Identification of the mouse aldehyde dehydrogenases important in aldophosphamide detoxification

Aldophosphamide, the penultimate cytotoxic metabolite of cyclophosphamide, can be detoxified by an oxidation reaction catalyzed by certain aldehyde dehydrogenases. The selective toxicity of cyclophosphamide is due, at least in part, to a greater expression of the relevant aldehyde dehydrogenase activity in normal cells relative to that expressed in certain tumor cells. Not known at the onset of this investigation was which of the several known mouse aldehyde dehydrogenases catalyze this reaction. Twelve enzymes that catalyze the NAD(P)-linked oxidation of aldophosphamide, acetaldehyde, benzaldehyde, and/or octanal were chromatographically resolved from mouse liver. Four of these appear to be novel; four others were determined to be betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase, succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase, glutamic gamma-semialdehyde dehydrogenase, and xanthine oxidase (dehydrogenase). An additional aldehyde dehydrogenase, namely AHD-4, was semipurified from stomach. The stomach enzyme and nine of the hepatic enzymes catalyze the oxidation of aldophosphamide. Km values for these reactions range from 16 microM to 2.5 mM. The relevant aldehyde dehydrogenase of major importance varies with the tissue. In the liver, the major cytosolic aldehyde dehydrogenase, namely AHD-2, accounts for greater than 60% of total hepatic aldehyde dehydrogenase-catalyzed aldophosphamide (160 microM) detoxification. Succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase (AHD-12) and three of the novel hepatic aldehyde dehydrogenases, namely AHD-8, AHD-10, and AHD-13, also contribute significantly to total hepatic aldehyde dehydrogenase-catalyzed aldophosphamide detoxification. In the stomach, AHD-4 and AHD-8 account for approximately 86% of total aldehyde dehydrogenase-catalyzed aldophosphamide (160 microM) detoxification. AHD-2 was not found in this tissue. Of all the aldehyde dehydrogenases examined, AHD-2 and AHD-8 were estimated to be the most efficient catalysts of aldophosphamide oxidation. Thus, these enzymes would seem most likely to be operative when tumor cells acquire aldehyde dehydrogenase-mediated cyclophosphamide resistance.

Effect of aldehyde dehydrogenase inhibitors on the ex vivo sensitivity of human multipotent and committed hematopoietic progenitor cells and malignant blood cells to oxazaphosphorines

The ex vivo sensitivity of human multipotent and committed hematopoietic progenitor cells and several cultured human malignant blood cell lines to analogues of "activated" cyclophosphamide, namely, 4-hydroperoxycyclophosphamide and mafosfamide, and to phosphoramide mustard was quantified with and without concurrent exposure to an inhibitor of aldehyde dehydrogenase activity, namely, disulfiram, cyanamide, diethyldithiocarbamate, or ethylphenyl(2-formylethyl)phosphinate. Inhibitors of aldehyde dehydrogenase activity potentiated the cytotoxic action of 4-hydroperoxycyclophosphamide and mafosfamide toward all of the hematopoietic progenitors; they did not potentiate the cytotoxic action of phosphoramide mustard toward these cells. Potentiation of the cytotoxic action of mafosfamide toward cultured human malignant blood cells was minimal. Spectrophotometric assay revealed little NAD-linked aldehyde dehydrogenase activity present in the cultured human tumor cell lines as compared to that found in normal mouse liver or oxazaphosphorine-resistant L1210 cells. Cellular aldehyde dehydrogenases are known to catalyze the oxidation of 4-hydroxycyclophosphamide/aldophosphamide, the major intermediate in cyclophosphamide bioactivation, to the relatively nontoxic acid, carboxyphosphamide. Thus, our findings indicate that human multipotent hematopoietic progenitor cells contain the relevant aldehyde dehydrogenase activity, the relevant activity is retained upon differentiation to progenitors committed to the megakaryocytoid, granulocytoid/monocytoid, and erythroid lineages, and the relevant activity may be lost or diminished upon transformation of hematopoietic progenitors to malignant cells.

Effect of the aldehyde dehydrogenase inhibitor, cyanamide, on the ex vivo sensitivity of murine multipotent and committed hematopoietic progenitor cells to mafosfamide (ASTA Z 7557)

The ex vivo sensitivity of murine multipotent (CFU-GEMM) and committed (CFU-Mk, CFU-GM, BFU-E and CFU-E) hematopoietic progenitor cells to mafosfamide was quantified with and without concurrent exposure to cyanamide, an inhibitor of aldehyde dehydrogenase activity. In the absence of cyanamide, CFU-GEMM, CFU-Mk and CFU-GM were approximately equisensitive to mafosfamide while the erythroid progenitors were more sensitive to the drug. Cyanamide potentiated the cytotoxicity of mafosfamide toward CFU-GEMM and CFU-Mk, but not toward CFU-GM, BFU-E and CFU-E. Cellular aldehyde dehydrogenases are known to catalyze the oxidation of 4-hydroxycyclophosphamide/aldophosphamide, the major intermediate in cyclophosphamide and mafosfamide activation, to the relatively nontoxic acid, carboxyphosphamide. Thus, our findings indicate that 1) murine CFU-GEMM contain the relevant aldehyde dehydrogenase activity, and 2) the relevant aldehyde dehydrogenase activity is retained upon differentiation to progenitors committed to the megakaryocytoid lineage, but lost upon differentiation to progenitors committed to the granulocytoid/monocytoid and erythroid lineages. The relative insensitivity of CFU-GM to mafosfamide is apparently due to a cellular determinant that influences their sensitivity to all cross-linking agents since CFU-GM were found to be relatively insensitive to non-oxazaphosphorine cross-linking agents as well.

Restoration of sensitivity to oxazaphosphorines by inhibitors of aldehyde dehydrogenase activity in cultured oxazaphosphorine-resistant L1210 and cross-linking agent-resistant P388 cell lines

The sensitivity of cultured L1210 and P388 cells sensitive (L1210/0, P388/0) and resistant (L1210/OAP, P388/CLA) to oxazaphosphorines, to 4-hydroperoxycyclophosphamide, ASTA Z-7557, phosphoramide mustard, and acrolein was determined in the absence and presence of known (disulfiram, diethyldithiocarbamate, cyanamide) or suspected [ethylphenyl(2-formylethyl)phosphinate] inhibitors of aldehyde dehydrogenase activity. The L1210/OAP cell line is resistant specifically to the oxazaphosphorines; P388/CLA cells are partially cross-resistant to other cross-linking agents. All four inhibitors of aldehyde dehydrogenase activity potentiated the cytotoxic action of the oxazaphosphorines, 4-hydroperoxycyclophosphamide and ASTA Z-7557, against L1210/OAP and P388/CLA cells; in the presence of a sufficient amount of inhibitor, sensitivity was essentially fully restored in both cases. The inhibitors did not potentiate the cytotoxic action of the nonoxazaphosphorines, phosphoramide mustard and acrolein, against these cell lines. The cytotoxic action of the oxazaphosphorines and nonoxazaphosphorines against L1210/0 and P388/0 cells was not potentiated by any of the aldehyde dehydrogenase inhibitors. Inhibitors of xanthine oxidase or aldehyde oxidase activities did not potentiate the cytotoxic action of the oxazaphosphorines against L1210/OAP cells. These observations strongly suggest that (a) aldehyde dehydrogenase activity is an important determinant with regard to the sensitivity of a cell population to the oxazaphosphorines; (b) L1210/0 and P388/0 cells lack the relevant aldehyde dehydrogenase activity; (c) the phenotypic basis for the resistance to oxazaphosphorines by L1210/OAP cells is aldehyde dehydrogenase activity; and (d) the major reason that P388/CLA cells are resistant to oxazaphosphorines is aldehyde dehydrogenase activity.

Collateral sensitivity to cross-linking agents exhibited by cultured L1210 cells resistant to oxazaphosphorines

The sensitivity of cultured L1210 and P388 cells, sensitive (L1210/0, P388/0) and resistant (L1210/CPA, P388/CPA) to cyclophosphamide in vivo, to five oxazaphosphorine and eight nonoxazaphosphorine cross-linking agents was determined. Each of the resistant sublines was cross-resistant to all of the oxazaphosphorines tested. The P388/CPA cell line was also cross-resistant to all of the nonoxazaphosphorines but, in most cases, not nearly to the same extent. The L1210/CPA cell line was collaterally sensitive to all but one of the nonoxazaphosphorines, in which case it was equisensitive. Changes in sensitivity could not be accounted for by changes in intracellular pH values, or by changes in intracellular inorganic phosphate or acid-soluble organic phosphate concentrations. Inasmuch as the L1210/CPA cell line was specifically resistant to the oxazaphosphorines, identification of the phenotypic basis for this resistance should serve to identify a potentially important determinant with regard to the basis for the oncotoxic specificity of this group of agents.