Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:5.99.1.2 (topoisomerase)
 9,166 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Populations of tetraploid cells are found in a variety of human tumours where they may act as precursors of aneuploidy and tumorigenesis. Here we demonstrate the drug induction of tetraploid cells at mitosis by interference with cell cycle checkpoints and the coordination of mitotic events. Tetraploid cells result from mitotic exit in the absence of either chromosome segregation or cytokinesis. One class of agents that induces tetraploidy causes override of cell cycle checkpoints that require metaphase chromosome alignment as a pre-condition for initiating exit from mitosis. As a result cells exposed to such drugs progress partially through mitosis, but exit without chromosome segregation or cytokinesis. Inhibitors of microtubule assembly comprise a second class of agents that induce tetraploidy. Many cell types are incapable of maintaining indefinite mitotic arrest in the presence of microtubule inhibitors and finally exit mitosis without microtubule dependent chromosome segregation. Inhibitors of topoisomerase II represent a third class of drugs that induce tetraploidy at mitosis. By inhibiting DNA decatenation required for sister chromatid separation at the onset of anaphase such drugs block chromosome segregation. When topoisomerase II activity is inhibited, cells nonetheless reform nuclei and exit from mitosis without chromosome segregation. Finally, inhibition of cleavage furrow formation by agents such as cytochalasins represents a fourth mechanism of tetraploidization at mitosis. We find that when Chinese Hamster Ovary cells become tetraploid, regardless of which mechanism induces this state, they are genetically unstable and become aneuploid at the subsequent mitosis. In conclusion, the failure of mitotic checkpoint function can generate gross aneuploidy from which cells with an advantage for tumor growth may be selected.
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PMID:Chemical induction of mitotic checkpoint override in mammalian cells results in aneuploidy following a transient tetraploid state. 901 37

The epipodophyllotoxin etoposide is a potent and widely used anticancer drug that targets DNA topoisomerase II. The synthesis, photochemical, and biological testing of a photoactivatable aromatic azido analogue of etoposide also containing an iodo group is described. This azido analogue should prove useful for identifying the etoposide interaction site on topoisomerase II. Irradiation of the azido analogue and an aldehyde-containing azido precursor with UV light produced changes in their UV--visible spectra that were consistent with photoactivation. The azido analogue strongly inhibited topoisomerase II and inhibited the growth of Chinese Hamster Ovary cells. Azido analogue-induced topoisomerase II--DNA covalent complexes were significantly increased subsequent to UV irradiation of drug-treated human leukemia K562 cells as compared to etoposide-treated cells. These results suggest that the photoactivated form of etoposide is a more effective topoisomerase II poison either by interacting directly with the enzyme or with DNA subsequent to topoisomerase II-mediated strand cleavage.
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PMID:Synthesis and biological activity of a photoaffinity etoposide probe. 1142 78