence of a linear correlation between the EGFR status of our solid tumor cell lines and levels of DNA damage induced by the alkylating component. Similarly, EGFR levels did not correlate with IC(50) values. The antiproliferative activities of SMA41 correlated more with the AGT status of these cells and paralleled those of the clinical triazene temozolomide (TEM). However, throughout the panel, tumor cell sensitivity to SMA41 was consistently stronger than to its closest analogue TEM. Experiments performed with the isogenic cells showed that SMA41 was capable of inducing twofold higher levels of DNA damage in the EGFR transfectant and delayed cell entry to G(2)/M in both cell types. When the cells were starved and growth-stimulated with FBS (conditions under which both cell types were growth-stimulated), in contrast to TEM, SMA41 and its hydrolytic metabolite SMA52 exhibited approximately nine- and threefold stronger inhibition of growth of the EGFR transfectant. These results suggest that, in addition to its ability to induce DNA damage and cell cycle perturbations, SMA41 is capable of selectively targeting the cells with a growth advantage conferred by EGFR transfection. When compared with the monoalkyltriazene prodrug TEM, its potency may be further enhanced by its ability to hydrolyze to another signal transduction inhibitor (SMA52) plus a DNA alkylating agent that may further contribute to chemosensitivity. Thus, our new "combi-targeting" strategy may well represent a tandem approach to selectively blocking receptor tyrosine kinase-mediated growth signaling while inducing significant levels of cytotoxic DNA lesions in refractory tumors.

  6. Constitutively Activated STAT3 Frequently Coexpresses with Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor in High-Grade Gliomas and Targeting STAT3 Sensitizes Them to Iressa and Alkylators

    PubMed Central

    Lo, Hui-Wen; Cao, Xinyu; Zhu, Hu; Ali-Osman, Francis

    2009-01-01

    Purpose The goals of this study are to elucidate the relationship of the oncogenic transcription factor signal transducer and activator of transcription 3(STAT3) with glioma aggressiveness and to understand the role of high STAT3 activity in the resistance of malignant gliomas and medulloblastomas to chemotherapy. Experimental Design Immunohistochemical staining and biochemical methods were used to examine the extent of STAT3 activation and EGFR expression in primary specimens and cell lines, respectively. Cellular response to drug treatments was determined using cell cytotoxicity and clonogenic growth assays. Results We found STAT3 to be constitutively activated in 60% of primary high-grade/malignant gliomas and the extent of activation correlated positively with glioma grade. High levels of activated/phosphorylated STAT3 were also present in cultured human malignant glioma and medulloblastoma cells. Three STAT3-activating kinases, Janus-activated kinase 2 (JAK2), EGFR, and EGFRvIII, contributed to STAT3 activation. An inhibitor toJAK2/STAT3, JSI-124, significantly reduced expression of STAT3 target genes, suppressed cancer cell growth, and induced apoptosis. Furthermore, we found that STAT3 constitutive activation coexisted with EGFR expression in 27.2% of primary high-grade/malignant gliomas and such coexpression correlated positively with glioma grade. Combination of an anti-EGFR agent Iressa and a JAK2/STAT3 inhibitor synergistically suppressed STAT3 activation and potently killed glioblastoma cell lines that expressed EGFR or EGFRvIII. JSI-124 also sensitized malignant glioma and medulloblastoma cells to temozolomide, 1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea, and cisplatin in which a synergism existed between JSI-124 and cisplatin. Conclusion STAT3 constitutive activation, alone and in concurrence with EGFR expression, plays an important role in high-grade/malignant gliomas and targeting STAT3/JAK2 sensitizes these tumors to anti-EGFR and alkylating agents. PMID:18829483

  7. Ovarian Failure and Reproductive Outcomes After Childhood Cancer Treatment: Results From the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study

    PubMed Central

    Green, Daniel M.; Sklar, Charles A.; Boice, John D.; Mulvihill, John J.; Whitton, John A.; Stovall, Marilyn; Yasui, Yutaka

    2009-01-01

    These studies were undertaken to determine the effect, if any, of treatment for cancer diagnosed during childhood or adolescence on ovarian function and reproductive outcomes. We reviewed the frequency of acute ovarian failure, premature menopause, live birth, stillbirth, spontaneous and therapeutic abortion and birth defects in the participants in the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study (CCSS). Acute ovarian failure (AOF) occurred in 6.3% of eligible survivors. Exposure of the ovaries to high-dose radiation (especially over 10 Gy), alkylating agents and procarbazine, at older ages, were significant risk factors for AOF. Premature nonsurgical menopause (PM) occurred in 8% of participants versus 0.8% of siblings (rate ratio = 13.21; 95% CI, 3.26 to 53.51; P < .001). Risk factors for PM included attained age, exposure to increasing doses of radiation to the ovaries, increasing alkylating agent score, and a diagnosis of Hodgkin's lymphoma. One thousand two hundred twenty-seven male survivors reported they sired 2,323 pregnancies, and 1,915 female survivors reported 4,029 pregnancies. Offspring of women who received uterine radiation doses of more than 5 Gy were more likely to be small for gestational age (birthweight < 10 percentile for gestational age; 18.2% v 7.8%; odds ratio = 4.0; 95% CI, 1.6 to 9.8; P = .003). There were no differences in the proportion of offspring with simple malformations, cytogenetic syndromes, or single-gene defects. These studies demonstrated that women treated with pelvic irradiation and/or increasing alkylating agent doses were at risk for acute ovarian failure, premature menopause, and small-for-gestational-age offspring. There was no evidence for an increased risk of congenital malformations. Survivors should be generally reassured although some women have to consider their potentially shortened fertile life span in making educational and career choices. PMID:19364956

  8. Digital PCR quantification of MGMT methylation refines prediction of clinical benefit from alkylating agents in glioblastoma and metastatic colorectal cancer.

    PubMed

    Barault, L; Amatu, A; Bleeker, F E; Moutinho, C; Falcomatà, C; Fiano, V; Cassingena, A; Siravegna, G; Milione, M; Cassoni, P; De Braud, F; Rudà, R; Soffietti, R; Venesio, T; Bardelli, A; Wesseling, P; de Witt Hamer, P; Pietrantonio, F; Siena, S; Esteller, M; Sartore-Bianchi, A; Di Nicolantonio, F

    2015-09-01

    O(6)-methyl-guanine-methyl-transferase (MGMT) silencing by promoter methylation may identify cancer patients responding to the alkylating agents dacarbazine or temozolomide. We evaluated the prognostic and predictive value of MGMT methylation testing both in tumor and cell-free circulating DNA (cfDNA) from plasma samples using an ultra-sensitive two-step digital PCR technique (methyl-BEAMing). Results were compared with two established techniques, methylation-specific PCR (MSP) and Bs-pyrosequencing. Thresholds for MGMT methylated status for each technique were established in a training set of 98 glioblastoma (GBM) patients. The prognostic and the predictive value of MGMT methylated status was validated in a second cohort of 66 GBM patients treated with temozolomide in which methyl-BEAMing displayed a better specificity than the other techniques. Cutoff values of MGMT methylation specific for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) tissue samples were established in a cohort of 60 patients treated with dacarbazine. In mCRC, both quantitative assays methyl-BEAMing and Bs-pyrosequencing outperformed MSP, providing better prediction of treatment response and improvement in progression-free survival (PFS) (P < 0.001). Ability of methyl-BEAMing to identify responding patients was validated in a cohort of 23 mCRC patients treated with temozolomide and preselected for MGMT methylated status according to MSP. In mCRC patients treated with dacarbazine, exploratory analysis of cfDNA by methyl-BEAMing showed that MGMT methylation was associated with better response and improved median PFS (P = 0.008). Methyl-BEAMing showed high reproducibility, specificity and sensitivity and was applicable to formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues and cfDNA. This study supports the quantitative assessment of MGMT methylation for clinical purposes since it could refine prediction of response to alkylating agents. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society for Medical Oncology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  9. The use of anthracycline at first-line compared to alkylating agents or nucleoside analogs improves the outcome of salvage treatments after relapse in follicular lymphoma The REFOLL study by the Fondazione Italiana Linfomi.

    PubMed

    Rossi, Giuseppe; Marcheselli, Luigi; Dondi, Alessandra; Bottelli, Chiara; Tucci, Alessandra; Luminari, Stefano; Arcaini, Luca; Merli, Michele; Pulsoni, Alessandro; Boccomini, Carola; Puccini, Benedetta; Micheletti, Moira; Martinelli, Giovanni; Rossi, Andrea; Zilioli, Vittorio Ruggero; Bozzoli, Valentina; Balzarotti, Monica; Bolis, Silvia; Cabras, Maria Giuseppina; Federico, Massimo

    2015-01-01

    Follicular lymphoma (FL) patients experience multiple remissions and relapses and commonly receive multiple treatment lines. A crucial question is whether anthracyclines should be used at first-line or whether they would be better "reserved" for relapse and whether FL outcome can be optimized by definite sequences of treatments. Randomized trials can be hardly designed to address this question. In this retrospective multi-institutional study, time-to-next-treatment after first relapse was analyzed in 510 patients who had received either alkylating agents- or anthracycline- or nucleoside analogs-based chemotherapy with/without rituximab at first-line and different second-line therapies. After a median of 42 months, median time-to-next-treatment after relapse was 41 months (CI95%:34-47 months). After adjustment for covariates, first-line anthracycline-based chemotherapy with/without rituximab was associated with better time-to-next-treatment after any salvage than alkylating agents-based chemotherapy with/without rituximab or nucleoside analogs-based chemotherapy with/without rituximab (HR:0.74, P = 0.027). The addition of rituximab to first-line chemotherapy had no significant impact (HR:1.22, P = 0.140). Autologs stem cell transplantation performed better than any other salvage treatment (HR:0.53, P < 0.001). First-line anthracycline-based chemotherapy significantly improved time-to-next-treatment even in patients receiving salvage autologs stem cell transplantation (P = 0.041). This study supports the concept that in FL previous treatments significantly impact on the outcome of subsequent therapies. The outcome of second-line treatments, either with salvage chemoimmunotherapy or with autologs stem cell transplantation, was better when an anthracycline-containing regimen was used at first-line. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  10. Digital PCR assessment of MGMT promoter methylation coupled with reduced protein expression optimises prediction of response to alkylating agents in metastatic colorectal cancer patients.

    PubMed

    Sartore-Bianchi, Andrea; Pietrantonio, Filippo; Amatu, Alessio; Milione, Massimo; Cassingena, Andrea; Ghezzi, Silvia; Caporale, Marta; Berenato, Rosa; Falcomatà, Chiara; Pellegrinelli, Alessio; Bardelli, Alberto; Nichelatti, Michele; Tosi, Federica; De Braud, Filippo; Di Nicolantonio, Federica; Barault, Ludovic; Siena, Salvatore

    2017-01-01

    O(6)-methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase (MGMT) is a repair protein, and its deficiency makes tumours more susceptible to the cytotoxic effect of alkylating agents. Five clinical trials with temozolomide or dacarbazine have been performed in metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) with selection based on methyl-specific PCR (MSP) testing with modest results. We hypothesised that mitigated results are consequences of unspecific patient selection and that alternative methodologies for MGMT testing such as immunohistochemistry (IHC) and digital polymerase chain reaction (PCR) could enhance patient enrolment. Formalin-fixed paraffin embedded archival tumour tissue samples from four phase II studies of temozolomide or dacarbazine in MGMT MSP-positive mCRCs were analysed by IHC for MGMT protein expression and by methyl-BEAMing (MB) for percentage of promoter methylation. Pooled data were then retrospectively analysed according to objective response rate, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). One hundred and five patients were included in the study. Twelve had achieved partial response (PR) (11.4%), 24 stable disease (SD; 22.9%) and 69 progressive disease (PD; 65.7%). Patients with PR/SD had lower IHC scores and higher MB levels than those with PD. MGMT expression by IHC was negatively and MB levels positively associated with PFS (p < 0.001 and 0.004, respectively), but not with OS. By combining both assays, IHC low/MB high patients displayed an 87% reduction in the hazard of progression (p < 0.001) and a 77% in the hazard for death (p = 0.001). In mCRC selected for MGMT deficiency by MSP, IHC and MB testing improve clinical outcome to alkylating agents. Their combination could enhance patient selection in this setting. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Structure-activity relationships of amide-phosphonate derivatives as inhibitors of the human soluble epoxide hydrolase.

    PubMed

    Kim, In-Hae; Park, Yong-Kyu; Nishiwaki, Hisashi; Hammock, Bruce D; Nishi, Kosuke

    2015-11-15

    Structure-activity relationships of amide-phosphonate derivatives as inhibitors of the human soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) were investigated. First, a series of alkyl or aryl groups were substituted on the carbon alpha to the phosphonate function in amide compounds to see whether substituted phosphonates can act as a secondary pharmacophore. A tert-butyl group (16) on the alpha carbon was found to yield most potent inhibition on the target enzyme. A 4-50-fold drop in inhibition was induced by other substituents such as aryls, substituted aryls, cycloalkyls, and alkyls. Then, the modification of the O-substituents on the phosphonate function revealed that diethyl groups (16 and 23) were preferable for inhibition to other longer alkyls or substituted alkyls. In amide compounds with the optimized diethylphosphonate moiety and an alkyl substitution such as adamantane (16), tetrahydronaphthalene (31), or adamantanemethane (36), highly potent inhibitions were gained. In addition, the resulting potent amide-phosphonate compounds had reasonable water solubility, suggesting that substituted phosphonates in amide inhibitors are effective for both inhibition potency on the human sEH and water solubility as a secondary pharmacophore. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. A chiral aluminum solvating agent (CASA) for 1H NMR chiral analysis of alcohols at low temperature.

    PubMed

    Seo, Min-Seob; Jang, Sumin; Kim, Hyunwoo

    2018-03-16

    A chiral aluminum solvating agent (CASA) was demonstrated to be a general and efficient reagent for 1H NMR chiral analysis of alcohols. The sodium salt of the CASA (CASA-Na) showed a complete baseline peak separation of the hydroxyl group for various chiral alcohols including primary, secondary, and tertiary alcohols with alkyl and aryl substituents in CD3CN. Due to the weak intermolecular interaction, 1H NMR measurement at low temperature (-40 to 10 °C) was required.

  13. Correlation of antimutagenic activity and suppression of CYP1A with the lipophilicity of alkyl gallates and other phenolic compounds.

    PubMed

    Feng, Qing; Kumagai, Takeshi; Nakamura, Yoshimasa; Uchida, Koji; Osawa, Toshihiko

    2003-05-09

    Alkyl gallates are widely used as food antioxidants. Methyl, ethyl, propyl, lauryl, and cetyl gallates showed antimutagenicity to activated 2-aminoanthracene (2AA)-induced SOS responses in Salmonella typhimurium TA1535/pSK1002. They also exhibited a suppressive effect on 3-methylcholanthrene (3-MC)-induced cytochrome P450 1A (CYP1A) in human hepatoma HepG2 cells, as indexed by the 7-ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activity, and on CYP1A protein level. Both antimutagenicity and suppression of CYP1A appeared to be dependent on alkyl chain lengths, which suggested lipophilicity dependence. Based on those results, we investigated 26 other phenolic compounds for their lipophilicity, antimutagenicity and inhibition of EROD activity. The lipophilicity correlated well with the inhibition of EROD activity (r=0.78), and the inhibition of EROD activity correlated with the antimutagenicity of those compounds (r=0.71). The results suggest that the lipophilicity of the phenolic compounds may be an important factor in their ability to inhibit EROD activity.

  14. Dental plaque microcosm response to bonding agents containing quaternary ammonium methacrylates with different chain lengths and charge densities

    PubMed Central

    Zhou, Han; Li, Fang; Weir, Michael D.; Xu, Hockin H.K.

    2013-01-01

    Objectives Antibacterial bonding agents are promising to combat bacteria and caries at tooth-restoration margins. The objectives of this study were to incorporate new quaternary ammonium methacrylates (QAMs) to bonding agent and determine the effects of alkyl chain length (CL) and quaternary amine charge density on dental plaque microcosm bacteria response for the first time. Methods Six QAMs were synthesized with CL = 3, 6, 9, 12, 16, 18. Each QAM was incorporated into Scotchbond Multi-purpose (SBMP). To determine the charge density effect, dimethylaminododecyl methacrylate (DMAHDM, CL = 16) was mixed into SBMP at mass fraction = 0%, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5%, 10%. Charge density was measured using a fluorescein dye method. Dental plaque microcosm using saliva from ten donors was tested. Bacteria were inoculated on resins. Early-attachment was tested at 4 hours. Biofilm colony-forming units (CFU) were measured at 2 days. Results Incorporating QAMs into SBMP reduced bacteria early-attachment. Microcosm biofilm CFU for CL = 16 was 4 log lower than SBMP control. Charge density of bonding agent increased with DMAHDM content. Bacteria early-attachment decreased with increasing charge density. Biofilm CFU at 10% DMAHDM was reduced by 4 log. The killing effect was similarly-strong against total microorganisms, total streptococci, and mutans streptococci. Conclusions Increasing alkyl chain length and charge density of bonding agent was shown for the first time to decrease microcosm bacteria attachment and reduce biofilm CFU by 4 orders of magnitude. Novel antibacterial resins with tailored chain length and charge density are promising for wide applications in bonding, cements, sealants and composites to inhibit biofilms and caries. PMID:23948394

  15. Dental plaque microcosm response to bonding agents containing quaternary ammonium methacrylates with different chain lengths and charge densities.

    PubMed

    Zhou, Han; Li, Fang; Weir, Michael D; Xu, Hockin H K

    2013-11-01

    Antibacterial bonding agents are promising to combat bacteria and caries at tooth-restoration margins. The objectives of this study were to incorporate new quaternary ammonium methacrylates (QAMs) to bonding agent and determine the effects of alkyl chain length (CL) and quaternary amine charge density on dental plaque microcosm bacteria response for the first time. Six QAMs were synthesized with CL=3, 6, 9, 12, 16, 18. Each QAM was incorporated into Scotchbond multi-purpose (SBMP). To determine the charge density effect, dimethylaminododecyl methacrylate (DMAHDM, CL=16) was mixed into SBMP at mass fraction=0%, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5%, 10%. Charge density was measured using a fluorescein dye method. Dental plaque microcosm using saliva from ten donors was tested. Bacteria were inoculated on resins. Early-attachment was tested at 4h. Biofilm colony-forming units (CFU) were measured at 2 days. Incorporating QAMs into SBMP reduced bacteria early-attachment. Microcosm biofilm CFU for CL=16 was 4 log lower than SBMP control. Charge density of bonding agent increased with DMAHDM content. Bacteria early-attachment decreased with increasing charge density. Biofilm CFU at 10% DMAHDM was reduced by 4 log. The killing effect was similarly-strong against total microorganisms, total streptococci, and mutans streptococci. Increasing alkyl chain length and charge density of bonding agent was shown for the first time to decrease microcosm bacteria attachment and reduce biofilm CFU by 4 orders of magnitude. Novel antibacterial resins with tailored chain length and charge density are promising for wide applications in bonding, cements, sealants and composites to inhibit biofilms and caries. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Molecular design of boronic acid-functionalized squarylium cyanine dyes for multiple discriminant analysis of sialic acid in biological samples: selectivity toward monosaccharides controlled by different alkyl side chain lengths.

    PubMed

    Ouchi, Kazuki; Colyer, Christa L; Sebaiy, Mahmoud; Zhou, Jin; Maeda, Takeshi; Nakazumi, Hiroyuki; Shibukawa, Masami; Saito, Shingo

    2015-02-03

    We designed a new series of boronic acid-functionalized squarylium cyanine dyes (SQ-BA) with different lengths of alkyl chain residues, suitable for multiple discriminant analysis (MDA) of sialic acid (Neu5Ac) in biological samples. The SQ-BA dyes form aggregates based on hydrophobic interactions, which result in quenched fluorescence in aqueous solutions. When the boronic acid binds with saccharides, the fluorescence intensity increases as a result of dissociation to the emissive monomeric complex. We inferred that different dye aggregate structures (H-aggregates and J-aggregates) were induced depending on the alkyl chain length, so that monosaccharides would be recognized in different ways (especially, multipoint interaction with J-aggregates). A distinctive emission enhancement of SQ-BA dyes with shorter-alkyl-chains in the presence of Neu5Ac was observed (2.4-fold fluorescence enhancement; with formation constant 10(1.7) M(-1)), with no such enhancement for SQ-BA dyes with longer-alkyl-chain. In addition, various enhancement factors for other monosaccharides were observed depending on the alkyl chain length. Detailed thermodynamic and NMR studies of the SQ-BA complexes revealed the unique recognition mechanism: the dye aggregate with a shorter-alkyl-chain causes the slipped parallel structure and forms a stable 2:1 complex with Neu5Ac, as distinct from longer-alkyl-chain dyes, which form a 1:1 monomeric complex. MDA using the four SQ-BA dyes was performed for human urine samples, resulting in the successful discrimination between normal and abnormal Neu5Ac levels characteristic of disease. Thus, we successfully controlled various responses to similar monosaccharides with a novel approach that chemically modified not the boronic acid moiety itself but the length of the alkyl chain residue attached to the dye in order to generate specificity.

  17. A novel nonsense mutation in the APTX gene associated with delayed DNA single-strand break removal fails to enhance sensitivity to different genotoxic agents.

    PubMed

    Crimella, Claudia; Cantoni, Orazio; Guidarelli, Andrea; Vantaggiato, Chiara; Martinuzzi, Andrea; Fiorani, Mara; Azzolini, Catia; Orso, Genny; Bresolin, Nereo; Bassi, Maria Teresa

    2011-04-01

    APTX is the gene involved in ataxia with oculomotor apraxia type 1 (AOA1), a recessive disorder with early-onset cerebellar ataxia, oculomotor apraxia and peripheral neuropathy. The encoded protein, aprataxin, is a DNA repair protein processing the products of abortive ligations, 5'-adenylated DNA. We describe a novel nonsense mutation in APTX, c.892C>T (p.Gln298X), segregating in two AOA1 patients and leading to the loss of aprataxin protein in patient's cells. These cells, while exhibiting reduced catalase activity, are not hypersensitive to toxicity elicited by H(2)O(2) exposure at either physiologic or ice-bath temperature. On the other hand, the rate of repair of DNA single-strand-breaks (SSBs) induced in both conditions is always significantly slower in AOA1 cells. By using the alkylating agent methyl methane sulphonate (MMS) we confirmed the association of the APTX mutation with a DNA repair defect in the absence of detectable changes in susceptibility to toxicity. These results, while consistent with a role of aprataxin in the repair of SSBs induced by H(2)O(2), or MMS, demonstrate that other mechanisms may be recruited in AOA1 cells to complete the repair process, although at a slower rate. Lack of hypersensitivity to the oxidant, or MMS, also implies that delayed repair is not per se a lethal event. © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  18. Effect of Molecular Interactions on Electron-Transfer and Antioxidant Activity of Bis(alkanol)selenides: A Radiation Chemical Study.

    PubMed

    Kumar, Pavitra V; Singh, Beena G; Phadnis, Prasad P; Jain, Vimal K; Priyadarsini, K Indira

    2016-08-16

    Understanding electron-transfer processes is crucial for developing organoselenium compounds as antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents. To find new redox-active selenium antioxidants, we have investigated one-electron-transfer reactions between hydroxyl ((.) OH) radical and three bis(alkanol)selenides (SeROH) of varying alkyl chain length, using nanosecond pulse radiolysis. (.) OH radical reacts with SeROH to form radical adduct, which is converted primarily into a dimer radical cation (>Se∴Se<)(+) and α-{bis(hydroxyl alkyl)}-selenomethine radical along with a minor quantity of an intramolecularly stabilized radical cation. Some of these radicals have been subsequently converted to their corresponding selenoxide, and formaldehyde. Estimated yield of these products showed alkyl chain length dependency and correlated well with their antioxidant ability. Quantum chemical calculations suggested that compounds that formed more stable (>Se∴Se<)(+) , produced higher selenoxide and lower formaldehyde. Comparing these results with those for sulfur analogues confirmed for the first time the distinctive role of selenium in making such compounds better antioxidants. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  19. Therapeutic potential of a non-steroidal bifunctional anti-inflammatory and anti-cholinergic agent against skin injury induced by sulfur mustard

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Chang, Yoke-Chen; Wang, James D.; Hahn, Rita A.

    Sulfur mustard (bis(2-chloroethyl) sulfide, SM) is a highly reactive bifunctional alkylating agent inducing edema, inflammation, and the formation of fluid-filled blisters in the skin. Medical countermeasures against SM-induced cutaneous injury have yet to be established. In the present studies, we tested a novel, bifunctional anti-inflammatory prodrug (NDH 4338) designed to target cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2), an enzyme that generates inflammatory eicosanoids, and acetylcholinesterase, an enzyme mediating activation of cholinergic inflammatory pathways in a model of SM-induced skin injury. Adult SKH-1 hairless male mice were exposed to SM using a dorsal skin vapor cup model. NDH 4338 was applied topically to themore » skin 24, 48, and 72 h post-SM exposure. After 96 h, SM was found to induce skin injury characterized by edema, epidermal hyperplasia, loss of the differentiation marker, keratin 10 (K10), upregulation of the skin wound marker keratin 6 (K6), disruption of the basement membrane anchoring protein laminin 322, and increased expression of epidermal COX2. NDH 4338 post-treatment reduced SM-induced dermal edema and enhanced skin re-epithelialization. This was associated with a reduction in COX2 expression, increased K10 expression in the suprabasal epidermis, and reduced expression of K6. NDH 4338 also restored basement membrane integrity, as evidenced by continuous expression of laminin 332 at the dermal–epidermal junction. Taken together, these data indicate that a bifunctional anti-inflammatory prodrug stimulates repair of SM induced skin injury and may be useful as a medical countermeasure. - Highlights: • Bifunctional anti-inflammatory prodrug (NDH4338) tested on SM exposed mouse skin • The prodrug NDH4338 was designed to target COX2 and acetylcholinesterase. • The application of NDH4338 improved cutaneous wound repair after SM induced injury. • NDH4338 treatment demonstrated a reduction in COX2 expression on SM injured skin. • Changes of skin repair markers are associated with NDH4438 treatment on SM injury.« less

  20. Aryl- and alkyl-phosphorus-containing flame retardants induced mitochondrial impairment and cell death in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO-k1) cells.

    PubMed

    Huang, Chao; Li, Na; Yuan, Shengwu; Ji, Xiaoya; Ma, Mei; Rao, Kaifeng; Wang, Zijian

    2017-11-01

    Phosphorus-containing flame retardants (PFRs) are increasingly in demand worldwide as replacements for brominated flame retardants (BFRs), but insufficient available toxicological information on PFRs makes assessing their health risks challenging. Mitochondria are important targets of various environmental pollutants, and mitochondrial dysfunction may lead to many common diseases. In the present study, mitochondria impairment-related endpoints were measured by a high content screening (HCS) assay for 11 selected non-halogen PFRs in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO-k1) cells. A cluster analysis was used to categorize these PFRs into three groups according to their structural characteristics and results from the HCS assay. Two groups, containing long-chain alkyl-PFRs and all aryl-PFRs, were found to cause mitochondrial impairment but showed different mechanisms of toxicity. Due to the high correlation between cell death and mitochondrial impairment, two PFRs with different structures, trihexyl phosphate (THP) and cresyl diphenyl phosphate (CDP), were selected and compared with chlorpyrifos (CPF) to elucidate their mechanism of inducing cell death. THP (an alkyl-PFR) was found to utilize a similar pathway as CPF to induce apoptosis. However, cell death induced by CDP (an aryl-PFR) was different from classical necrosis based on experiments to discriminate among the different modes of cell death. These results confirm that mitochondria might be important targets for some PFRs and that differently structured PFRs could function via distinct mechanisms of toxicity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. The Relationship of Intestinal Bacteria and Diet Composition to Amino Acid Requirements of White Mice

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1975-02-01

    alkyl lauryl sulfate added as a wet^ng agent. Routine sterilization of air locks and material entering the isolators was done with 2.OX peracetic...flexible plastic isolators of the Trexler type (19). The isolators were sterilized with 4.0% peracetic acid in water with a small amount of sodium

  2. Reaction of Orthoesters with Amine Hydrochlorides: An Introductory Organic Lab Experiment Combining Synthesis, Spectral Analysis, and Mechanistic Discovery

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Saba, Shahrokh; Ciaccio, James A.

    2016-01-01

    While orthoesters are often used by chemists as alkylating, acylating, and formylating agents, they are rarely encountered in introductory organic chemistry curricula. We describe a second-semester organic chemistry laboratory experiment in which students acetylate unknown amine hydrochloride salts with trimethyl orthoacetate (TMOA) in the absence…

  3. Hot foam for weed control-Do alkyl polyglucoside surfactants used as foaming agents affect the mobility of organic contaminants in soil?

    PubMed

    Cederlund, H; Börjesson, E

    2016-08-15

    Use of alkyl polyglucosides (APGs) as a foaming agent during hot water weed control may influence the environmental fate of organic contaminants in soil. We studied the effects of the APG-based foaming agent NCC Spuma (C8-C10) on leaching of diuron, glyphosate, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in sand columns. We also examined how APG concentration affected the apparent water solubility and adsorption of the herbicides and of the PAHs acenaphthene, acenaphthylene and fluorene. Application of APGs at the recommended concentration of 0.3% did not significantly affect leaching of any of the compounds studied. However, at a concentration of 1.5%, leaching of both diuron and glyphosate was significantly increased. The increased leaching corresponded to an increase in apparent water solubility of diuron and a decrease in glyphosate adsorption to the sand. However, APG addition did not significantly affect the mobility of PAHs even though their apparent water solubility was increased. These results suggest that application of APG-based foam during hot water weed control does not significantly affect the mobility of organic contaminants in soil if used according to recommendations. Moreover, they suggest that APGs could be useful for soil bioremediation purposes if higher concentrations are used. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. Beyond Alkylating Agents for Gliomas: Quo Vadimus?

    PubMed

    Puduvalli, Vinay K; Chaudhary, Rekha; McClugage, Samuel G; Markert, James

    2017-01-01

    Recent advances in therapies have yielded notable success in terms of improved survival in several cancers. However, such treatments have failed to improve outcome in patients with gliomas for whom surgery followed by radiation therapy and chemotherapy with alkylating agents remain the standard of care. Genetic and epigenetic studies have helped identify several alterations specific to gliomas. Attempts to target these altered pathways have been unsuccessful due to various factors, including tumor heterogeneity, adaptive resistance of tumor cells, and limitations of access across the blood-brain barrier. Novel therapies that circumvent such limitations have been the focus of intense study and include approaches such as immunotherapy, targeting of signaling hubs and metabolic pathways, and use of biologic agents. Immunotherapeutic approaches including tumor-targeted vaccines, immune checkpoint blockade, antibody-drug conjugates, and chimeric antigen receptor-expressing cell therapies are in various stages of clinical trials. Similarly, identification of key metabolic pathways or converging hubs of signaling pathways that are tumor specific have yielded novel targets for therapy of gliomas. In addition, the failure of conventional therapies against gliomas has led to a growing interest among patients in the use of alternative therapies, which in turn has necessitated developing evidence-based approaches to the application of such therapies in clinical studies. The development of these novel approaches bears potential for providing breakthroughs in treatment of more meaningful and improved outcomes for patients with gliomas.

  5. Synergistic interactions of the anti-casein kinase 2 CIGB-300 peptide and chemotherapeutic agents in lung and cervical preclinical cancer models.

    PubMed

    Perera, Yasser; Toro, Neylen Del; Gorovaya, Larisa; Fernandez-DE-Cossio, Jorge; Farina, Hernan G; Perea, Silvio E

    2014-11-01

    CIGB-300 is a novel clinical-stage synthetic peptide that impairs the casein kinase 2 (CK2)-mediated phosphorylation of B23/nucleophosmin in different experimental settings and cancer models. As a single agent, CIGB-300 induces apoptosis in vitro and in vivo and modulates an array of proteins that are mainly involved in drug resistance, cell proliferation and apoptosis, as determined by proteomic analysis. However, the clinical oncology practice and cumulative knowledge on tumor biology suggest that drug combinations are more likely to cope with tumor complexity compared to single agents. In this study, we investigated the antiproliferative effect of CIGB-300 when combined with different anticancer drugs, such as cisplatin (alkylating), paclitaxel (antimitotic), doxorubicin (antitopoisomerase II) or 5-fluorouracil (DNA/RNA antimetabolite) in cell lines derived from lung and cervical cancer. Of note, using a Latin square design and subsequent analysis by CalcuSyn software, we observed that paclitaxel and cisplatin exhibited the best synergistic/additive profile when combined with CIGB-300, according to the combination and dose reduction indices. Such therapeutically favorable profiles may be explained by a direct cytotoxic effect and also by the observed cell cycle impairment following incubation of tumor cells with selected drug combinations. Importantly, on in vivo dose-finding schedules in human cervical tumors xenografted in nude mice, we observed that concomitant administration of CIGB-300 and cisplatin increased mice survival compared to single-agent treatment. Collectively, these findings provide a rationale for combining the anti-CK2 CIGB-300 peptide with currently available anticancer agents in the clinical setting and indicate platins and taxanes as compounds with major perspectives.

  6. Synergistic interactions of the anti-casein kinase 2 CIGB-300 peptide and chemotherapeutic agents in lung and cervical preclinical cancer models

    PubMed Central

    PERERA, YASSER; TORO, NEYLEN DEL; GOROVAYA, LARISA; FERNANDEZ-DE-COSSIO, JORGE; FARINA, HERNAN G.; PEREA, SILVIO E.

    2014-01-01

    CIGB-300 is a novel clinical-stage synthetic peptide that impairs the casein kinase 2 (CK2)-mediated phosphorylation of B23/nucleophosmin in different experimental settings and cancer models. As a single agent, CIGB-300 induces apoptosis in vitro and in vivo and modulates an array of proteins that are mainly involved in drug resistance, cell proliferation and apoptosis, as determined by proteomic analysis. However, the clinical oncology practice and cumulative knowledge on tumor biology suggest that drug combinations are more likely to cope with tumor complexity compared to single agents. In this study, we investigated the antiproliferative effect of CIGB-300 when combined with different anticancer drugs, such as cisplatin (alkylating), paclitaxel (antimitotic), doxorubicin (antitopoisomerase II) or 5-fluorouracil (DNA/RNA antimetabolite) in cell lines derived from lung and cervical cancer. Of note, using a Latin square design and subsequent analysis by CalcuSyn software, we observed that paclitaxel and cisplatin exhibited the best synergistic/additive profile when combined with CIGB-300, according to the combination and dose reduction indices. Such therapeutically favorable profiles may be explained by a direct cytotoxic effect and also by the observed cell cycle impairment following incubation of tumor cells with selected drug combinations. Importantly, on in vivo dose-finding schedules in human cervical tumors xenografted in nude mice, we observed that concomitant administration of CIGB-300 and cisplatin increased mice survival compared to single-agent treatment. Collectively, these findings provide a rationale for combining the anti-CK2 CIGB-300 peptide with currently available anticancer agents in the clinical setting and indicate platins and taxanes as compounds with major perspectives. PMID:25279177

  7. Evaluation of the genotoxic and antigenotoxic potential of Baccharis dracunculifolia extract on V79 cells by the comet assay.

    PubMed

    Munari, Carla Carolina; Alves, Jacqueline Morais; Bastos, Jairo Kenupp; Tavares, Denise Crispim

    2010-01-01

    Baccharis dracunculifolia (Asteraceae), the main botanical source of green propolis, is a shrub of the Brazilian 'cerrado'. In folk medicine it is used as an anti-inflammatory agent, mainly for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the genotoxic and antigenotoxic effects of B. dracunculifolia ethyl acetate extract (Bd-EAE) on Chinese hamster lung fibroblasts (V79 cells) by the comet assay. Methyl methanesulfonate (MMS; 200 microM) was used as an inducer of DNA damage. Genotoxicity was evaluated using four different concentrations of Bd-EAE: 12.5, 25.0, 50.0 and 100.0 microg ml(-1). Antigenotoxicity was assessed before, simultaneously, and after treatment with the mutagen. The results showed a significant increase in the frequency of DNA damage in cultures treated with 50.0 and 100.0 microg ml(-1) Bd-EAE. Regarding its antigenotoxic potential, Bd-EAE reduced the frequency of DNA damage induced by MMS. However, this chemopreventive activity depended on the concentrations and treatment regimens used. The antioxidant activity of phenolic components present in Bd-EAE may contribute to reduce the alkylation damage induced by MMS. In conclusion, our findings confirmed the chemopreventive activity of Bd-EAE and showed that this effect occurs under different mechanism.

  8. neu mutation in schwannomas induced transplacentally in Syrian golden hamsters by N-nitrosoethylurea: high incidence but low allelic representation.

    PubMed

    Buzard, G S; Enomoto, T; Hongyo, T; Perantoni, A O; Diwan, B A; Devor, D E; Reed, C D; Dove, L F; Rice, J M

    1999-10-01

    Peripheral nerve tumors (PNT) and melanomas induced transplacentally on day 14 of gestation in Syrian golden hamsters by N-nitrosoethylurea were analyzed for activated oncogenes by the NIH 3T3 transfection assay, and for mutations in the neu oncogene by direct sequencing, allele-specific oligonucleotide hybridization, MnlI restriction-fragment-length polymorphism, single-strand conformation polymorphism, and mismatch amplification mutation assays. All (67/67) of the PNT, but none of the melanomas, contained a somatic missense T --> A transversion within the neu oncogene transmembrane domain at a site corresponding to that which also occurs in rat schwannomas transplacentally induced by N-nitrosoethylurea. In only 2 of the 67 individual hamster PNT did the majority of tumor cells appear to carry the mutant neu allele, in contrast to comparable rat schwannomas in which it overwhelmingly predominates. The low fraction of hamster tumor cells carrying the mutation was stable through multiple transplantation passages. In the hamster, as in the rat, specific point-mutational activation of the neu oncogene thus constitutes the major pathway for induction of PNT by transplacental exposure to an alkylating agent, but the low allelic representation of mutant neu in hamster PNT suggests a significant difference in mechanism by which the mutant oncogene acts in this species.

  9. Response of the Oxygen Sensor NreB to Air In Vivo: Fe-S-Containing NreB and Apo-NreB in Aerobically and Anaerobically Growing Staphylococcus carnosus▿

    PubMed Central

    Reinhart, F.; Huber, A.; Thiele, R.; Unden, G.

    2010-01-01

    The sensor kinase NreB from Staphylococcus carnosus contains an O2-sensitive [4Fe-4S]2+ cluster which is converted by O2 to a [2Fe-2S]2+ cluster, followed by complete degradation and formation of Fe-S-less apo-NreB. NreB·[2Fe-2S]2+ and apoNreB are devoid of kinase activity. NreB contains four Cys residues which ligate the Fe-S clusters. The accessibility of the Cys residues to alkylating agents was tested and used to differentiate Fe-S-containing and Fe-S-less NreB. In a two-step labeling procedure, accessible Cys residues in the native protein were first labeled by iodoacetate. In the second step, Cys residues not labeled in the first step were alkylated with the fluorescent monobromobimane (mBBr) after denaturing of the protein. In purified (aerobic) apoNreB, most (96%) of the Cys residues were alkylated in the first step, but in anaerobic (Fe-S-containing) NreB only a small portion (23%) were alkylated. In anaerobic bacteria, a very small portion of the Cys residues of NreB (9%) were accessible to alkylation in the native state, whereas most (89%) of the Cys residues from aerobic bacteria were accessible. The change in accessibility allowed determination of the half-time (6 min) for the conversion of NreB·[4Fe-4S]2+ to apoNreB after the addition of air in vitro. Overall, in anaerobic bacteria most of the NreB exists as NreB·[4Fe-4S]2+, whereas in aerobic bacteria the (Fe-S-less) apoNreB is predominant and represents the physiological form. The number of accessible Cys residues was also determined by iodoacetate alkylation followed by mass spectrometry of Cys-containing peptides. The pattern of mass increases confirmed the results from the two-step labeling experiments. PMID:19854899

  10. Antimicrobial activity of N-alkoxycarbonylmethyl-N-alkyl-piperidinium chlorides.

    PubMed

    Woźniak, Edyta; Mozrzymas, Anna; Czarny, Anna; Kocieba, Maja; Rózycka-Roszak, Bozenna; Dega-Szafran, Zofia; Dulewicz, Ewa; Petryna, Magdalena

    2004-01-01

    The aim of the study was to assay antibacterial and antifungal activity of newly synthesised N-alkoxycarbonylmethyl-N-alkyl-piperidinium chlorides. The compounds tested were found to inhibit the growth of some Gram-negative bacteria, Gram-positive strains and some representatives of yeast-type Candida. From microbiological experiments two of the compounds tested, N-dodecyloxycarbonylmethyl-N-methyl-piperidinium chloride (3) and N-dodecyl-N-ethoxycarbonylmethyl-piperidinium chloride (6), emerged as more active than the other compounds. Since the resistance of biofilms to biocides should be noted during the design and testing of new antimicrobial agents therefore, we have analysed antibacterial properties of the most active compounds towards biofilms. Our study focused on strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus that served as main model organisms for the biofilm studies.

  11. Induction of morphological transformation in mouse C3H/10T1/2 clone 8 cells and chromosomal damage in hamster A(T1)C1-3 cells by cancer chemotherapeutic agents.

    PubMed

    Benedict, W F; Banerjee, A; Gardner, A; Jones, P A

    1977-07-01

    Various cancer chemotherapeutic agents including alkylating agents, antimetabolites, and antibiotics or natural products were studied for their ability to produce morphological transformation in the C3H/10T1/2 clone 8 mouse cell line and chromosomal damage in the A(T1)C1-3 hamster cell line following a 24-hr exposure of each agent at different concentrations. Those drugs that were known to be carcinogenic in vivo also produced morphological transformation and chromosomal damage, whereas those agents that have not been shown to be carcinogenic in vivo produced neither transformation nor chromosomal lesions. The concentrations used for these studies were in general similar to those actually reached in the plasma of patients treated with these same drugs for malignant, as well as certain nonmalignant, conditions.

  12. How Does the Alkyl Chain Length of an Ionic Liquid Influence Solute Rotation in the Presence of an Electrolyte?

    PubMed

    Prabhu, Sugosh R; Dutt, G B

    2016-12-29

    Fluorescence anisotropies of a nonpolar solute, 9-phenylanthracene (9-PA), have been measured in 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium (alkyl = methyl, butyl, octyl, and dodecyl) bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imides ([RMIM][Tf 2 N]) with varying amounts (0-0.3 mole fraction) of lithium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (LiTf 2 N). This study has been carried out to understand how the length of the alkyl chain and the concentration of the electrolyte influence the rotational diffusion of a nonpolar solute. It has been observed that the addition of an electrolyte to the ionic liquid increases the bulk viscosity of the system significantly, as the Li + cations strongly coordinate with the [Tf 2 N] anions in the polar domains. The reorientation times of 9-PA have been analyzed with the aid of Stokes-Einstein-Debye hydrodynamic (SED) theory, and they fall within the broad limits set by the hydrodynamic slip and stick boundary conditions. However, deviations from the SED theory have been noticed upon addition of LiTf 2 N, and the influence of the electrolyte is more pronounced in the case of ionic liquids with shorter alkyl chains. The observed trends have been rationalized in terms of electrolyte-induced structural changes in these ionic liquids.

  13. Requirements for mammalian carboxylesterase inhibition by substituted ethane-1,2-diones

    PubMed Central

    Parkinson, Elizabeth I.; Hatfield, M. Jason; Tsurkan, Lyudmila; Hyatt, Janice L.; Edwards, Carol C.; Hicks, Latorya D.; Yan, Bing; Potter, Philip M.

    2011-01-01

    Carboxylesterases (CE) are ubiquitous enzymes found in both human and animal tissues and are responsible for the metabolism of xenobiotics. This includes numerous natural products, as well as a many clinically used drugs. Hence the activity of these agents is likely dependent upon the levels and location of CE expression. We have recently identified benzil is a potent inhibitor of mammalian CEs, and in this study, we have assessed the ability of analogues of this compound to inhibit these enzymes. Three different classes of molecules were assayed: One containing different atoms vicinal to the carbonyl carbon atom and the benzene ring [PhXC(O)C(O)XPh, where X = CH2, CHBr, N, S, or O]; a second containing a panel of alkyl 1,2-diones demonstrating increasing alkyl chain length; and a third consisting of a series of 1-phenyl-2-alkyl-1,2-diones. In general, with the former series of molecules, heteroatoms resulted in either loss of inhibitory potency (when X =N), or conversion of the compounds into substrates for the enzymes (when X = S or O). However, the inclusion of a brominated methylene atom resulted in potent CE inhibition. Subsequent analysis with the alkyl diones [RC(O)C(O)R, where R ranged from CH3 to C8H17] and 1-phenyl-2-alkyl-1,2-diones [PhC(O)C(O)R where R ranged from CH3 to C6H13], demonstrated that the potency of enzyme inhibition directly correlated with the hydrophobicity (clogP) of the molecules. We conclude from these studies that that the inhibitory power of these 1,2-dione derivatives depends primarily upon the hydrophobicity of the R group, but also on the electrophilicity of the carbonyl group. PMID:21733699

  14. Requirements for mammalian carboxylesterase inhibition by substituted ethane-1,2-diones.

    PubMed

    Parkinson, Elizabeth I; Jason Hatfield, M; Tsurkan, Lyudmila; Hyatt, Janice L; Edwards, Carol C; Hicks, Latorya D; Yan, Bing; Potter, Philip M

    2011-08-01

    Carboxylesterases (CE) are ubiquitous enzymes found in both human and animal tissues and are responsible for the metabolism of xenobiotics. This includes numerous natural products, as well as a many clinically used drugs. Hence, the activity of these agents is likely dependent upon the levels and location of CE expression. We have recently identified benzil is a potent inhibitor of mammalian CEs, and in this study, we have assessed the ability of analogues of this compound to inhibit these enzymes. Three different classes of molecules were assayed: one containing different atoms vicinal to the carbonyl carbon atom and the benzene ring [PhXC(O)C(O)XPh, where X=CH₂, CHBr, N, S, or O]; a second containing a panel of alkyl 1,2-diones demonstrating increasing alkyl chain length; and a third consisting of a series of 1-phenyl-2-alkyl-1,2-diones. In general, with the former series of molecules, heteroatoms resulted in either loss of inhibitory potency (when X=N), or conversion of the compounds into substrates for the enzymes (when X=S or O). However, the inclusion of a brominated methylene atom resulted in potent CE inhibition. Subsequent analysis with the alkyl diones [RC(O)C(O)R, where R ranged from CH₃ to C₈H₁₇] and 1-phenyl-2-alkyl-1,2-diones [PhC(O)C(O)R where R ranged from CH₃ to C₆H₁₃], demonstrated that the potency of enzyme inhibition directly correlated with the hydrophobicity (clogP) of the molecules. We conclude from these studies that that the inhibitory power of these 1,2-dione derivatives depends primarily upon the hydrophobicity of the R group, but also on the electrophilicity of the carbonyl group. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Poly(alkyl methacrylate) Brush-Grafted Silica Nanoparticles as Oil Lubricant Additives: Effects of Alkyl Pendant Groups on Oil Dispersibility, Stability, and Lubrication Property

    DOE PAGES

    Seymour, Bryan T.; Wright, Roger A. E.; Parrott, Alexander C.; ...

    2017-07-03

    This paper reports on the synthesis of a series of poly(alkyl methacrylate) brush-grafted, 23 nm silica nanoparticles (hairy NPs) and the study of the effect of alkyl pendant length on their use as oil lubricant additives for friction and wear reduction. The hairy NPs were prepared by surface-initiated reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer polymerization from trithiocarbonate chain transfer agent (CTA)-functionalized silica NPs in the presence of a free CTA. We found that hairy NPs with sufficiently long alkyl pendant groups (containing >8 carbon atoms, such as 12, 13, 16, and 18 in this study) could be readily dispersed in poly(alphaolefin) (PAO),more » forming clear, homogeneous dispersions, and exhibited excellent stability at low and high temperatures as revealed by visual inspection and dynamic light scattering studies. Whereas poly(n-hexyl methacrylate) hairy NPs cannot be dispersed in PAO under ambient conditions or at 80 °C, interestingly, poly(2-ethylhexyl methacrylate) hairy NPs can be dispersed in PAO at 80 °C but not at room temperature, with a reversible clear-to-cloudy transition observed upon cooling. High-contact-stress ball-on-flat reciprocating sliding tribological tests at 100 °C showed significant reductions in both the coefficient of friction (up to 38%) and wear volume (up to 90% for iron flat) for transparent, homogeneous dispersions of hairy NPs in PAO at a concentration of 1.0 wt % compared with neat PAO. Finally, the formation of a load-bearing tribofilm at the rubbing interface was confirmed using scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy.« less

  16. Differential effects of histone deacetylase inhibitors on cellular drug transporters and their implications for using epigenetic modifiers in combination chemotherapy.

    PubMed

    Valdez, Benigno C; Li, Yang; Murray, David; Brammer, Jonathan E; Liu, Yan; Hosing, Chitra; Nieto, Yago; Champlin, Richard E; Andersson, Borje S

    2016-09-27

    HDAC inhibitors, DNA alkylators and nucleoside analogs are effective components of combination chemotherapy. To determine a possible mechanism of their synergism, we analyzed the effects of HDAC inhibitors on the expression of drug transporters which export DNA alkylators. Exposure of PEER lymphoma T-cells to 15 nM romidepsin (Rom) resulted in 40%-50% reduction in mRNA for the drug transporter MRP1 and up to ~500-fold increase in the MDR1 mRNA within 32-48 hrs. MRP1 protein levels concomitantly decreased while MDR1 increased. Other HDAC inhibitors - panobinostat, belinostat and suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA) - had similar effects on these transporters. The protein level of MRP1 correlated with cellular resistance to busulfan and chlorambucil, and Rom exposure sensitized cells to these DNA alkylators. The decrease in MRP1 correlated with decreased cellular drug export activity, and increased level of MDR1 correlated with increased export of daunorubicin. A similar decrease in the level of MRP1 protein, and increase in MDR1, were observed when mononuclear cells derived from patients with T-cell malignancies were exposed to Rom. Decreased MRP1 and increased MDR1 expressions were also observed in blood mononuclear cells from lymphoma patients who received SAHA-containing chemotherapy in a clinical trial. This inhibitory effect of HDAC inhibitors on the expression of MRP1 suggests that their synergism with DNA alkylating agents is partly due to decreased efflux of these alkylators. Our results further imply the possibility of antagonistic effects when HDAC inhibitors are combined with anthracyclines and other MDR1 drug ligands in chemotherapy.

  17. Poly(alkyl methacrylate) Brush-Grafted Silica Nanoparticles as Oil Lubricant Additives: Effects of Alkyl Pendant Groups on Oil Dispersibility, Stability, and Lubrication Property

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Seymour, Bryan T.; Wright, Roger A. E.; Parrott, Alexander C.

    This paper reports on the synthesis of a series of poly(alkyl methacrylate) brush-grafted, 23 nm silica nanoparticles (hairy NPs) and the study of the effect of alkyl pendant length on their use as oil lubricant additives for friction and wear reduction. The hairy NPs were prepared by surface-initiated reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer polymerization from trithiocarbonate chain transfer agent (CTA)-functionalized silica NPs in the presence of a free CTA. We found that hairy NPs with sufficiently long alkyl pendant groups (containing >8 carbon atoms, such as 12, 13, 16, and 18 in this study) could be readily dispersed in poly(alphaolefin) (PAO),more » forming clear, homogeneous dispersions, and exhibited excellent stability at low and high temperatures as revealed by visual inspection and dynamic light scattering studies. Whereas poly(n-hexyl methacrylate) hairy NPs cannot be dispersed in PAO under ambient conditions or at 80 °C, interestingly, poly(2-ethylhexyl methacrylate) hairy NPs can be dispersed in PAO at 80 °C but not at room temperature, with a reversible clear-to-cloudy transition observed upon cooling. High-contact-stress ball-on-flat reciprocating sliding tribological tests at 100 °C showed significant reductions in both the coefficient of friction (up to 38%) and wear volume (up to 90% for iron flat) for transparent, homogeneous dispersions of hairy NPs in PAO at a concentration of 1.0 wt % compared with neat PAO. Finally, the formation of a load-bearing tribofilm at the rubbing interface was confirmed using scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy.« less

  18. FY08 Chemical Synthesis for the Self-Decontaminating Coatings Project

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2013-08-01

    These synthesized materials consist of Boltorn hyperbranched polymers that are functionalized with hydantoin, alkyl, and perfluorinated groups. 15...envisioned that completely prevents sorption of chemical agents, enables autonomous decontamination, reduces the volume of cleaning solution...modified with perfluorinated octanoic acid (PFOA), lauric acid, and a hydantoin moiety. HO OH CH3 HO O 3 Figure 2. Synthetic targets 1–3

  19. Boron compounds as anion binding agents for nonaqueous battery electrolytes

    DOEpatents

    Lee, Hung Sui; Yang, Xia-Oing; McBreen, James; Xiang, Caili

    2000-02-08

    Novel fluorinated boron-based compounds which act as anion receptors in non-aqueous battery electrolytes are provided. When added to non-aqueous battery electrolytes, the fluorinated boron-based compounds of the invention enhance ionic conductivity and cation transference number of non-aqueous electrolytes. The fluorinated boron-based anion receptors include borane and borate compounds bearing different fluorinated alkyl and aryl groups.

  20. An old drug with a new future: bendamustine in multiple myeloma.

    PubMed

    Gentile, Massimo; Recchia, Anna Grazia; Mazzone, Carla; Vigna, Ernesto; Martino, Massimo; Morabito, Lucio; Lucia, Eugenio; Bossio, Sabrina; De Stefano, Laura; Granata, Teresa; Palummo, Angela; Morabito, Fortunato

    2013-11-01

    Bendamustine is a unique bifunctional alkylating agent with promising activity in multiple myeloma (MM). It is currently licensed in Europe for use as frontline treatment with prednisolone for patients with MM who are unsuitable for transplantation and who are contraindicated for thalidomide and bortezomib therapy. Studies evaluating the safety and efficacy of bendamustine administered alone or in combination in both the upfront and relapse settings of MM patients, including those with renal insufficiency, were reviewed. The use of bendamustine as conditioning for autologous stem-cell transplantation and the possibility of stem-cell mobilization after bendamustine therapy are discussed. Bendamustine seems to be efficacious either in monotherapy or in combination with other drugs in previously treated or untreated patients. This is due to its unique mechanism of action including its ability to activate apoptosis and inhibit mitotic checkpoints, making it potentially more effective than other alkylating agents. Moreover, it has an acceptable toxicity profile and is suitable for patients with renal impairment. Finally, this drug does not seem to compromise the possibility of achieving a stem-cell mobilization. Nonetheless, data from Phase III studies demonstrating its effectiveness in terms of overall survival are not yet available.

  1. Design, Synthesis, and Structure--Activity Relationship of New 2-Aryl-3,4-dihydro-β-carbolin-2-ium Salts as Antifungal Agents.

    PubMed

    Hou, Zhe; Zhu, Li-Fei; Yu, Xin-chi; Sun, Ma-Qiang; Miao, Fang; Zhou, Le

    2016-04-13

    Twenty-two 2-aryl-9-methyl-3,4-dihydro-β-carbolin-2-ium bromides along with four 9-demethylated derivatives were synthesized and characterized by spectroscopic analysis. By using the mycelium growth rate method, the compounds were evaluated for antifungal activities in vitro against six plant pathogenic fungi, and structure-activity relationships (SAR) were derived. Almost all of the compounds showed obvious inhibition activity on each of the fungi at 150 μM. For all of the fungi, 10 of the compounds showed average inhibition rates of >80% at 150 μM, and most of their EC50 values were in the range of 2.0-30.0 μM. SAR analysis showed that the substitution pattern of the N-aryl ring significantly influences the activity; N9-alkylation improves the activity, whereas aromatization of ring-C reduces the activity. It was concluded that the present research provided a series of new 2-aryl-9-alkyl-3,4-dihydro-β-carbolin-2-iums with excellent antifungal potency and structure optimization design for the development of new carboline antifungal agents.

  2. [Quasi-adaptive response to alkylating agents in Escherichia coli and Ada-protein functions].

    PubMed

    Vasil'eva, S V; Moshkovskaia, E Iu; Terekhov, A S; Mikoian, V D; Vanin, A F

    2008-01-01

    In 2005 we have described in exponentially growing E. coli cells a new fundamental genetic phenomenon,--quasi-adaptive response to alkylating compounds (quasi-Ada). Phenotypic expression of quasi-Ada is similar to the true Ada response. However, in contrast to the letter, it develops in the course of pretreatment of the cells by a sublethal dose of nonalkylating agent, an NO-containing dinitrosyl iron complex with glutathione (DNICglu). To reveal the mechanisms of quasi-adaptation and its association with the function of the Ada regulatory protein, here we used a unique property of dual gene expression regulation of aidB1 gene, a part of the Ada-regulon, namely its relative independence from Ada protein in anaerobic conditions. Based on the results of aidB1 gene expression analysis an EPR spectra of E. coli MV2176 cells (aidB1::lacZ) in aerobic and anaerobic conditions after the corresponding treatments, we conclude that the function and the spatial structure of meAda and [(Cys-)2Fe+(NO+)2]Ada are identical and thus the nitrosylated protein represents a regulator of the Ada regulon gene expression during quasi-adaptation development.

  3. Characterization of inhalable particulate matter, volatile organic compounds and other chemical species measured in urban areas in New Jersey—I. Summertime episodes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lioy, Paul J.; Daisey, Joan M.; Reiss, Nathan M.; Harkov, Ronald

    The 1981 Summer Campaign results of the New Jersey Project on Airborne Toxic Elements and Organic Substances (ATEOS) have been examined for the accumulation of various pollutants during photochemical smog type episodes in Newark, Elizabeth and Camden, N.J. Background data were provided from a rural site in Ringwood, N.J. The interrelationships among inhalable particulate matter (IPM), particulate organic matter (POM), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), SO 2-4, V, Pb, O 3, volatile organic compounds and alkylating agents are described. In addition, the prevailing synoptic meteorology was examined to characterize the episodes and define situations that significantly affected the accumulation patterns. The concentrations of PAH, toluene, benzene, V and Pb usually varied independently of the episodes indicating primary source contributions. The alkylating agent concentrations appeared to increase in association with episode periods. The results also indicated that 50-60% of the IPM mass in the urban areas was composed of the sum of SO 2-4 and POM. Between site analysis of the SO 2-4 indicated primarily a regional distribution pattern, while the POM appeared to be related to contributions from both local and regional sources.

  4. Molecular evolution of Theta-class glutathione transferase for enhanced activity with the anticancer drug 1,3-bis-(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea and other alkylating agents.

    PubMed

    Larsson, Anna-Karin; Shokeer, Abeer; Mannervik, Bengt

    2010-05-01

    Glutathione transferase (GST) displaying enhanced activity with the cytostatic drug 1,3-bis-(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea (BCNU) and structurally related alkylating agents was obtained by molecular evolution. Mutant libraries created by recursive recombination of cDNA coding for human and rodent Theta-class GSTs were heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli and screened with the surrogate substrate 4-nitrophenethyl bromide (NPB) for enhanced alkyltransferase activity. A mutant with a 70-fold increased catalytic efficiency with NPB, compared to human GST T1-1, was isolated. The efficiency in degrading BCNU had improved 170-fold, significantly more than with the model substrate NPB. The enhanced catalytic activity of the mutant GST was also 2-fold higher with BCNU than wild-type mouse GST T1-1, which is 80-fold more efficient than wild-type human GST T1-1. We propose that GSTs catalyzing inactivation of anticancer drugs may find clinical use in protecting sensitive normal tissues to toxic side-effects in treated patients, and as selectable markers in gene therapy. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Roles of PCNA ubiquitination and TLS polymerases κ and η in the bypass of methyl methanesulfonate-induced DNA damage.

    PubMed

    Wit, Niek; Buoninfante, Olimpia Alessandra; van den Berk, Paul C M; Jansen, Jacob G; Hogenbirk, Marc A; de Wind, Niels; Jacobs, Heinz

    2015-01-01

    Translesion synthesis (TLS) provides a highly conserved mechanism that enables DNA synthesis on a damaged template. TLS is performed by specialized DNA polymerases of which polymerase (Pol) κ is important for the cellular response to DNA damage induced by benzo[a]pyrene-7,8-dihydrodiol-9,10-epoxide (BPDE), ultraviolet (UV) light and the alkylating agent methyl methanesulfonate (MMS). As TLS polymerases are intrinsically error-prone, tight regulation of their activity is required. One level of control is provided by ubiquitination of the homotrimeric DNA clamp PCNA at lysine residue 164 (PCNA-Ub). We here show that Polκ can function independently of PCNA modification and that Polη can function as a backup during TLS of MMS-induced lesions. Compared to cell lines deficient for PCNA modification (Pcna(K164R)) or Polκ, double mutant cell lines display hypersensitivity to MMS but not to BPDE or UV-C. Double mutant cells also displayed delayed post-replicative TLS, accumulate higher levels of replication stress and delayed S-phase progression. Furthermore, we show that Polη and Polκ are redundant in the DNA damage bypass of MMS-induced DNA damage. Taken together, we provide evidence for PCNA-Ub-independent activation of Polκ and establish Polη as an important backup polymerase in the absence of Polκ in response to MMS-induced DNA damage. © The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

  6. Diastereoselective addition of Grignard reagents to α-epoxy N-sulfonyl hydrazones

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Uteuliyev, Maulen M.; Nguyen, Thien T.; Coltart, Don M.

    2015-12-01

    The α-alkylation of ketones and their derivatives by the addition of their corresponding enolates to alkyl halides is a fundamental synthetic transformation, but its utility is limited because the key bond-forming step proceeds in a bimolecular nucleophilic substitution fashion. Here we describe how an umpolung strategy that involves the addition of Grignard reagents to α-epoxy N-sulfonyl hydrazones—directed by the alkoxide of the 1-azo-3-alkoxy propenes formed in situ via base-induced ring opening of the epoxide—leads to the syn-selective production of α-alkyl-β-hydroxy N-sulfonyl hydrazones with α-quaternary centres. This transformation is remarkable in its ability to incorporate an unprecedented range of carbon-based substituents, which include primary, secondary and tertiary alkyl, as well as alkenyl, aryl, allenyl and alkynyl groups. Subsequent hydrolysis of the β-hydroxy N-sulfonyl hydrazone products produces the corresponding β-hydroxy ketones. In addition to hydrolysis, the hydrazone products are poised to undergo numerous different known synthetic transformations via well-established chemistry, which would provide access to a wide array of useful structures.

  7. Exploring Alkyl Chains in Benzobisthiazole-Naphthobisthiadiazole Polymers: Impact on Solar-Cell Performance, Crystalline Structures, and Optoelectronics.

    PubMed

    Al-Naamani, Eman; Gopal, Anesh; Ide, Marina; Osaka, Itaru; Saeki, Akinori

    2017-11-01

    The shapes and lengths of the alkyl chains of conjugated polymers greatly affect the efficiencies of organic photovoltaic devices. This often results in a trade-off between solubility and self-organizing behavior; however, each material has specific optimal chains. Here we report on the effect of alkyl side chains on the film morphologies, crystallinities, and optoelectronic properties of new benzobisthiazole-naphthobisthiadiazole (PBBT-NTz) polymers. The power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of linear-branched and all-branched polymers range from 2.5% to 6.6%; the variations in these PCEs are investigated by atomic force microscopy, two-dimensional X-ray diffraction (2D-GIXRD), and transient photoconductivity techniques. The best-performing linear-branched polymer, bearing dodecyl and decyltetradecyl chains (C12-DT), exhibits nanometer-scale fibers along with the highest crystallinity, comprising predominant edge-on and partial face-on orientations. This morphology leads to the highest photoconductivity and the longest carrier lifetime. These results highlight the importance of long alkyl chains for inducing intermolecular stacking, which is in contrast to observations made for analogous previously reported polymers.

  8. Functional sites of the Ada regulatory protein of Escherichia coli. Analysis by amino acid substitutions.

    PubMed

    Takano, K; Nakabeppu, Y; Sekiguchi, M

    1988-05-20

    Specific cysteine residues at possible methyl acceptor sites of the Ada protein of Escherichia coli were converted to other amino acids by site-directed mutagenesis of the cloned ada gene of E. coli. Ada protein with the cysteine residue at 321 replaced by alanine was capable of accepting the methyl group from the methylphosphotriester but not from O6-methylguanine or O4-methylthymine of alkylated DNA, whereas the protein with alanine at position 69 accepted the methyl group from the methylated bases but not from the methylphosphotriester. These two mutants were used to elucidate the biological significance of repair of the two types of alkylation lesions. Introduction of the ada gene with the Ala69 mutation into an ada- cell rendered the cell more resistant to alkylating agents with respect to both killing and induction of mutations, but the gene with the Ala321 mutation exhibited no such activity. Replacement of the cysteine residue at position 69, but not at position 321, abolished the ability of Ada protein to promote transcription of both ada and alkA genes in vitro. These results are compatible with the idea that methylation of the cysteine residue at position 69 renders Ada protein active as a transcriptional regulator, whilst the cysteine residue at position 321 is responsible for repair of pre-mutagenic and lethal lesions in DNA. The actions of mutant Ada proteins on the ada and alkA promoters in vivo were investigated using an artificially composed gene expression system. When the ada gene with the Ala69 mutation was introduced into the cell, there was little induction of expression of either the ada or the alkA genes, even after treatment with an alkylating agent, in agreement with the data obtained from studies in vitro. With the Ala321 mutation, however, a considerable degree of ada gene expression occurred without adaptive treatment. The latter finding suggests that the cysteine residue at position 321, which is located near the C terminus of the Ada protein, is involved in regulating activity, as the transcriptional activator.

  9. Cell biological effects of hyperthermia alone or combined with radiation or drugs: a short introduction to newcomers in the field.

    PubMed

    Kampinga, Harm H

    2006-05-01

    Hyperthermia results in protein unfolding that, if not properly chaperoned by Heat Shock Proteins (HSP), can lead to irreversible and toxic protein aggregates. Elevating HSP prior to heating makes cells thermotolerant. Hyperthermia also can enhance the sensitivity of cells to radiation and drugs. This sensitization to drugs or radiation is not directly related to altered HSP expression. However, altering HSP expression before heat and radiation or drug treatment will affect the extent of thermal sensitization because the HSP will attenuate the heat-induced protein damage that is responsible for radiation- or drug-sensitization. For thermal radiosensitization, nuclear protein damage is considered to be responsible for hyperthermic effects on DNA repair, in particular base excision repair. Hyperthermic drug sensitization can be seen for a number of anti-cancer drugs, especially of alkylating agents. Synergy between heat and drugs may arise from multiple events such as heat damage to ABC transporters (drug accumulation), intra-cellular drug detoxification pathways and repair of drug-induced DNA adducts. This may be why cells with acquired drug resistance (often multi-factorial) can be made responsive to drugs again by combining the drug treatment with heat.

  10. Molecular mechanism behind the synergistic activity of diphenylmethyl selenocyanate and Cisplatin against murine tumor model.

    PubMed

    Chakraborty, Pramita; Roy, Somnath Singha; Bhattacharya, Sudin

    2015-01-01

    Various preclinical, clinical and epidemiological studies have already well established the cancer chemopreventive and chemoprotective potential of selenium compounds. In addition to its protective efficacy, recent studies have also proved the abilities of selenium compounds to induce cell death specifically in malignant cells. Therefore, our intention is to improve the therapeutic efficacy of an alkylating agent, cisplatin, by the adjuvant use of an organoselenium compound, diphenylmethyl selenocyanate (DMSE). It was observed that combined treatment decreased the tumor burden significantly through reactive oxygen species generation and modulation of antioxidant and detoxifying enzyme system in tumor cells. These activities ultimately led to significant DNA damage and apoptosis in tumor cells. Study of the molecular pathway disclosed that the adjuvant treatment caused induction of p53, Bax and suppressed Bcl-2 followed by the activation of caspase cascade. Furthermore, a concomitant decrease in cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity and hematopoietic toxicity by DMSE might also have enhanced the efficacy of cisplatin and provided survival advantage to the host. Results suggested that the combination treatment with DMSE and cisplatin may offer potential therapeutic benefit, and utilization of cisplatin in cancer chemotherapy exempt of its limitations.

  11. N-Alkyl Urea Hydroxamic Acids as a New Class of Peptide Deformylase Inhibitors with Antibacterial Activity

    PubMed Central

    Hackbarth, Corinne J.; Chen, Dawn Z.; Lewis, Jason G.; Clark, Kirk; Mangold, James B.; Cramer, Jeffrey A.; Margolis, Peter S.; Wang, Wen; Koehn, Jim; Wu, Charlotte; Lopez, S.; Withers III, George; Gu, Helen; Dunn, Elina; Kulathila, R.; Pan, Shi-Hao; Porter, Wilma L.; Jacobs, Jeff; Trias, Joaquim; Patel, Dinesh V.; Weidmann, Beat; White, Richard J.; Yuan, Zhengyu

    2002-01-01

    Peptide deformylase (PDF) is a prokaryotic metalloenzyme that is essential for bacterial growth and is a new target for the development of antibacterial agents. All previously reported PDF inhibitors with sufficient antibacterial activity share the structural feature of a 2-substituted alkanoyl at the P1′ site. Using a combination of iterative parallel synthesis and traditional medicinal chemistry, we have identified a new class of PDF inhibitors with N-alkyl urea at the P1′ site. Compounds with MICs of ≤4 μg/ml against gram-positive and gram-negative pathogens, including Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Haemophilus influenzae, have been identified. The concentrations needed to inhibit 50% of enzyme activity (IC50s) for Escherichia coli Ni-PDF were ≤0.1 μM, demonstrating the specificity of the inhibitors. In addition, these compounds were very selective for PDF, with IC50s of consistently >200 μM for matrilysin and other mammalian metalloproteases. Structure-activity relationship analysis identified preferred substitutions resulting in improved potency and decreased cytotoxity. One of the compounds (VRC4307) was cocrystallized with PDF, and the enzyme-inhibitor structure was determined at a resolution of 1.7 Å. This structural information indicated that the urea compounds adopt a binding position similar to that previously determined for succinate hydroxamates. Two compounds, VRC4232 and VRC4307, displayed in vivo efficacy in a mouse protection assay, with 50% protective doses of 30.8 and 17.9 mg/kg of body weight, respectively. These N-alkyl urea hydroxamic acids provide a starting point for identifying new PDF inhibitors that can serve as antimicrobial agents. PMID:12183225

  12. Alkylation of sperm DNA is associated with male factor infertility and a reduction in the proportion of oocytes fertilised during assisted reproduction.

    PubMed

    Stocks, S J; Agius, R M; Cooley, N; Harrison, K L; Brison, D R; Horne, G; Gibbs, A; Povey, A C

    2010-04-30

    Approximately one-third of IVF cases in the UK are attributed to male factor infertility and in the majority of cases the origin of male infertility is unknown. The integrity of sperm DNA is important both for the success of assisted reproduction and the implications for the off-spring. One type of DNA damage that has not been investigated with respect to fertility outcomes is the adduct N7-methyldeoxyguanosine (N7-MedG), a biomarker for exposure to alkylating agents. A prospective cohort of couples attending for IVF had their N7-MedG levels in sperm measured using an immunoslot blot technique to examine whether sperm N7-MedG levels are associated with male factor infertility, semen quality measures or assisted reproduction outcomes. Sufficient DNA for analysis was obtained from 67/97 couples and N7-MedG was detected in 94% of sperm samples analysed. Men diagnosed with male factor infertility had significantly higher mean levels of N7-MedG in their sperm DNA (P=0.03). Logistic regression analysis showed that N7-MedG levels were significantly negatively associated with the proportion of oocytes successfully fertilised irrespective of the method of fertilisation used (IVF or intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection; ICSI, P<0.001). Therefore exposure to DNA alkylating agents is significantly associated with male infertility and the proportion of oocytes fertilised during assisted reproduction. Reducing such exposure may improve male fertility but further work is required to determine the relative importance of exogenous and endogenous sources of exposure. Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Methyl methanesulfonate induces necroptosis in human lung adenoma A549 cells through the PIG-3-reactive oxygen species pathway.

    PubMed

    Jiang, Ying; Shan, Shigang; Chi, Linfeng; Zhang, Guanglin; Gao, Xiangjing; Li, Hongjuan; Zhu, Xinqiang; Yang, Jun

    2016-03-01

    Methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) is an alkylating agent that can induce cell death through apoptosis and necroptosis. The molecular mechanisms underlying MMS-induced apoptosis have been studied extensively; however, little is known about the mechanism for MMS-induced necroptosis. Therefore, we first established MMS-induced necroptosis model using human lung carcinoma A549 cells. It was found that, within a 24-h period, although MMS at concentrations of 50, 100, 200, 400, and 800 μM can induce DNA damage, only at higher concentrations (400 and 800 μM) MMS treatment lead to necroptosis in A549 cells, as it could be inhibited by the specific necroptotic inhibitor necrostatin-1, but not the specific apoptotic inhibitor carbobenzoxy-valyl-alanyl-aspartyl-[O-methyl]-fluoromethylketone (Z-VAD-fmk). MMS-induced necroptosis was further confirmed by the induction of the necroptosis biomarkers including the depletion of cellular NADH and ATP and leakage of LDH. This necroptotic cell death was also concurrent with the increased expression of p53, p53-induced gene 3 (PIG-3), high mobility group box-1 protein (HMGB1), and receptor interaction protein kinase (RIP) but not the apoptosis-associated caspase-3 and caspase-9 proteins. Elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS) level was also involved in this process as the specific ROS inhibitor (4-amino-2,4-pyrrolidine-dicarboxylic acid (APDC)) can inhibit the necroptotic cell death. Interestingly, knockdown of PIG-3 expression by small interfering RNA (siRNA) treatment can inhibit the generation of ROS. Taken together, these results suggest that MMS can induce necroptosis in A549 cells, probably through the PIG-3-ROS pathway.

  14. Simultaneous determination of N7-alkylguanines in DNA by isotope-dilution LC-tandem MS coupled with automated solid-phase extraction and its application to a small fish model

    PubMed Central

    Chao, Mu-Rong; Wang, Chien-Jen; Yen, Cheng-Chieh; Yang, Hsi-Hsien; Lu, Yao-Cheng; Chang, Louis W.; Hu, Chiung-Wen

    2006-01-01

    In the present study, we report the development of a sensitive and selective assay based on LC (liquid chromatography)–MS/MS (tandem MS) to simultaneously measure N7-MeG (N7-methylguanine) and N7-EtG (N7-ethylguanine) in DNA hydrolysates. With the use of isotope internal standards (15N5-N7-MeG and 15N5-N7-EtG) and on-line SPE (solid-phase extraction), the detection limit of this method was estimated as 0.42 fmol and 0.17 fmol for N7-MeG and N7-EtG respectively. The high sensitivity achieved here makes this method applicable to small experimental animals. This method was applied to measure N7-alkylguanines in liver DNA from mosquito fish (Gambusia affinis) that were exposed to NDMA (N-nitrosodimethylamine) and NDEA (N-nitrosodiethylamine) alone or their combination over a wide range of concentrations (1–100 mg/l). Results showed that the background level of N7-MeG in liver of control fish was 7.89±1.38 μmol/mol of guanine, while N7-EtG was detectable in most of the control fish with a range of 0.05–0.19 μmol/mol of guanine. N7-MeG and N7-EtG were significantly induced by NDMA and NDEA respectively, at a concentration as low as 1 mg/l and increased in a dose-dependent manner. Taken together, this LC-MS/MS assay provides the sensitivity and high throughput required to evaluate the extent of alkylated DNA lesions in small animal models of cancer induced by alkylating agents. PMID:17134374

  15. Ovarian function and reproductive outcomes of female patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and the strategies to preserve their fertility.

    PubMed

    Oktem, Ozgur; Guzel, Yılmaz; Aksoy, Senai; Aydin, Elvin; Urman, Bulent

    2015-03-01

    Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune systemic disease that mainly affects women of reproductive age. Emerging data from recent molecular studies show us that estrogen hormone plays a central role in the development of this disease. By acting via its cognate receptors ERα and ERβ expressed on immune cells, estrogen can modulate immune function in both the innate and adaptive immune responses. Interestingly, estrogen may also evoke autoimmune responses after binding to B lymphocytes leading to the generation of high-affinity autoantibodies and proinflammatory cytokines (so-called estrogen-induced autoimmunity). Unfortunately, reproductive function of young female patients with this disease is commonly compromised by different pathophysiologic processes. First, ovarian reserve is diminished even in the presence of mild disease suggesting a direct impact of the disease itself on ovarian function possibly due to ovarian involvement in the form of autoimmune oophoritis. Second, SLE patients with severe manifestations of the disease are treated with alkylating chemotherapy agent cyclophosphamide. Cyclophosphamide and other drugs of alkylating category have the highest gonadotoxicity. Therefore, SLE patients exposed to cyclophosphamide have a much higher risk of developing infertility and premature ovarian failure than do the counterparts who are treated with other less toxic treatments. Third, the functions of the hypothalamic pituitary ovarian axis are perturbed by chronic inflammatory state. And finally adverse pregnancy outcomes are more commonly observed in SLE patients such as fetal loss, preterm birth, intrauterine fetal growth restriction, preeclampsia-eclampsia, and fetal congenital heart block. We aimed in this review article to provide the readers an update on how estrogen hormone closely interacts with and induces lupus-prone changes in the immune system. We also discuss ovarian function and other reproductive outcomes in SLE patients and the current strategies to preserve their fertility in the light of the most recent evidence-based findings of the clinical trials and molecular studies.

  16. 3-hydroxy-2(1H)-pyridinone chelating agents

    DOEpatents

    Raymond, K.N.; Xu, J.

    1997-04-29

    Disclosed is a series of improved metal chelating agents, which are highly effective upon both injection and oral administration; several of the most effective are of low toxicity. These chelating agents incorporate within their structure 1-hydroxy-2-pyridinone (1,2-HOPO) and 3-hydroxy-2-pyridinone (3,2-HOPO) moieties with a substituted carbamoyl group ortho to the hydroxy or oxo groups of the hydroxypyridinone ring. The electron-withdrawing carbamoyl group increases the acidity of the hydroxypyridinones. In the metal complexes of the chelating agents, the amide protons form very strong hydrogen bonds with its adjacent HOPO oxygen donor, making these complexes very stable at physiological conditions. The terminal N-substituents provides a certain degree of lipophilicity to the 3,2-HOPO, increasing oral activity. Also disclosed is a method of making the chelating agents and a method of producing a known compound, 3-hydroxy-1-alkyl-2(1H)pyridinone, used as a precursor to the chelating agent, safely and in large quantities. 2 figs.

  17. 3-hydroxy-2(1H)-pyridinone chelating agents

    DOEpatents

    Raymond, Kenneth N.; Xu, Jide

    1997-01-01

    Disclosed is a series of improved metal chelating agents, which are highly effective upon both injection and oral administration; several of the most effective are of low toxicity. These chelating agents incorporate within their structure 1-hydroxy-2-pyridinone (1,2-HOPO) and 3-hydroxy-2-pyridinone (3,2-HOPO) moieties with a substituted carbamoyl group ortho to the hydroxy or oxo groups of the hydroxypyridinone ring. The electron-withdrawing carbamoyl group increases the acidity of the hydroxypyridinones. In the metal complexes of said chelating agents, the amide protons form very strong hydrogen bonds with its adjacent HOPO oxygen donor, making these complexes very stable at physiological conditions. The terminal N-substituents provides a certain degree of lipophilicity to said 3,2-HOPO, increasing oral activity. Also disclosed is a method of making the chelating agents and a method of producing a known compound, 3-hydroxy-1-alkyl-2(1H)pyridinone, used as a precursor to the chelating agent, safely and in large quantities.

  18. Metronomic cyclophosphamide-induced long-term remission after recurrent high-grade serous ovarian cancer: A case study

    PubMed Central

    de Boo, Leonora Wijnandina; Vulink, Annelie Johanna Elisabeth; Bos, Monique Elisabeth Martina Maria

    2017-01-01

    Metronomic oral cyclophosphamide has gained increasing interest in recent years as a promising maintenance therapy in advanced, platinum-sensitive, high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC). Metronomic treatment with cyclophosphamide refers to the frequent, usually daily, administration of a low (oral) dose of cyclophosphamide with no prolonged drug-free breaks. Main advantages of this treatment are the effective reduction of tumour activity, oral administration in an outpatient setting, low cost and the low toxicity profile. Metronomic oral cyclophosphamide can benefit patients suffering from types of cancer known to be sensitive to alkylating agents, such as platinum-sensitive HGSOC. In recent years, several publications have underlined the advantage of this regimen and possible explanations were explored. We here present a patient with multiple recurrences of metastasized HGSOC, platinum-sensitive, with an on-going complete response to monotherapy with oral cyclophosphamide. This observation supports that patients with relapsing HGSOC who responded to platinum-based chemotherapy and cannot continue platinum-based chemotherapy because of toxicity, can be offered a course of metronomic cyclophosphamide. This case may serve as a reminder that old drugs can be used successfully even in the age of new upcoming therapy such as anti-angiogenic agents (VEGF inhibitors) and poly-ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors. PMID:29285388

  19. Metronomic cyclophosphamide-induced long-term remission after recurrent high-grade serous ovarian cancer: A case study.

    PubMed

    de Boo, Leonora Wijnandina; Vulink, Annelie Johanna Elisabeth; Bos, Monique Elisabeth Martina Maria

    2017-12-01

    Metronomic oral cyclophosphamide has gained increasing interest in recent years as a promising maintenance therapy in advanced, platinum-sensitive, high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC). Metronomic treatment with cyclophosphamide refers to the frequent, usually daily, administration of a low (oral) dose of cyclophosphamide with no prolonged drug-free breaks. Main advantages of this treatment are the effective reduction of tumour activity, oral administration in an outpatient setting, low cost and the low toxicity profile. Metronomic oral cyclophosphamide can benefit patients suffering from types of cancer known to be sensitive to alkylating agents, such as platinum-sensitive HGSOC. In recent years, several publications have underlined the advantage of this regimen and possible explanations were explored. We here present a patient with multiple recurrences of metastasized HGSOC, platinum-sensitive, with an on-going complete response to monotherapy with oral cyclophosphamide. This observation supports that patients with relapsing HGSOC who responded to platinum-based chemotherapy and cannot continue platinum-based chemotherapy because of toxicity, can be offered a course of metronomic cyclophosphamide. This case may serve as a reminder that old drugs can be used successfully even in the age of new upcoming therapy such as anti-angiogenic agents (VEGF inhibitors) and poly-ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors.

  20. Regulation of Hippocampal Glutamate Receptors: Evidence for the Involvement of a Calcium-Activated Protease

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Baudry, Michel; Lynch, Gary

    1980-04-01

    Specific [3H]glutamate binding to rat hippocampal membranes and the calcium-induced increase in this binding are markedly temperature-sensitive and are inhibited by alkylating or reducing agents as well as by various protease inhibitors. N-Ethylmaleimide, chloromethyl ketone derivatives of lysine and phenylalanine, and tosylarginine methyl ester decrease the maximum number of [3H]glutamate binding sites without changing their affinity for glutamate. Preincubation of the membranes with glutamate does not protect the glutamate ``receptors'' from the suppressive effects of these agents. The proteases trypsin and α -chymotrypsin increase the maximum number of [3H]glutamate binding sites. The effects of calcium on glutamate binding are different across brain regions. Cerebellar membranes are almost insensitive whereas hippocampal and striatal membranes exhibit a strong increase in the number of binding sites after exposure to even low concentrations of calcium. These results suggest that an endogenous membrane-associated thiol protease regulates the number of [3H]glutamate binding sites in hippocampal membranes and that this is the mechanism by which calcium stimulates glutamate binding. The possibility is discussed that the postulated mechanisms participate in synaptic physiology and in particular may be related to the long-term potentiation of transmission found in hippocampus under certain conditions.

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