Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0027651 (tumor)
 685,946 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The recruitment into the cycling state of resting Yoshida AH 130 hepatoma cells was studied with respect to its dependence on respiration in an experimental system wherein the overall energy requirement for this recruitment can be supplied by the glycolytic ATP. The G1-S transition of these cells, unaffected by 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP) at concentrations which uncouple the respiratory phosphorylation, is impaired either by blocking the electron flow to oxygen by antimycin A or by adding an excess of some oxidizable substrates, chiefly pyruvate and oxalacetate. An experimental analysis, focused on pyruvate activity, showed that the inhibition of cell recruitment into S is not related to the depressing effects of this substrate on aerobic glycolysis of tumor cells, nor is it modified by forcing, in the presence of DNP, pyruvate oxidation through the tricarboxylic acid cycle as well as the overall oxygen consumption. Addition of suitable concentrations of preformed purine bases (mainly adenine), completely removes the block of the G1-S transition produced either by the excess of oxidizable substrates or by antimycin A. These findings indicate the existence of a respiration-linked step in purine metabolism, which restricts the above transition and is equally impaired by blocking the respiratory chain or by saturating it with an excess of reducing equivalents derived from unrelated oxidations. The inhibitory effects of pyruvate and antimycin A can be largely removed by the addition of folate and tetrahydrofolate, suggesting that the respiration-linked restriction point of tumor cell cycling involves the folate metabolism and its connections to purine synthesis.
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PMID:The respiration-linked limiting step of tumor cell transition from the non-cycling to the cycling state: its inhibition by oxidizable substrates and its relationships to purine metabolism. 686 98

The finding that 5-fluorodeoxyuridylate (FdUMP), the active metabolite of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) or 5-fluorodeoxyuridine (FUdR), requires the folate cofactor N5,N10-methylene tetrahydrofolate for tight binding to thymidylate synthetase (TS) had important potential consequences for the clinical use of these drugs. The lack of sufficient folates in the tumor cell, especially N5,N10-methylene tetrahydrofolate, would thus result in less than optimal cell kill by FUdR and possibly by 5-FU. Methotrexate (MTX) pretreatment would also decrease the level of this coenzyme by reducing tetrahydrofolate synthesis and thus could antagonize 5-FU and FUdR action. However, MTX and its polyglutamate forms also enhance binding of FdUMP to TS. In addition, we have shown that dihydrofolate polyglutamates also markedly enhance binding of FdUMP to TS. Thus, in mice bearing the sarcoma 180 tumor, pretreatment with MTX results in synergy; the opposite sequence gives less than additive antitumor effects. MTX also enhances 5-FU uptake into cells, as a consequence of increased FUra nucleotide formation that results from increased levels of intracellular phosphoribosylpyrophosphate (PRPP); PRPP is generated due to inhibition of purine synthesis by MTX. The increase in 5-FU nucleotide levels results in elevated levels not only of FdUMP but also of fluorouracil triphosphate (FUTP); this latter compound is incorporated into RNA. In addition, deoxyuridylatetriphosphate (dUTP) is incorporated into DNA when dUMP and dUTP levels increase as a consequence of MTX and/or 5-FU treatment. Biochemical data are thus beginning to accumulate, providing an understanding of the MTX/5-FU synergy that has been well documented in several experimental systems.
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PMID:Sequential methotrexate and 5-fluorouracil: mechanisms of synergy. 686 54

This study was designed to examine the endogenous concentrations of 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate (CH2FH4) in human colorectal adenocarcinoma xenografts, and to determine the ability of other folate derivatives to increase the formation of the ternary covalent complex between CH2FH4, [6-3H]-5-fluorodeoxyuridylate (FdUMP) and thymidylate synthetase (TS, EC 2.1.1.45). Levels of CH2FH4 were determined by measuring the release of [3H]2O from [5-3H]-dUMP using TS from Lactobacillus casei. The reaction was linear from 1.9 X 10(-13) to 2.4 X 10(-11) mol of CH2FH4 assayed. Concentrations of CH2FH4 were low, ranging from 66 to 233 nM in cell water. Tetrahydrofolate (FH4) and dihydrofolate (FH2) increased complex formation, while 5-formyltetrahydrofolate (5-CHOFH4) and 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-CH3FH4) decreased the covalent binding of [6-3H]-FdUMP in vitro. Administration of FH4 or FH2 to tumor-bearing mice reduced subsequent formation of the covalent complex in vitro. Since 5-CH3FH4 is a major derivative of folate in mammalian tissues, its effect on the covalent binding of [6-3H]-FdUMP was examined further; even in the presence of homocysteine and cyanocobalamin (B12), the formation of the covalent complex was not increased. The fate of [5-14CH3]-FH4 was subsequently examined in vivo. In tumors at 1 hr after injection, 72% of the radiolabel remained as [5-14CH3]-FH4, while 17% had been converted to [14C]-methionine or incorporated into protein. By contrast, however, the incorporation of radiolabel into the protein fraction of liver was almost 30-fold greater at this time. At 4 hr, radioactivity in tumors (dpm/g) and in the fraction associated with [5-14CH3]-FH4 was decreased by over 60%, while metabolism was increased by only 13%. No polyglutamate forms of [5-14CH3]-FH4 were detected in tumors at 4 hr after treatment.
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PMID:The effect of derivatives of folic acid on the fluorodeoxyuridylate-thymidylate synthetase covalent complex in human colon xenografts. 688 11

The effect of in vivo treatment with THF (thymus humoral factor) on the response of mouse lymphocytes to mitogens was investigated. Different preparations of THF were tested by daily i.m. injections into normal mice. Spleen, peripheral lymph node and thymus cells were tested for reactivity to several mitogens at various intervals after initiation of treatment. Our results indicate that the administration of THF to normal mice causes an inhibitory trend in the response of spleen cells to T-cell mitogens. It was found that the response of spleen cells to phytohemagglutinin (PHA) and concanavalin A (Con A) was strongly depressed after 7 days of treatment with 50 micrograms of THF. This was followed by a recovery of the response to normal levels after 14 days of treatment. The response of spleen cells to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) a B-cell mitogen, did not change throughout 14 days of treatmnent with THF. Lymph node cells of THF-treated mice behaved qualitatively in a similar manner to spleen cells, while thymus cells from THF-treated mice showed a significantly increased response to Con A. In contrast to normal mice, the injection of THF into mice with an impaired reactivity to PHA, such as thymectomized mice and tumor-bearing mice, caused an augmentation of the mitogenic response of spleen cells. These results suggest that in vivo administration of THF causes regulatory changes in the lymphocyte reactivity to T-cell mitogens.
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PMID:Regulatory action of THF on T-cell reactivity to mitogens. 696 74

The rescue of lymphocytes from methotrexate (MTX) growth inhibition by 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-methyl-THF) and 5-formyltetrahydrofolate (5-formyl-THF) has been studied. Rescue by 5-methyl-THF is selective for cells with high levels of homocysteine:5-methyl-THF methyl-transferase (methyltransferase). At MTX concentrations which inhibited growth greater than or equal to 85% in both leukemic T-lymphocytes (CCRF-CEM) and Epstein-Barr-transformed B-lymphocytes (LAZ-007), 5 micro M 5-formyl-THF rescued more effectively than did 5-methyl-THF, in either the presence or absence of the methyltransferase inhibitor, nitrous oxide. At less inhibitory MTX concentrations, both reduced folates rescued equally, except when methyltransferase was inhibited by nitrous oxide in which case 5-formyl-THF was clearly superior. In the absence of nitrous oxide, both cell lines contained approximately equal amounts of methyltransferase. Some apparent differences in the rescue of these cell lines with 5-methyl-THF were attributable to their different sensitivity to MTX. When metabolism of reduced folates was severely impaired by MTX and nitrous oxide, lymphocytes were rescued with 5-[methyl-14C]methyl-THF, and the uptake of 14C into DNA was measured. In corporation was very low, indicating that cellular oxidation of 5-methyl-THF to 5,10-methylene-tetrahydrofolate is minimal even under forcing conditions. MTX selectively in vivo will be influenced by the level of methyltransferase in tumor and normal tissues.
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PMID:Methotrexate rescue by 5-methyltetrahydrofolate or 5-formyltetrahydrofolate in lymphoblast cell lines. 697 26

Interaction of positively (phosphatidylcholine/stearylamine 5:1) or negatively (phosphatidylcholine/stearic acid 5:1) charged liposomes with Ehrlich ascites tumor cells for 1-5 min increases or decreases, respectively, the bidirectional fluxes of the folic acid analog, methotrexate. These effects on influx and efflux appear to be symmetrical since the liposomes do not change the intracellular level of methotrexate at the steady state. Influx kinetics show that these alterations result from an increase or decrease in the Vmax with no change in the Kinm. These effects appear to be specific for the methotrexate-tetrahydrofolate carrier system since the transport of other compounds which utilize this carrier, aminopterin, 5-methyltetrahydrofolate, and 5-formyltetrahydrofolate, is affected similarly to methotrexate, whereas, the transport of folic acid, a compound similar in structure and charge but not significantly transported by this carrier is unaffected by liposomes. Once cells are exposed to charged liposomes, the effects on methotrexate transport cannot be reversed by washing the cells free of the extracellular liposomes. If, however, cells are exposed to liposomes of one charge, washed and then exposed to liposomes of the opposite charge, methotrexate influx is reversed to control rates. The effects of charged liposomes on methotrexate influx were not abolished by treating the cells with neuraminidase, metabolic inhibitors or lowering the temperature to 4 degrees C. Studies on the uptake of [14C] liposomes show that these effects are not proportional to the total amount of lipid associated with the cell but result from an initial rapid liposome-cell association that is not dependent on temperature or energy metabolism nor related to cell surface charge.
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PMID:Further studies on the charge-related alterations of methotrexate transport in Ehrlich ascites tumor cells by ionic liposomes: correlation with liposome-cell association. 707 51

We previously reported (Matherly et al., J Biol Chem 267: 23253-23260, 1992) that impaired methotrexate transport in a drug-resistant CCRF-CEM variant (CEM/MTX) involved the synthesis of a structurally altered isoform of the "classical" carrier for methotrexate and related derivatives. Although CEM/MTX cells were highly resistant (162- to 300-fold) to assorted antifolate substrates for the classical transporter, including methotrexate, aminopterin, 10-ethyl-10-deazaaminopterin, ICI D1694, and 1843U89, they were only 3.6-fold resistant to (6R)-5,10-dideaza-5,6,7,8-tetrahydrofolate (DDATHF). These divergent antifolate sensitivities were not associated with appreciable differences in the levels of dihydrofolate reductase, thymidylate synthase, and 5'-phosphoribosylglycinamide (GAR) transformylase, or the expression of a high affinity membrane folate binding protein receptor in either line. The initial rate of [14C]DDATHF influx was increased 2.9-fold over that for [3H]methotrexate in parental cells (at 2 microM). Whereas [14C]DDATHF initial uptake was, likewise, increased over [3H]methotrexate in CEM/MTX cells (5.3-fold), influx of both compounds was impaired substantially (95-97%). For the parent, influx of [14C]DDATHF was inhibited by substrates for the classical transporter including unlabeled DDATHF, methotrexate, (6R,S)-5-formyl tetrahydrofolate, 10-ethyl-10-deazaaminopterin, ICI D1694, 1843U89, and folic acid. The synthesis of a modified transporter in CEM/MTX cells was accompanied by significant changes in the binding of all these transport substrates. In spite of its impaired transport, [14C]DDATHF (at 2 microM), unlike methotrexate, continued to accumulate in CEM/MTX cells, eventually reaching 62% of the parental drug levels after 4 hr. At this time, 53% (parent) and 71% (CEM/MTX) of the intracellular radioactivity from [14C]DDATHF was identified as polyglutamates. DDATHF polyglutamates in CEM/MTX cells after 4 hr reached 90% of the levels measured in parental cells. While significant levels of methotrexate polyglutamates were detected in the parental line, methotrexate polyglutamylation was negligible in intact CEM/MTX cells. The specific activity of folylpolyglutamate synthetase was measured in cell-free extracts from parental and CEM/MTX cells using aminopterin, methotrexate, and DDATHF as substrates; in each case, CEM/MTX cells showed 2-fold higher enzyme activity than parental cells. These data show that even for tumor cells with severely impaired antifolate transport, the extensive conversion of DDATHF to polyglutamyl forms required for GAR transformylase inhibition preserves high levels of antitumor activity.
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PMID:Determinants of the disparate antitumor activities of (6R)-5,10-dideaza-5,6,7,8-tetrahydrofolate and methotrexate toward human lymphoblastic leukemia cells, characterized by severely impaired antifolate membrane transport. 750 26

Methotrexate (MTX) acts by inducing cellular depletion of reduced folates, which ultimately leads to an inhibition of DNA synthesis. Like many anticancer drugs, this antimetabolite has little selectivity for tumor cells, and its effectiveness is limited by toxicity to normal tissues, particularly gastrointestinal epithelium and bone marrow. Previous studies have shown that MTX inhibits colony formation of the hematopoietic progenitor cells (CFU-C) in vitro. Whether this effect is due to a cytotoxic or a cytostatic mechanism has not been resolved. The present study was undertaken to eludicate the mechanism by which MTX inhibits CFU-C formation. Bone marrow cells in agarose cultures supplemented with recombinant murine granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (rmGM-CSF) were incubated for 7 days in the presence or absence of MTX. Exposure to 33 nM to 1 microM MTX reduced colony formation by more than 80% when compared to control cultures. When bone marrow suspension cultures supplemented with rmGM-CSF were incubated for 5 days in the presence or absence of MTX, exposure to 10 nM to 1 microM MTX resulted in a 60 to 80% reduction in cell numbers when compared to untreated cultures. Residual CFU-C numbers were determined in the same cultures by replating into agarose. Exposure to 10 nM MTX was found to enhance CFU-C recovery three-fold as compared to controls and cultures exposed to higher MTX concentrations. Addition of 10 microM of the reduced folate leucovorin (LV; 5-formyl-tetrahydrofolate) prevented CFU-C accumulation in the presence of 10 nM MTX. The kinetics of LV rescue of CFU-C, pre-exposed to 100 nM MTX, were investigated in clonogenic assays. The addition of 1 microM LV to semisolid bone marrow cultures preincubated with 100 nM MTX for up to 8 days completely abolished the inhibition of colony formation seen with 100 nM MTX alone. When the dose range of MTX was expanded from 33 nM to 3.3 microM, we found that administration of 10 microM LV on day 5 rescued the hematopoietic progenitors from MTX inhibition in all groups. These observations suggest that MTX is not cytotoxic to hematopoietic progenitors over its entire dose range but that it can induce a reversible block in the proliferation and differentiation of cells in the progenitor compartment.
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PMID:Effect of methotrexate on murine bone marrow cells in vitro: evidence of a reversible antiproliferative action. 772 Aug 15

Leucovorin (LV or 5-CHOFH4) has had long-standing clinical use as a rescue agent from the systemic toxic effects of methotrexate (MTX). Because the mouse has been the animal model most used to investigate MTX therapy, direct tissue assessment of LV and its reduced-folate metabolites was undertaken in the plasma, intestinal epithelium, and intraperitoneal L1210 cells of MTX-pretreated mice using a ternary-complex-based assay method. The results show that total folate accumulation and depletion in tissues is closely related to plasma levels, with somewhat greater persistence occurring in tissues, presumably due to polyglutamylation. Examination of individual folates in plasma showed that the combined 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate (CH2FH4) plus tetrahydrofolate (FH4) pool was the most extensively elevated pool other than that of the parent compound [S]-5-formyltetrahydrofolate ([S]-5-CHOFH4). The dihydrofolate (FH2) also became elevated, whereas the 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-CH3FH4) remained unchanged. Individual folates that were elevated in tissues were generally the same as those elevated in plasma, the exception being a significant accumulation of 10-formyltetrahydrofolate (10-CHOFH4) in both intestinal epithelial and L1210 cells. The elevation of FH2 in L1210 cells was greater and persisted longer than that in intestinal epithelium, whereas the opposite was true for CH2FH4 + FH4. This differential effect in tumor versus epithelial tissue is consistent with the selective rescue of normal tissue by LV.
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PMID:Disposition of leucovorin and its metabolites in the plasma, intestinal epithelium, and intraperitoneal L1210 cells of methotrexate-pretreated mice. 792 54

We have reported that 3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine (AZT) possesses significant cytotoxicity in human tumor models when combined with agents that inhibit de novo thymidylate (dTMP) synthesis, such as 5-fluorouracil (FUra) and methotrexate (MTX). To aid in the further development of these and related cancer chemotherapeutic regimens, this study was undertaken to identify the biochemical processes relevant to the induction of AZT cytotoxicity in the model human colon tumor cell line HCT-8. The IC50 of AZT in this cell line after a 5-day exposure was 55 microM. In cells incubated for 5 days with various concentrations of [3H]AZT alone, both [3H]AZT nucleotide pools and [3H]AZT incorporation into DNA increased as the concentration of AZT in the medium increased. In addition, a 5-day exposure to AZT, at medium concentrations < or = 100 microM, resulted in a reduction in dTMP synthase (EC 2.1.1.45; methylene tetrahydrofolate:deoxyuridine-5'-monophosphate C methyltransferase) and dTHd kinase (EC 2.7.1.27; ATP: thymidine phosphotransferase) activities, compared with cells incubated without drug. The IC50 of AZT was unchanged when the medium concentration of dThd was increased from 0.1 to 50 microM. Increasing the concentration of dThd to 50 microM also did not affect intracellular pools of [3H]AZTDP and [3H]AZTTP or the degree to which [3H]AZT was incorporated into cellular DNA, but did reduce intracellular [3H]AZTMP by approximately 75%. The degree to which 3'-amino-3'-deoxythymidine (AMT) was generated from AZT and incorporated into DNA also was not affected by varying the medium concentration of dThd. However, the amount of [3H]-AMT detected in DNA, < or = 3 pmol/10(6) cells at medium concentrations of [3H]AZT < or = 100 microM, was below that associated with significant cytotoxicity in these cells. These data support the notion that, in this model, AZT cytotoxicity is determined by the relative size of AZTTP pools and its utilization in DNA synthesis. Studies to verify this relationship assessed the effect of alterations in the concentration of dTTP and [3H]AZTTP on [3H]AZT incorporation into newly synthesized DNA in vitro, using DNA polymerases isolated from HCT-8 cells. The results of these studies confirmed that alterations in the concentration of either dTTP or AZTTP to reduce the dTTP/AZTTP ratio resulted in an increase in AZT incorporation into DNA. These findings are discussed in light of their biochemical implications and relevance to ongoing clinical trials.
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PMID:3'-Azido-3'-deoxythymidine cytotoxicity and metabolism in the human colon tumor cell line HCT-8. 798 Jun 49


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