The mode of action of cytotoxic and antitumor 1-nitroacridines. II. In vivo enzyme-mediated covalent binding of a 1-nitroacridine derivative, Ledakrin or Nitracrine, with dna and other macromolecules of mammalian or bacterial cells.
Earlier evidence, in Part I of this paper, has shown that cytotoxic and antitumor 1-nitroacridines did not primarily exert their potent inhibitory effects on cultured mammalian cells by physicochemical binding with DNA, although it undoubtedly occurred (Chem.-Biol. Interact., 43 (1983) 131). As a result it was investigated (i) whether 9-14C- or 1'-14C-labeled derivatives of their representative, 1-nitro-9-/3'-dimethylamino-n-propylamino/acridine (Ledakrin or Nitracrine), were capable of covalent binding with nucleic acids and other suitable macromolecules in target cells in vivo and/or (ii) whether activation of the agent in the cell was a necessary prerequisite for such binding. Using the criteria of resistance to exhaustive extractions with trichloroacetic acid and/or organic solvents, [14C]Ledakrin was found to bind covalently, with relatively little discrimination, with: (i) intracellular macromolecules, including DNA, of cultured tumor HeLa cells (370-2500 DNA base pairs/one Ledakrin molecule; (ii) experimental animal tumor Ehrlich ascites (Eat) cells in vivo (650-5880 DNA base pairs/one Ledakrin molecule); (iii) bacterial Bacillus subtilis SB 1058 cells (7000-33 000 Ledakrin links/one cell genome); (iv) NADPH-fortified rat liver homogenates in vitro (25.6 nmol/mg microsomal protein under air). These results far exceed the common levels reported for alkylating agents or chemical carcinogens. Unlike [ethyl-14C]quinacrine, compared in vitro, covalent macromolecules binding with Ledakrin in vitro, and most probably in vivo, can be equated to NADPH-dependent activation(s) by oxidoreductase systems and the presence of DNA alone was not satisfactory in itself to attain Ledakrin binding. Fractionation of the enzymatic digest of 14C-associated DNA, isolated from Eat cells exposed in vivo to [9-14C]Ledakrin, by Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography followed by mass spectrometry analyses of modified nucleosides, indicated that both mono- and dinucleosidical Ledakrin metabolites were the products of an in vivo reaction. This implied that the lethal reaction of the drug could be its cross-linking of the target macromolecules and/or its monofunctional attack on vitally important cellular components.
D000609:Aminoacridines / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000378:metabolism; D001711:Biotransformation; D002286:Carcinoma, Ehrlich Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D002474:Cell-Free System; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000378:metabolism*; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000378:metabolism*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D046911:Macromolecular Substances / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D009564:Nitracrine / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains
D000609:Aminoacridines; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D009564:Nitracrine