title: DT-diaphorase: possible roles in cancer chemotherapy and carcinogenesis.
abstract: DT-diaphorase [also called NAD(P)H:menadione oxidoreductase; NAD(P)H:(quinone acceptor) oxidoreductase; quinone reductase, azo-dye reductase] (EC.1.6.99.2) has been shown to have a role in activation of quinone-containing cancer chemotherapeutic prodrugs to their active form, as well as inactivation of a variety of xenobiotics involved in carcinogenesis. To illustrate the basis of this dichotomy, a brief review of the historical and recent background of studies on DT-diaphorase is given. Recent data from the laboratory of the authors on the nature of the protein coded for by a recently identified human polymorphism, a C to T transition at nucleotide 609 of DT-diaphorase cDNA, and the frequency of this mutation in anal canal carcinoma patients is presented. Finally, a series of questions about the role of DT-diaphorase in both normal and malignant cells is raised based on the results of others that have been published in the last 2-3 years.
authors.affiliation: Division of Experimental Therapeutics, Ontario Cancer Institute, Toronto, rauth@oci.utoronto.ca
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Rauth
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Goldberg
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Misra
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016660:NAD(P)H Dehydrogenase (Quinone) / Q000502:physiology*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000209:etiology; D051381:Rats; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D016660:NAD(P)H Dehydrogenase (Quinone)