Antileukemic effect of alkyl phospholipids. II. Prolongation of survival times of leukemic mice by alkyl ethyleneglycophospholipids

Alkyl phospholipid perifosine induces myeloid hyperplasia in a murine myeloma model

OBJECTIVES

Alkyl-lysophospholipids are a novel class of antitumor agents. Perifosine is a novel alkyl-lysophospholipid that can induce apoptosis in multiple myeloma (MM) tumor cells, both in vitro and in vivo. We investigated the effects of perifosine on the peripheral blood, bone marrow, and spleen of mice inoculated with subcutaneous plasmacytomas.

METHODS

Immunocompromised mice were inoculated with myeloma cell lines and treated with oral perifosine in either a daily or weekly schedule, or with vehicle only. When plasmacytomas reached 2 cm, mice were sacrificed. Terminal blood was analyzed with a Coulter counter, and counts were confirmed by light microscopy. Marrow and spleen were also analyzed by light microscopy.

RESULTS

In control mice, mean hemoglobin was 12 g/dL, white blood cell (WBC) count 7 x 10(9)/L, and mean platelet count was 292 x 10(9)/L. In contrast, the respective values for mice treated with perifosine weekly were 11 g/dL, 9 x 10(9)/L, and 944 x 10(9)/L; and for mice treated with perifosine daily were 10 g/dL, 11 x 10(9)/L, and 752 x 10(9)/L. The increase in WBCs was due, predominantly, to a neutrophilia. Compared to control mice, perifosine treatment induced marrow hypercellularity and splenic white pulp expansion.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings have clinical relevance because myeloid suppression is a dose-limiting toxicity of many cytotoxic agents, and myeloid hyperplasia is usually only observed in the setting of growth factor stimulation. Coupled with its remarkable in vitro MM cytotoxicity, these results strongly support the use of perifosine in clinical trials for patients with MM.

Analogs of alkyllysophospholipids: chemistry, effects on the molecular level and their consequences for normal and malignant cells

In the search for new approaches to cancer therapy, the first alkyllysophospholipid (ALP) analogs were designed and studied about two decades ago, either as potential immunomodulators or as antimetabolites of phospholipid metabolism. In the meantime, it has been demonstrated that they really act in this way. However, their special importance is based on the fact that, in addition, they interfere with key events of signal transduction, such as hormone (or cytokine)-receptor binding or processing, protein kinase C or phospholipase C function and phosphatidylinositol and calcium metabolism. There are no strict structural requirements for their activity. Differences in the cellular uptake or the state of cellular differentiation seem to be mainly responsible for higher or lower sensitivities of cells towards ALP analogs. Consequences of the molecular effects mentioned on the cellular level are cytostasis, induction of differentiation (while in contrast the effects of known inducers of differentiation such as 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate are inhibited, probably as a consequence of protein kinase C inhibition) and loss of invasive properties. Already in sublytic concentrations, alterations in the membrane structure were observed, and lysis may begin at concentrations not much higher than those causing the other effects described. Few ALP analogs have already entered clinical studies or are in clinical use. ALP analogs are the only antineoplastic agents that do not act directly on the formation and function of the cellular replication machinery. Therefore, their effects are independent of the proliferative state of the target cells. Because of their interference with cellular regulatory events, including those failing in cancer cells, ALP analogs, beyond their clinical importance, are interesting model compounds for the development of new, more selective drugs for cancer therapy.

Structure-function relationships of alkyl-lysophospholipid analogs in selective antitumor activity

This investigation was initiated in order to delineate the structure-function relationship of the anticancer alkyl-lysophospholipids and assess their degree of selective cytotoxicity toward neoplastic cells. A series of glycerol phosphocholine analogs with varying substitutions in the sn-1 and sn-2 position were tested for their inhibitory activity as measured by thymidine incorporation, clonogenic assays and effects on protein kinase C activity against a series of human leukemic cell lines and healthy bone marrow progenitor cells. The IC50 was determined for each of the compounds in each cell line and healthy bone marrow cells following a 4-h incubation. The data indicated that a 16-18 carbon chain at the sn-1 coupled with a short substitution at sn-2 had the broadest antitumor activity and was the least toxic to normal bone marrow cells. The results provide a number of useful leads toward the design and development of potentially more active phospholipid compounds.

Induction of differentiation of human myeloid leukemia HL-60 cells by novel nonphosphorus alkyl ether lipids

We synthesized a new series of nonphosphorus alkyl ether glycerolipids, in which the 2-acetyl group of platelet-activating factor was replaced by a pyrimidin-2-yl group and the 3-phosphocholine portion by an omega-(substituted ammonio)ethoxyethyl side-chain including omega-thiazolio-, imidazolio- and pyridinio groups with or without a carboxyl substituent, respectively (compound I-XI). Their effects on cell proliferation and differentiation of human myeloid leukemia HL-60 cells were examined. Incubation of HL-60 cells with these cationic and zwitterionic alkyl ether lipids inhibited proliferation of HL-60 cells with IC50 values ranging from 10 to 500 ng/mL. The cells were induced by the lipids to differentiate into morphologically and functionally mature granulocytes. Among the compounds we tested, 1-octadecyl-2-pyrimidinyl-3-[3-(5- carboxylatepentyl)imidazolioethoxyethyl]glycerol (compound I) was the most effective in inducing differentiation of HL-60 cells. Compound I showed on a molar basis, an inhibitory effect on the leukemic cells over 50 times greater than did 2-(2-dodecyloxyethoxy)ethyl 2-pyridinio-ethyl phosphate, the antileukemic alkyl ether phospholipid.

Inhibition of proliferation and induction of differentiation of human and mouse myeloid leukemia cells by new ethyleneglycol-type nonphosphorus alkyl ether lipids

A variety of ethyleneglycol-type nonphosphorus alkyl ether lipids, ether derivatives of diethyleneglycol in which the two hydroxyl groups were substituted with long chain alkyl and quaternary ammonioalkyl groups, were synthesized and their effects on proliferation and differentiation of cultured human (HL-60) and mouse (M1) myeloid leukemia cells were studied. Incubation with these compounds inhibited the cellular proliferation, and the cells differentiated into morphologically and functionally mature granulocytes. Of the compounds tested, 1-[2-[2-(octadecyloxy)ethoxy]ethoxy]-butylpyridinium mesylate (EG-6) was the most effective in inducing differentiation of HL-60 cells. Almost maximal induction of differentiation and inhibition of growth of HL-60 cells on day 6 were observed when the cells were treated with EG-6 for 1 day and then cultured without EG-6 for a further 5 days. The inhibitory effect of EG-6 on the leukemic cells was over 100 times more than that of 2-[2-(dodecyloxy)ethoxy]ethyl 2-pyridinioethyl phosphate, a potent antileukemic ether phospholipid.

Ether lipid derivatives: antineoplastic activity in vitro and the structure-activity relationship

The antineoplastic activity of two ether lipid derivatives, the alkyl-lysophospholipid derivative (ALP) ET-18-OCH3 and the ether-linked lipoidal amine CP-46,665 was tested in a human tumor clonogenic assay (HTCA) in vitro. CP-46,665 suppressed the colony formation of various human tumors with a slight dose response relation after 1 hr incubation and with a clear optimum (85% response rate) after continuous exposure in the higher dose range tested (10 micrograms/ml). ET-18-OCH3 did not have substantial activity after 1 hr of incubation. However, when continuous exposure to the compound was used, ET-18-OCH3 seemed to have a modest dose response effect and yielded a response in about 60% of the tumor cell samples tested in the higher dose range (10 micrograms/ml). Thus, both compounds have in vitro antitumor activity in the HTCA within a dose range of 1-10 micrograms/ml, especially during continuous exposure. The tumor specific type activity was found in breast cancer, ovarian cancer, lung cancer and mesothelioma. Both compounds caused decreases in colony formation down to the 0%, 2% and 4% levels. In a comparison of specimens in which both compounds were used, only one of five times showed a discordance in sensitivity or resistance; therefore the compounds appear similar in their in vitro activity. In a second set of experiments we tested the structure-activity relationship among a variety of ALP in the [3H]thymidine incorporation assay after incubation with HL-60 leukemic blasts and other neoplastic cells from human origin.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Inducibility of terminal differentiation in daunomycin- and cytosine arabinoside-resistant mouse myeloid leukemia M1 cells

Studies were made on whether differentiation and proliferation of antitumor drug-resistant leukemia cells could be controlled by specific inducers of terminal differentiation. Leukemia subclones resistant to daunomycin and/or cytosine arabinoside were isolated from differentiation-inducible mouse myeloid leukemia M1-B24 cells by selection with these antitumor drugs. The drug-resistant cells were found to retain their potential for terminal differentiation induced by various inducers, such as a protein inducer in the conditioned medium of mouse L929 cells, dexamethasone, 1 alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3, 2-[2-(dodecyloxy)ethoxy]ethyl 2-pyridinioethyl phosphate, and poly I. Differentiated cells showed morphological changes to mature macrophage-like cells, increase in phagocytic activity, and decrease in proliferative activity. Clonal analysis of M1-B24 cells showed that the cellular responses to the protein inducer of differentiation were not significantly different between drug-resistant clones selected with anti-tumor drugs and control (drug-sensitive) clones randomly isolated without selection. These results suggest that induction of differentiation of leukemic cells with the specific inducers is another approach to control the drug-resistant leukemia.

Established leukemia cell lines: their role in the understanding and control of leukemia proliferation

For investigation of mechanisms of leukemogenesis and control of proliferation of leukemia cells, various preleukemic hematopoietic progenitor cell lines and leukemia cell lines have been established. The role of these established cell lines in understanding leukemogenesis and control of leukemia cell proliferation is described. The results of studies on biological characteristics of numerous human leukemia-lymphoma cell lines suggest that the heterogeneity in various markers of the cell lines reflects different patterns of normal hematopoietic cell differentiation. Then, recent studies on the control of proliferation of leukemia cells by induction of terminal differentiation with the use of established leukemia cell lines both in vitro and in vivo are described. Therapeutic significance of the results obtained with these leukemia cell lines is also discussed.