title: Characteristics of bleomycin-resistant phenotypes of human cell sublines and circumvention of bleomycin resistance by liblomycin.
abstract: Three bleomycin (BLM)-resistant sublines were isolated from a human head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cell line (A-253); these sublines (C-10, D-10, and G-11) were 4-, 9-, and 21-fold resistant to BLM A2, respectively. These sublines were selectively resistant to other members of the BLM class, namely BLM B2, peplomycin, talisomycin S10b, and bleomycinic acid; none of the sublines displayed cross-resistance to vincristine, doxorubicin, cis-diamminedichloroplatinum or melphalan; only one subline (G-11) was cross-resistant to X-irradiation. None of the BLM-resistant cell lines demonstrated resistance to the novel BLM analogue liblomycin, which contains a lipophilic terminal amine. The cell cycle distributions of the clonally derived BLM-resistant cell populations were similar to the distribution of the parental cell population. In vitro BLM hydrolase activity in homogenates of D-10 and G-11 BLM-resistant cell lines was two- to threefold higher than that in homogenates of A-253 or C-10 cells. Nonetheless, no deamido BLM A2 was found associated with any cell type or in the culture medium and more than 80% of the radioactivity in all cells appeared as unmetabolized BLM A2 by high pressure liquid chromatography. Thus, the appearance of large quantities of the deamido BLM metabolite was not a prominent feature of acquired resistance to BLM in these human tumor cells. The cellular accumulation of radiolabeled BLM A2 by C-10 and G-11 cells during a 1-h incubation with [3H]BLM A2 was 1/2 that seen with A-253 and D-10 cells. C-10 cells maintained a lower nuclear content of radioactivity than A-253, G-11, or D-10 cells. Initial single strand DNA damage, based upon alkaline elution analysis, also was lower in C-10 cells compared to A-253 cells. D-10 cells, in contrast, exhibited high initial genomic DNA damage but demonstrated a greater repair rate than either A-253 or C-10 cells. Thus, multiple BLM-resistant phenotypes can be obtained from a population of human squamous carcinoma cells, and modification of the terminal amine in the BLM molecule can produce compounds capable of circumventing all of these BLM-resistant phenotypes. Liblomycin, which appears to be a nonclassical BLM, may be a useful therapeutic agent with a spectrum of activity distinct from other members of the BLM class.
authors: Department of Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06510.
authors: J S
authors: JS
authors: Lazo
authors: I D
authors: ID
authors: Braun
authors: D C
authors: DC
authors: Labaree
authors: J C
authors: JC
authors: Schisselbauer
authors: B
authors: B
authors: Meandzija
authors: R A
authors: RA
authors: Newman
authors: K A
authors: KA
authors: Kennedy
mesh_terms: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001761:Bleomycin / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases; D004249:DNA Damage; D004260:DNA Repair; D004351:Drug Resistance; D006026:Glycoside Hydrolases / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D010641:Phenotype; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D001761:Bleomycin; C054113:liblomycin; D006026:Glycoside Hydrolases; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases; C031262:bleomycin hydrolase