Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0019204 (hepatocellular carcinoma)
 71,386 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We previously reported (J. Galivan et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 82: 2598-2602, 1985) the synthesis and characterization of DL-erythro,threo-gamma-fluoromethotrexate (FMTX). The individual diastereomers, DL-erythro-FMTX (eFMTX) and DL-threo-FMTX (tFMTX), and their radiolabeled counterparts have now been prepared and characterized. Transport of eFMTX (Km = 9.3 microM; Vmax = 7.5 pmol/min/10(7) cells) was similar to that of methotrexate (MTX: Km = 6.6-9.9 microM; Vmax = 11.4-14.2 pmol/min/10(7) cells), while tFMTX (Km = 65.1 microM; Vmax = 8.4 pmol/min/10(7) cells) was transported less efficiently. Both isomers were able to saturate intracellular dihydrofolate reductase and accumulate further as unbound intracellular drug. Based on competition experiments and studies with MTX transport-defective cell lines, both isomers utilized the reduced folate/MTX transport system. Efflux half-times for the isomers were similar to those of MTX. Each isomer was equivalent to MTX in its ability to inhibit dihydrofolate reductase activity and bind to intracellular dihydrofolate reductase when the intracellular drug concentration was limiting. Both isomers had drastically diminished capacity to be metabolized to poly(gamma-glutamyl) metabolites by isolated folylpolyglutamate synthetase and in whole cells; tFMTX was metabolized to a slightly lesser extent than eFMTX. Using the CCRF-CEM human leukemia and H35 rat hepatoma cell lines, the growth-inhibitory effects of eFMTX were almost the same as those of MTX during continuous exposure, while tFMTX was slightly less potent. This difference in growth-inhibitory potency of the two isomers correlated with their ability to inhibit de novo thymidylate synthesis in the H35 cell line. These results indicate that both diastereomers of FMTX are similar in their properties to MTX, except that both are incapable of being readily converted to polyglutamate derivatives. As a result of these properties, both isomers could be used under appropriate conditions in comparative studies with MTX to define the roles of MTX polyglutamates.
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PMID:Biochemical and growth inhibitory effects of the erythro and threo isomers of gamma-fluoromethotrexate, a methotrexate analogue defective in polyglutamylation. 247 80

Exposure of growing cultures of hepatoma cells in vitro to the lipid-soluble dihydrofolate reductase inhibitors metoprine (36 nM) or trimetrexate (2 nM) at subtoxic concentrations causes little change in cell growth rate, colony forming ability, cell cycle distribution, and de novo purine and thymidylate biosynthesis. The reductase inhibitors augment the cytotoxic activity of the thymidylate synthase inhibitor, 10-propargyl-5,8-dideazafolate by nearly 10-fold under optimal conditions. Treatment of the hepatoma cells with the reductase inhibitors for 72 h during growth caused approximately a 75% reduction in total cellular folates and 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate (primarily as polyglutamates) the substrate for thymidylate synthase. The reductase inhibitors also cause a doubling in the accumulation of 10-propargyl-5,8-dideazafolate polyglutamates. The combined antifolate treatment (metoprine or trimetrexate plus 10-propargyl-5,8-dideazafolate) expands the dUMP pool by 30-fold, which is more than the sum of either of the antifolates alone. Consequently, it is postulated that the enhanced activity of 10-propargyl-5,8-dideazafolate in combination with low concentrations of dihydrofolate reductase inhibitors is due to an increase in the ratio of inhibitor to substrate for thymidylate synthase of nearly 10-fold and an extensive enhancement of the dUMP pool. These conditions predispose the target enzyme and the cells to more effective metabolic blockade by 10-propargyl-5,8-dideazafolate which is presumably caused by the formation of an inhibited 10-propargyl-5,8-dideazafolate[polyglutamate]-thymidylate synthase-dUMP ternary complex.
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PMID:The role of cellular folates in the enhancement of activity of the thymidylate synthase inhibitor 10-propargyl-5,8-dideazafolate against hepatoma cells in vitro by inhibitors of dihydrofolate reductase. 252 27

A methotrexate (MTX) analog containing fluorine at the gamma-carbon of the glutamate moiety, gamma-fluoromethotrexate (FMTX), has been synthesized and evaluated for its biochemical and pharmacological properties. FMTX inhibition of dihydrofolate reductase from several sources is nearly equivalent to that shown by MTX. Most important, FMTX is an exceedingly poor substrate for folylpoly (gamma-glutamate) synthetase, the enzyme that catalyzes the biosynthesis of the highly-retained, cytotoxic MTX polyglutamates. Uptake experiments in H35 hepatoma cells show that FMTX accumulates to approximately the same extent as MTX at steady state. The rapid efflux of both derivatives is also very similar. The major difference detected in cells between the two compounds is the meager glutamylation of FMTX, due to the electronegative properties of the fluorine adjacent to the potential amide-forming carboxyl group. Exposure of dividing cells to 50 microM MTX for 2 and 6 hr results in the formation of 55 and 130 nmol, respectively, of the polyglutamates (more than two glutamate residues)/g of cell protein. With FMTX these values were reduced by 98% and 93%, respectively. Growth inhibition studies show that MTX is only 12-fold more toxic than FMTX when the cells are exposed to each derivative continuously for 72 hr. When the exposure time is reduced, a greater disparity between the inhibitory effects is observed; with a 2-hr pulse, MTX is 2300-fold more effective than FMTX. These data correlate with the effects of pulses of FMTX and MIX on de novo thymidylate biosynthesis in intact cells. The results indicate that of the parameters examined, the vastly reduced toxicity of FMTX after its removal from the culture medium is best correlated with impaired glutamylation. The data strongly suggest that prolonged toxicity of MTX is a result of metabolic conversion to MTX polyglutamates and that these effects are far more dramatic in short-term than in long-term exposure to the antifolates.
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PMID:gamma-Fluoromethotrexate: synthesis and biological activity of a potent inhibitor of dihydrofolate reductase with greatly diminished ability to form poly-gamma-glutamates. 258 Dec 52

Treatment of H35 hepatoma cells with the lipid soluble dihydrofolate reductase inhibitors metoprine and trimetrexate cause a nearly 10-fold increase in the toxicity of the antipyrimidine folate analogue PDDF and the antipurine folate analogue DDATHF. Evaluation of these interactions by the combination index developed by Chou (17-20) yields results conforming to synergistic interactions. The capacity of PDDF to inhibit thymidylate synthase in intact cells as measured by tritium release from [5-3H]deoxyuridine was increased by approximately the same amount by preincubation with the dihydrofolate reductase inhibitors. The primary effect of the reductase inhibitors in causing greater activity may be a reduction in cellular folates which can cause 5,10-CH2H4PteGlun to decrease and cellular PDDF (polyglutamates) to increase. These conditions would favor inhibition of thymidylate synthase by PDDF by promoting formation of the stable, inhibited PDDF (polyglutamates)-thymidylate synthase-dUMP complex (12).
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PMID:The enhancement of the activity of 10-propargyl-5,8-dideazafolate and 5,10-dideazatetrahydrofolate by inhibitors of dihydrofolate reductase. 262 72

The different distribution of cytochemically demonstrable enzymes: lactate dehydrogenase (LDH, 1.1.1.27), succinate dehydrogenase (SDH, 1.3.99.1), dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR, 1.5.1.3), acid phosphatase (AcP, 3.1.3.2) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP, 3.1.3.1), has been documented in Yoshida ascites hepatoma cells in vivo or stored at 80 degrees C. The dehydrogenase activities (LDH, SDH, DHFR) show a strong reaction in all samples. An increased level of these enzyme activities has been observed in the malignant cells spreading through the organs of tumor bearing rats. On the contrary, in the same samples, acid and alkaline phosphatase activities are very low. The strong dehydrogenase activities observed in Yoshida ascite cells stress the rapid turnover of tumor cells. Our results indicate that the histochemical method may be a useful tool to detect the scattered tumor cells. Furthermore, the cytochemical methods allow the characterization of the metabolic pathways employed by the primary and disseminated tumor cells.
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PMID:[Cytochemical study of cells of primary and disseminated ascite Yoshida tumor cells]. 276 51

The growth inhibitory effects of combinations of antifolates on hepatoma cells in culture have been examined. In these studies methotrexate or the lipophilic inhibitors of dihydrofolate reductase were used with the thymidylate synthase inhibitor N10-propargyl-5,8-dideazafolate (PDDF). Under certain conditions partial growth inhibition by methotrexate and trimetrexate is reduced by noninhibitory to slightly inhibitory concentrations (less than 1 microM) of PDDF. At somewhat higher concentrations (1.6-4 microM) of PDDF, synergy is observed with methotrexate, trimetrexate, or metoprine. Trimetrexate exerted greater synergistic effects than methotrexate. A noninhibitory concentration of trimetrexate (2 nM) in combination with a partially inhibitory concentration of PDDF reduced growth by 93%. Metoprine was capable of replacing trimetrexate and exhibits slightly greater inhibitory activity in combination than trimetrexate. Both metoprine and trimetrexate in combination with PDDF caused synergistic inhibition of the de novo synthesis of thymidylate in intact cells as measured by tritium release from [5-3H]deoxyuridine. Clonal assays were used to demonstrate synergy between trimetrexate or metoprine and PDDF, attesting to the cytotoxic properties of this combination. Thymidine alone can protect against both the synergistic combination of trimetrexate or metoprine and PDDF and PDDF alone, but has only a weak protective effect on toxic concentrations of trimetrexate and metoprine. These observations suggest that growth inhibition is mediated by the activity of N10-propargyl-5,8-dideazafolate on thymidylate synthase. These results are discussed with regard to the mechanism of inhibition of thymidylate synthase by the 5,8-dideazafolates and the possibility of enhancing the inhibitory activity of this class of compounds by using them with inhibitors of dihydrofolate reductase.
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PMID:Synergistic growth inhibition of rat hepatoma cells exposed in vitro to N10-propargyl-5,8-dideazafolate with methotrexate or the lipophilic antifolates trimetrexate or metoprine. 295 30

The presence of low concentrations of the lipophilic dihydrofolate reductase inhibitors metoprine or trimetrexate, which cause little inhibition in the growth of cultured hepatoma cells in combination with weakly inhibiting concentrations of 5,10-dideazatetrahydrofolate, exhibit greater activity than would be predicted by the activity of the individual components. Growth inhibition by this inhibitor of glycineaminoribonucleotide transferase alone or in the presence of the reductase inhibitors is prevented by hypoxanthine indicating that the combination of drugs is enhancing the activity of 5,10-dideazatetrahydrofolate against purine biosynthesis. H35 hepatoma cells resistant to methotrexate (100-fold) as a result of a transport defect are 40-fold resistant to 5,10-dideazatetrahydrofolate suggesting that this analogue enters hepatoma cells at least in part by the reduced folate coenzyme-methotrexate transport system. The transport-resistant cells are also susceptible to enhanced inhibition of cell growth by low levels of reductase inhibitors in combination with 5,10-dideazatetrahydrofolate. These results have a corollary in an earlier study showing that the same concentrations of metoprine and trimetrexate could enhance the growth inhibition and cytotoxicity of the folate-based inhibitor of thymidylate synthase, 10-propargyl-5,8-dideazafolic acid (Galivan et al., Cancer Res., 47: 5256-5260, 1987). Combinations of 5,10-dideazatetrahydrofolic acid and 10-propargyl-5,8-dideazafolic acid are less growth inhibitory than that predicted by each of the folate analogues alone. It is possible that the effects of all these combinations are related to distortions in the folate pools caused by the folate analogues being used in combination. Two methods of analysis, one graphical and one mathematical, were used to analyze the drug interactions described in this presentation. The enhancement effect seen with the lipophilic dihydrofolate reductase inhibitors and 5,10-dideazatetrahydrofolate clearly represents a supraadditive or a synergistic drug interaction. In contrast the combination of the folate-based inhibitors of purine (5,10-dideazatetrahydrofolic acid) and thymidylate biosynthesis (N10-propargyl-5,8-dideazafolate) exhibit frank antagonism under certain conditions.
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PMID:Antifolate drug interactions: enhancement of growth inhibition due to the antipurine 5,10-dideazatetrahydrofolic acid by the lipophilic dihydrofolate reductase inhibitors metoprine and trimetrexate. 296 13

Human prothrombin cDNA has been expressed in mammalian cells to yield biologically active, fully gamma-carboxylated prothrombin. A 2.0-kilobase cDNA encoding full-length prothrombin was isolated from a human fetal liver library using a cDNA fragment recovered from a lambda gt11 human hepatoma expression library. Prothrombin cDNA was cloned into a mammalian expression vector and transfected into Chinese hamster ovary cells. Selection for expression of dihydrofolate reductase yielded cell lines secreting up to 0.55 microgram/ml of prothrombin. Recombinant prothrombin synthesized in the presence of vitamin K was quantitatively recovered from tissue culture medium by affinity chromatography using conformation-specific antibodies directed against the metal-stabilized, gamma-carboxylated conformer. The purified material migrated as a single band on denaturing polyacrylamide gels with an electrophoretic mobility equivalent to that of plasma-derived human prothrombin. Automated Edman degradation of recombinant prothrombin revealed a single amino-terminal sequence identical to that of plasma-derived prothrombin. Recombinant and plasma-derived prothrombin interacted similarly with antibodies specific for total prothrombin, abnormal des-gamma-carboxyprothrombin, and two metal-stabilized conformers of prothrombin. Recombinant prothrombin exhibited a specific coagulant activity equivalent to that of plasma-derived prothrombin. The gamma-carboxyglutamic acid analysis of recombinant prothrombin demonstrated 9.9 +/- 0.4 mol of gamma-carboxyglutamic acid/mol of prothrombin. These results represent the first description of the expression of a recombinant vitamin K-dependent protein in which all of the expressed protein is gamma-carboxylated.
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PMID:Expression of completely gamma-carboxylated recombinant human prothrombin. 303 75

Human x mouse microcell hybrids resistant to G418 were constructed between mouse hepatoma cells and human x mouse whole cell hybrids containing only intact human chromosome 5 and 22 with an integrated neor-gene. Among these, microcell hybrid BG15 produced four subclones, BG15-4, BG15-6, BG15-7 and BG15-9, which contained variously sized complements of human chromosome 5. BG15-6 contained an intact human chromosome 5, BG15-7 a deleted human chromosome 5 (5pter-q22) and BG15-4 and BG15-9 a translocation between parts of human chromosome 5 (pter-qter? and pter-q23, respectively) and a mouse chromosome. Southern DNA blot analysis showed that the human dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) gene was present in all four subclones, whereas the human homolog of the v-fms gene was present in BG15-4 and 15-6, but absent from BG15-7 and 15-9. BG15-4, 15-6 and 15-9 were sensitive to diphtheria toxin, and only BG15-7 was resistant to the toxin. We used these microcell hybrids to restrict further the regional location of the gene for diphtheria toxin sensitivity to the q23 region of human chromosome 5.
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PMID:Regional assignment of the gene for diphtheria toxin sensitivity using subchromosomal fragments in microcell hybrids. 343 21

H35 hepatoma cells can be rescued from exposure to an inhibitory pulse of methotrexate (MTX) by subsequent addition of folinic acid, dihydrofolate or thymidine. Both folinic acid and dihydrofolate cause the dissociation of methotrexate--dihydrofolate reductase complex although dihydrofolate rescues less effectively than folinic acid. Thymidine does not cause a measurable dissociation of the enzyme--inhibitor complex. The results suggest that the rescue of MTX treated cells by reduced folate coenzymes can be mediated at least in part by the generation of dihydrofolate which by itself can partially reverse MTX inhibition of cell growth.
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PMID:Dihydrofolate-mediated reversal of methotrexate toxicity to hepatoma cells in vitro. 348 73


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