title: A new assay for intracellular measurement of inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase activity: a guide for better selection of patients for enzyme-targeted chemotherapy.
abstract: We developed a new cytochemical assay for identification of cells containing inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH) and measurement of tumor cell sensitivity to the escalating dose/schedule of the IMPDH pattern-targeting drugs. The assay is based on cytochemical principles for development of DH activity markers inside morphologically classified cells, image analysis for measuring the amount of this marker, and computer assistance for data management. The assay was optimized on a human leukemia cell line (K562-NS) and reference values for enzyme activity were established. Assay specificity was determined with different substrates and enzyme inhibitors. Sensitivity depends on the measuring instrument (image analyzing system), and the precision of the biological model used for assessment of reference values was high. IMPDH-positive malignant cells were found in all specimens obtained from acute leukemia and solid tumor patients (13/13 and 29/29) and in four human tumor cell lines (K562, K562-NS, HL60, and HL60-M). Cells of the K562-NS line were exposed to tiazofurin and ribavirin in conventional assays for assessment of drug-induced acute and subacute toxicity/sensitivity. A reduction of IMPDH activity was recorded at drug concentrations below the range at which cell damage appeared.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Oncology, Sremska Kamenica, Yugoslavia.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Markovic
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Markovic
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Markovic
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004360:Drug Therapy, Computer-Assisted; D006801:Humans; D007168:IMP Dehydrogenase / Q000378:metabolism*; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007942:Leukemia, Experimental / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D007951:Leukemia, Myeloid / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D012016:Reference Values; D012254:Ribavirin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D012254:Ribavirin; D007168:IMP Dehydrogenase; C033706:tiazofurin