Benzamide potentiation of the cytotoxicity of bifunctional galactitol [correction of galacticol] in resistant P388 leukemia correlates with inhibition of DNA ligase II

A new model for the research into rhythmic contraction activity of cardiomyocytes in vitro

Heart cells continue to contract rhythmically after isolation and in culture in vitro. We describe a model of heart preparation in vitro that permits quantitative research on the frequency of contractions of cardiomyocytes. The chick embryo heart explants placed on a network of elastic glass fibers continued beating for months, recorded and analyzed with the methods of computer-assisted image analysis. The efficacy of this experimental model for the screening of effects of various agents on the frequency of contractions was examined by following the effects of nifedipine, caffeine, ethanol, and benzamide. The reversibility of the effects and the reproducibility of results were demonstrated quantitatively. The significance of a mechanical elastic load provided by glass fibers for the preservation of long-lasting contractile activity of cardiomyocytes is discussed and the common occurrence of oscillatory contraction processes in various eucaryotic cells is noted.

Dominant expression of multidrug resistance in intraspecific murine lymphoma hybrid cells

Cultured P388/VCR mouse lymphoma cells resistant to vincristine (VCR) and to 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BUdR) and deficient in thymidine kinase (TK-) were fused with P388/DAG cells resistant to 1.2:5,6-dianhydrogalactitol (DAG), an anticancer alkylating agent, and to 6-thioguanine (6-TG) and deficient in hypoxanthine phosphoribosyl-transferase (HPRT-). The hybrid cells expressed multidrug resistance (MDR), i.e., resistance to VCR and cross-resistance to Adriamycin (ADM) and actinomycin D (Act. D), in a dominant manner. The presence of glycoprotein p170, the MDR gene product, was detected in the hybrid cells. Resistance to DAG was also expressed dominantly, whereas cross-resistance to dibromodulcitol (DBD), a chemically related anticancer drug, was slight.

Reversal of acquired cisplatin resistance by nicotinamide in vitro and in vivo

At a concentration of 2.5 mM, nicotinamide (NA), an inhibitor of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), significantly potentiated the cytotoxicity of cisplatin (DDP) in a DDP-resistant rat ovarian tumor cell line (O-342/DDP) in vitro, whereas the same treatment had no substantial effect on DDP's cytotoxic activity against the DDP-sensitive parental line (O-342). Furthermore, in a nude mouse model where the O-342/DDP tumor grew intraperitoneally, whereas DDP given alone at 1 mg/kg x 3 exhibited no antitumor activity as compared with control values due to the resistance, NA given at a nontoxic dose (5 mmol/kg x3) significantly increased the mean survival time (MST) of the tumor-bearing NMRI nude mice from 20.7 days in the DDP-treated group to 29.0 days in the combination group. Mechanism studies showed that endogenous PARP activity (incorporation of tritiated nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, [3H]-NAD) was 2.6 times higher in O-342/DDP than in O-342 cells and that the presence of 2.5 mM NA during the incubation with the isotope resulted in 73.3% inhibition of the enzyme activity in O-342/DDP cells but in only about 30% inhibition in the sensitive line. However, treatment with NA during and after DDP exposure failed to produce any significant effect on the formation of DNA single-strand breaks (SSB) but decreased the induction of DNA interstrand cross-links (ISCL) by DDP in the sensitive and resistant cell lines. These results suggest that NA might have some clinical potential in reversing DDP resistance, and further studies are therefore warranted to confirm the resistance-reversing effect of NA in other DDP-resistant cell lines.