Plasma and cellular pharmacokinetics of m-AMSA related to in vitro toxicity towards normal and leukemic clonogenic bone marrow cells (CFU-GM, CFU-L)

Inhibition of cardiac HERG currents by the DNA topoisomerase II inhibitor amsacrine: mode of action

1 The topoisomerase II inhibitor amsacrine is used in the treatment of acute myelogenous leukemia. Although most anticancer drugs are believed not to cause acquired long QT syndrome (LQTS), concerns have been raised by reports of QT interval prolongation, ventricular fibrillation and death associated with amsacrine treatment. Since blockade of cardiac human ether-a-go-go-related gene (HERG) potassium currents is an important cause of acquired LQTS, we investigated the acute effects of amsacrine on cloned HERG channels to determine the electrophysiological basis for its proarrhythmic potential. 2 HERG channels were heterologously expressed in human HEK 293 cells and Xenopus laevis oocytes, and the respective potassium currents were recorded using patch-clamp and two-microelectrode voltage-clamp electrophysiology. 3 Amsacrine blocked HERG currents in HEK 293 cells and Xenopus oocytes in a concentration-dependent manner, with IC50 values of 209.4 nm and 2.0 microm, respectively. 4 HERG channels were primarily blocked in the open and inactivated states, and no additional voltage dependence was observed. Amsacrine caused a negative shift in the voltage dependence of both activation (-7.6 mV) and inactivation (-7.6 mV). HERG current block by amsacrine was not frequency dependent. 5 The S6 domain mutations Y652A and F656A attenuated (Y652A) or abolished (F656A, Y652A/F656A) HERG current blockade, indicating that amsacrine binding requires a common drug receptor within the pore-S6 region. 6 In conclusion, these data demonstrate that the anticancer drug amsacrine is an antagonist of cloned HERG potassium channels, providing a molecular mechanism for the previously reported QTc interval prolongation during clinical administration of amsacrine.

The histone deacetylase inhibitor AN-9 has selective toxicity to acute leukemia and drug-resistant primary leukemia and cancer cell lines

The novel prodrug of butyric acid, pivaloyloxymethyl butyrate (AN-9), a histone deacetylase inhibitor, shows great promise as an effective and relatively nontoxic anticancer agent for solid malignancies. However, little is known about its effects on hematopoietic malignancies. In this study, we show that 21 primary samples of acute leukemia were sensitive to the antiproliferative effects of AN-9, with a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC(50)) of 45.8 +/- 4.1 microM. In colony-forming assays, primary T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) cells were 3-fold more sensitive to AN-9 than the normal hematopoietic progenitors, erythroid burst-forming units and granulocyte/monocyte colony-forming units. AN-9 induced apoptosis in the T-ALL cell line CEM. A common problem with cancer is chemoresistance, which is often typical of relapsed cancers. Remarkably, a T-ALL sample at diagnosis and an acute myeloid leukemia sample at relapse that were resistant to doxorubicin in vitro were sensitive to AN-9, with an IC(50) of 50 microM for both samples. More strikingly, samples from 2 infants with t(4;11) ALL obtained at diagnosis and relapse each were the most sensitive to AN-9, with IC(50) values of 25 microM and 17 microM, respectively. Furthermore, a doxorubicin-resistant clone of HL60, HL60/ADR, obtained by the transfection of the MDR-1 gene, was equally sensitive to AN-9 cytotoxicity as the parental cells. AN-9 induced the expression of p21 in an infant leukemia sample with 11q23 rearrangement, but not in T- or B-precursor ALL. Collectively, our results suggest that AN-9 is a selective agent for hematopoietic malignancies that can circumvent the mechanisms of chemoresistance limiting most conventional chemotherapy.

High-performance liquid chromatographic methods for the determination of topoisomerase II inhibitors

Various methods for separating eleven different types of topoisomerase II (TOPO-2) inhibitors, including epipodophyllotoxins, anthracyclines, anthracenediones, anthrapyrazoles, anthracenebishydrazones, indole derivatives, aminoacridines, benzisoquinolinediones, isoflavones, bisdioxopiperazines and thiobarbituric acids, are summarized. Proper sample preparation and storage is critical to the successful analysis of some TOPO-2 inhibitors due to difficulties associated with adsorption, instability and complex biological components. Solid-phase and liquid-liquid extractions are widely used to separate TOPO-2 inhibitors from biological samples, although simple deproteinization followed by direct analysis of the supernatant is preferable to extraction based on its speed and simplicity. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is the favored method for the bioanalysis of TOPO-2 inhibitors. UV or diode array detection is generally employed for early pharmacokinetic studies, while fluorescence or electrochemical detection is used more frequently for analytes with fluorescent or oxidative-reductive properties. For analyses requiring highly sensitive and/or specific detection, electrospray mass spectrometry (ESI-MS or ESI-MS-MS) provides a suitable alternative. A comprehensive compilation of the HPLC techniques currently used to separate TOPO-2 inhibitors will aid the future development of analytical methods for new TOPO-2 inhibitors.