Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:5.99.1.3 (topoisomerase)
 9,911 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

GR63178A (NSC D611615) is the second pentacyclic pyrolloquinone to be evaluated clinically as an anticancer drug. Its mechanism of action is unknown but may be related either to its quinone group or planar ring system. In this report we have investigated the ability of GR63178A to bind non-covalently to DNA, inhibit topoisomerase II and undergo reduction to reactive free radical species. Using two DNA duplexes, a 12-mer oligonucleotide which is a preferred sequence for minor groove binders and a hexamer which is a preferred sequence for intercalators, no evidence of significant binding with GR63178A was found. Neither GR63178A nor GR54374X (its 9-hydroxy metabolite) inhibited purified human topoisomerase II in a decatenation assay. Free radical chemistry was studied by both pulse radiolysis and ESR spectroscopy as well as by in vitro drug incubations with NADPH-fortified rat liver microsomes and purified cytochrome P450 reductase. The one-electron reduction potential of GR63178A was -207 mV +/- 10 which is much more positive than other quinone-containing anticancer drugs such as doxorubicin, mitomycin C and mitozantrone. GR63178A underwent enzyme-catalysed quinone reduction more readily than doxorubicin but produced significantly fewer reactive oxygen species. No evidence was detected of drug-induced, radical-mediated DNA damage in vitro using pBR322 plasmid DNA. Disproportionation of the GR63178A semi-quinone free radical proceeded with a rate constant of 1 x 10(9) M-1 sec-1 under anaerobic conditions, one order of magnitude faster than doxorubicin. The preferential disproportionation of the semi-quinone may explain our inability to detect a free radical signal by ESR. The hydroquinone of GR63178A was stable and exhibited strong visible absorption with a bathochromic shift of 120 nm over the parent drug. These unusual properties may be due to the hydroquinone undergoing a form of keto-enol tautomerization. Thus, GR63178A free radical formation does not appear to result in significant drug activation. In conclusion, GR63178A is unlikely to mediate its antitumour activity by DNA binding, topoisomerase II inhibition or free radical formation in direct contrast to similar anthracycline- and anthraquinone-based anticancer drugs.
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PMID:Studies on the molecular pharmacology of GR63178A. A novel pentacyclic pyrolloquinone anticancer drug. 132 74

Podophyllotoxin (PD) and its derivative etoposide (VP-16), a clinically useful anticancer drug, exhibit different mechanisms of action. PD binds specifically to tubulin to prevent its polymerization, whereas VP-16 lacks this action. The DNA strand breakage caused by VP-16 is thought to be due to its interaction with topoisomerase II or to free radical formation by oxidation of its 4'-phenolic hydroxyl group to a semiquinone free radical. We have demonstrated that PD, VP-16, 4'-demethylepipodophyllotoxin (DEPD), and syringic acid (SA) exhibit no DNA-cleaving activity but, in the presence of metal ions such as Cu2+ and Fe3+, DEPD and SA form metal complexes, which in turn show high activity for DNA strand scission at pH 7.8 under air. Furthermore, it was found that DNA cleavage was greatly promoted by irradiation with UV light. The PD-Fe3+ system at pH 7.8 showed very low DNA-cleaving activity, but irradiation with UV light in the system induced almost complete DNA breakage. DNA cleavages were significantly inhibited in the presence of hydroxyl radical scavengers, such as sodium benzoate and dimethylurea, in the Cu(2+)-SA and Fe(3+)-PD systems, with or without UV irradiation. These reactions were investigated by optical and ESR spectra, coupled with ESR spin-trapping techniques, by which the formation of hydroxy radicals was clearly detected in all systems. These findings have led us to a new proposal of the metal- and photo-induced mechanism for understanding the antitumor action of PD, VP-16, and their related compounds.
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PMID:Metal- and photo-induced cleavage of DNA by podophyllotoxin, etoposide, and their related compounds. 175 45

Etoposide (VP-16) is an antitumor drug currently in use for the treatment of a number of human cancers. Mechanisms of VP-16 cytotoxicity involve DNA breakage secondary to inhibition of DNA topoisomerase II and/or direct drug-induced DNA strand cleavage. The VP-16 molecule contains a hindered phenolic group which is crucial for its antitumor activity because its oxidation yields reactive metabolites (quinones) capable of irreversible binding to macromolecular targets. VP-16 phenoxyl radical is an essential intermediate in VP-16 oxidative activation and can be either converted to oxidation products or reduced by intracellular reductants to its initial phenolic form. In the present paper we demonstrate that the tyrosinase-induced VP-16 phenoxyl radical could be reduced by ascorbate, glutathione (GSH) and dihydrolipoic acid. These reductants caused a transient disappearance of a characteristic VP-16 phenoxyl radical ESR signal which reappeared after depletion of the reductant. The reductants completely prevented VP-16 oxidation by tyrosinase during the lag-period as measured by high performance liquid chromatography; after the lag-period VP-16 oxidation proceeded with the rate observed in the absence of reductants. In homogenates of human K562 leukemic cells, the tyrosinase-induced VP-16 phenoxyl radical ESR signal could be observed only after a lag-period whose duration was dependent on cell concentration; VP-16 oxidation proceeded in cell homogenates after this lag-period. In homogenates of isolated nuclei, the VP-16 phenoxyl radical and VP-16 oxidation were also detected after a lag-period, which was significantly shorter than that observed for an equivalent amount of cells. In both cell homogenates and in nuclear homogenates, the duration of the lag period could be increased by exogenously added reductants. The duration of the lag-period for the appearance of the VP-16 phenoxyl radical signal in the ESR spectrum can be used as a convenient measure of cellular reductive capacity. Interaction of the VP-16 phenoxyl radical with intracellular reductants may be critical for its metabolic activation and cytotoxic effects.
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PMID:Tyrosinase-induced phenoxyl radicals of etoposide (VP-16): interaction with reductants in model systems, K562 leukemic cell and nuclear homogenates. 816 27