Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:1.5.1.3 (dihydrofolate reductase)
 5,819 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The poor solubility of the thymidylate synthase (TS) inhibiting antifolate 10-propargyl-5,8-dideazafolic acid has posed problems for its clinical use and is probably responsible for its renal toxicity. The insolubility is caused by the 2-amino-3,4-dihydro-4-oxopyrimidine moiety of the drug which stabilizes the solid state by intermolecular hydrogen bonding. In examining this moiety we have removed the 2-amino group and now report on 2-desamino-10-propargyl-5,8-dideazafolic acid (8e) and four analogues with H, Me, Et, and allyl at N10. 3,4-Dihydro-4-oxo-6-methylquinazoline was solubilized by alkylating the lactam nitrogen with chloromethyl pivalate. Reaction with N-bromosuccinimide gave the corresponding 6-bromomethyl compound, which was coupled with diethyl N-(4-aminobenzoyl)-L-glutamate or the appropriate N-substituted derivative thereof. The quinazoline N3 nitrogen and carboxyl groups in the product were simultaneously deprotected by cold alkali in the final step to give the desired five antifolates. These were tested against L1210 TS and it was found that removal of the 2-amino group caused a slight (3-9-fold) loss of TS inhibition. 8e was only 8-fold a lesser TS inhibitor than the parent drug. Inhibition of rat liver dihydrofolate reductase was reduced by over 1 order of magnitude for three compounds tested. All five analogues were more cytotoxic to L1210 cells in culture than their 2-amino counterparts; 8e was 8.5-fold more active with an ID50 of 0.4 microM. This remarkable result probably owes to increased cellular penetration. 8e was 5-fold more soluble than 1 at pH 5.0 and greater than 340-fold more soluble at pH 7.4.
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PMID:Quinazoline antifolates inhibiting thymidylate synthase: 2-desamino derivatives with enhanced solubility and potency. 270 30

Three new 5,8-dideaza analogues of folic acid devoid of an amino group at position 2 have been prepared by using synthetic routes patterned after earlier methodologies. They were 2-desamino-5,8-dideazaisofolic acid, 2b, 2-desamino-10-thia-5,8-dideazafolic acid, 2c, and 2-desamino-10-oxa-5,8-dideazafolic acid, 2d. These compounds were found to be 4-6-fold more cytoxic toward L1210 leukemia cells than their 2-NH2 counterparts and to be poor inhibitors of mammalian thymidylate synthase. However, they were only 1.5-3-fold less inhibitory toward dihydrofolate reductase than the analogous compounds containing a 2-NH2 group. The known thymidylate synthase inhibitors 2-desamino-10-propargyl-5,8-dideazafolic acid and 10-propargyl-5,8-dideazafolic acid were included in this study for purposes of comparison.
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PMID:Comparison of the biological effects of selected 5,8-dideazafolate analogues with their 2-desamino counterparts. 270 31

Exponentially growing human lymphoblasts (culture LS-2) were separated by cell sorting (FACS II, Becton Dickinson) according to their deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) content, designating them at particular phases of the cell cycle. Prior to cell sorting the DNA has been fluorochrome-labeled with the Hoechst stain H 33342. Maximum cell enrichments of 94% for G0 + G1 cells, 96% for S cells and 74% for G2 + M cells could be achieved. The enzyme activities of thymidine kinase (TK), thymidylate synthase (TS), DNA polymerase (DNA-P), dihydrofolate reductase (FH2-R), methionine synthase (MS), and hexokinase (HK) were determined in the obtained cell fractions. Although incorporation of 3H-thymidine (3H-dTR) and the 3H-dTR labeling index were significantly inhibited by the dye, no evidence of cell staining's having a significant effect on the enzyme activities was found. The enzyme activities for approximately 100% pure G0 + G1, S, and G2 + M cells were computed. With exception of TK, all the enzymes under study were shown to exhibit activities--although of differing degree--in the G0 + G1, S, and G2 + M cells. No TK activity was shown in G0 and G1 cells; its activity, however, was approximately the same in S and G2 + M cells. This applies likewise for TS which, in contrast to TK, exhibits minor activity in G0 + G1 cells. DNA-P was highly active in G0 + G1 cells, but maximum activity was in S cells. FH2-R exhibited maximum activity in S cells, although the difference in activity between S and G2 + M cells was not significant. None of the observed differences in MS activity was significant, indicating equally high activity in cells of all cell cycle phases. HK activity is approximately twice as high in G2 + M cells as in G0 + G1 cells.
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PMID:Relation between cell cycle stage and the activity of DNA-synthesizing enzymes in cultured human lymphoblasts: investigations on cells separated according to DNA content by way of a cell sorter. 271 50

A mathematical description of polyglutamated folate kinetics for human breast carcinoma cells (MCF-7) has been formulated based upon experimental folate, methotrexate (MTX), purine, and pyrimidine pool sizes as well as reaction rate parameters obtained from intact MCF-7 cells and their enzyme isolates. The schema accounts for the interconversion of highly polyglutamated tetrahydrofolate, 5-methyl-FH4, 5-10-CH2FH4, dihydrofolate (FH2), 10-formyl-FH4 (FFH4), and 10-formyl-FH2 (FFH2), as well as formation and transport of the MTX polyglutamates. Inhibition mechanisms have been chosen to reproduce all observed non-, un-, and pure competition inhibition patterns. Steady state folate concentrations and thymidylate and purine synthesis rates in drug-free intact cells were used to determine normal folate Vmax values. The resulting average-cell folate model, examined for its ability to predict folate pool behavior following exposure to 1 microM MTX over 21 h, agreed well with the experiment, including a relative preservation of the FFH4 and CH2FH4 pools. The results depend strongly on thymidylate synthase (TS) reaction mechanism, especially the assumption that MTX di- and triglutamates inhibit TS synthesis as greatly in the intact cell as they do with purified enzyme. The effects of cell cycle dependence of TS and dihydrofolate reductase activities were also examined by introducing G- to S-phase activity ratios of these enzymes into the model. For activity ratios down to at least 5%, cell population averaged folate pools were only slightly affected, while CH2FH4 pools in S-phase cells were reduced to as little as 10% of control values. Significantly, these folate pool dynamics were indicated to arise from both direct inhibition by MTX polyglutamates as well as inhibition by elevated levels of polyglutamated FH2 and FFH2.
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PMID:Folate cycle kinetics in human breast cancer cells. 273 37

This report examines the intracellular activity of dihydrofolate reductase using an in situ assay designed to measure enzymatic activity in intact cells. The rate of uptake of folic acid exceeded the rate of in situ dihydrofolate reductase activity suggesting that the reduction of folate to dihydrofolate, rather than transport, was the rate limiting step. In situ dihydrofolate reductase activity varied linearly with cell number. A comparison of the in situ activity revealed that a squamous cell carcinoma selected for methotrexate (MTX) resistant (SCC-15R) had 100 times greater dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) activity than L1210 leukemia. In agreement with this finding, the in situ DHFR activity in SCC-15R cells was 50-fold less sensitive to the inhibitory effects of MTX than the L1210 in situ DHFR activity (IC50 = 1.1 x 10(-5) M and 2.4 x 10.7(-7) M respectively). The inhibition of in situ dihydrofolate reductase activity by MTX was found to correlate with the inhibition of growth, DNA synthesis (CdR incorporation) and in situ thymidylate synthase activity.
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PMID:A comparison of dihydrofolate reductase activity in intact leukemia cells and squamous cell carcinoma. 275 54

Amplification of the H region has been previously observed in methotrexate (MTX)-resistant strains of Leishmania major and in unselected laboratory stocks of L. tarentolae. We now show that selection of L. major with the structurally unrelated drugs primaquine or terbinafine generated resistant lines exhibiting H region amplification and 23- and 12-fold cross-resistance to MTX, respectively. These and other drug-resistant lines bearing H region amplification also exhibited weak cross-resistance to primaquine and terbinafine, associating the amplified H region with pleiotropic resistance to MTX and other drugs. In contrast, lines selected for chloroquine or pentamidine resistance did not show H region amplification or this pattern of drug cross-resistance. The primaquine- and terbinafine-selected lines exhibited wild-type levels of dihydrofolate reductase-thymidylate synthase and normal uptake and accumulation of MTX, and the MTX resistance of these lines was not reversed by verapamil. These data suggest that the mechanism of MTX cross-resistance associated with H region amplification is novel and distinct from that mediated by overexpression of MDR genes in multidrug-resistant mammalian cells. Structural studies indicated that the amplified H region DNA in these L. major lines was largely (possibly exclusively) extra-chromosomal and consisted of circular inverted repeats joined at two DNA rearrangement junctions. Southern blot analyses showed that these rearrangement junctions were identical in four independent cell lines, suggesting that these sites are "hotspots" for DNA rearrangement. H region amplification in all of these lines was conservative, defined as retention of the chromosomal H region locus without structural alteration or reduction in copy number. This finding is consistent with an over-replication/recombination model for amplification of the H region.
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PMID:Multiple drug resistance and conservative amplification of the H region in Leishmania major. 276 55

Three independently derived antifolate-resistant Leishmania major cell lines overproduce the bifunctional protein thymidylate synthase-dihydrofolate reductase (TS-DHFR) by amplification of a region of DNA (R-region DNA) that contains the gene for TS-DHFR. On orthogonal-field-alteration gel electrophoresis (OFAGE), the extrachromosomal R-region DNAs are circular molecules, and different forms of R-region DNA within these cell lines are resolved. The R-region DNAs migrate aberrantly on OFAGE with respect to linear DNA and supercoiled plasmid standards. We describe a method for the isolation of these R-region DNA forms from OFAGE. By electron microscopy, we show that the extrachromosomal elements are single supercoiled circular DNA molecules, and are predominantly circular monomers and dimers of the original R-region DNA amplification unit. Using OFAGE, an analysis of cloned isolates shows that individual cells may contain multiple forms of R-region DNA. Furthermore, within a given cell line, certain distinguishable forms appear to have the same size and restriction map, suggesting they may be topoisomers. The multiple forms of R-region DNA are in a dynamic state in the antifolate-resistant populations, and the relative amount of DNA in each form as well as the number of forms within each cell line change through time. As currently understood, the generation of amplified R-region DNA in L. major is summarized.
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PMID:Electron microscopy of amplified DNA forms in antifolate-resistant Leishmania. 282 97

Genomic DNA clones that coded for the bifunctional dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) and thymidylate synthase (TS) (DHFR-TS) activities from a pyrimethamine-sensitive strain of Plasmodium falciparum were isolated and sequenced. The deduced DHFR-TS protein contained 608 amino acids (71,682 Da). The coding region for DHFR-TS contained no intervening sequences and had a high A + T content (75%). The DHFR domain, in the amino-terminal portion of the protein, was joined by a 94-amino acid junction sequence to the TS domain in the carboxyl-terminal portion of the protein. The TS domain was more conserved than the DHFR domain and both P. falciparum domains were more homologous to eukaryotic than to prokaryotic forms of the enzymes. Predicted secondary structures of the DHFR and TS domains were nearly identical to the structures identified in other DHFR and TS enzymes.
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PMID:Molecular cloning and sequence analysis of the Plasmodium falciparum dihydrofolate reductase-thymidylate synthase gene. 282 89

The molecular karyotypes of five species of Leishmania were studied by pulsed field gradient gel electrophoresis (PFGGE) of chromosome-sized DNA bands. Each species exhibits a unique pattern of 22-28 bands in the size range approximately 200-2200 kb whereas strains of one species exhibit similar karyotypes. Analysis of the behaviour of kinetoplast DNA during PFGGE showed that minicircle DNA remains confined to the gel slot but a proportion of the maxicircle DNA fractionates as a low molecular weight band below band 1. The band location of genes for alpha and beta tubulin, the 5' spliced leader sequence (5'SL), heat shock proteins 70 (hsp 70) and 83 (hsp 83) and thymidylate synthase-dihydrofolate reductase (TS-DHFR) were analysed. Housekeeping genes are not clustered in Leishmania but are found on at least 7 bands in L. major. The hsp 83 gene is linked to the tandemly repeated beta tubulin allele on band 21 in L. major. Among different species, the location of the unlinked hsp 83 and hsp 70 genes is conserved whereas the TS-DHFR and 5'SL sequences are found on bands of varying size. The 5'SL gene may be rearranged in L. enriettii and two 5'SL loci were identified in L. donovani and L. tropica. The conservation of loci in strains of L. major suggests that the chromosomal genetic linkage map should be a reliable marker for identifying unknown isolates of Leishmania. Sequences on one band in L. mexicana sp. were shared among several bands and distributed on homologous and non-homologous bands in other species showing that DNA sequences are rearranged during speciation in Leishmania.
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PMID:Molecular karyotype of five species of Leishmania and analysis of gene locations and chromosomal rearrangements. 282 21

Properties of the methotrexate (MTX) transport carrier were examined in a stable single-step 16-fold MTX-resistant L1210 murine leukemia cell line with unchanged dihydrofolate reductase gene copy and thymidylate synthase and dihydrofolate reductase levels and activities. MTX influx was markedly depressed due to a decrease in Vmax without a change in Km. From this cell line a clonal variant with greater resistance to MTX was identified due solely to a further decrease in influx Vmax. Trans-stimulation of MTX influx by 5-formyltetrahydrofolate was induced in parental but not resistant cells. Analysis of specific MTX surface binding demonstrated a small increase in the number of carriers in the first- and second-step resistant lines. Affinity labeling of cells with an N-hydroxysuccinimide ester derivative of [3H]MTX demonstrated carriers with comparable molecular weights in the parent and second-step transport defective lines. In two partial revertants with increased MTX sensitivity isolated from the second-step resistant lines, MTX influx was increased but surface membrane-binding sites were unchanged suggesting that recovery of transport was due to normalization of carrier function rather than an increase in the number of carriers. These studies suggest that impaired MTX transport in these lines is not due to an alteration in the association of the transport carrier with its substrate at the cell surface. Rather, resistance may be due to an alteration in the mobility of the carrier possibly associated with a protein change in the carrier itself or the cell membrane that surrounds it.
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PMID:Evidence for a functional defect in the translocation of the methotrexate transport carrier in a methotrexate-resistant murine L1210 leukemia cell line. 283 83


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