Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of benzoic acid mustard derivatives of imidazole-containing and C-terminal carboxamide analogues of distamycin.

The synthesis, DNA binding and biological evaluation of two benzoic acid mustard derivatives of imidazole-containing analogues of distamycin in which the C-terminus is modified to contain a terminal carboxamide are described. The apparent DNA binding constants of compounds 5 and 6 were determined using an ethidium displacement assay, and the results showed that they do not have the AT sequence selectivity of distamycin and they show an acceptance for GC base pairs. Based on their pronounced binding to T4 DNA the data suggest that they bind to the minor groove of DNA. The cytotoxicities of compounds 5 and 6 in human chronic myeloid leukemia cells were determined using a MTT assay, and their IC50 values were 27 and 16 microM, respectively, and higher than the corresponding non-terminal carboxamide-containing analogues 3 and 4. Both compounds were however markedly more active than the non-targeted mustard BAM [N,N-bis (-2-chloroethyl)-4-aminobenzoic acid]. In the NCI panel of cell lines 5 gave a distinctly different pattern of tumor selectivity from 6. While these compounds were shown to alkylate DNA using a CD alkylation assay (35 +/- 10% for 5 and 85 +/- 10% for 6), they produced interstrand crosslinks poorly, even at 100 microM drug concentrations. Based on preliminary data from a polymerase stop assay compounds 3-6 gave different patterns of sequence selection monoalkylation which may contribute to their differing biological activities.

Analysis of heavy metals in Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena by flame atomic absorption spectroscopy.

A detailed investigation of Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena (ABTM) was carried out. The necessity of knowing the metal content of this original and widely used product is of great importance. Measurements were carried out on a large number of samples of different ages to check the dependence of metal content on product aging.

In vitro studies on tin-dithiocarbamates.

Organotin compounds have been studied for their biological properties, whereas very little is known about the effects of tin-inorganic derivatives on biological systems. Owing to our interest in the dithiocarbamate moiety in relation to metal redistribution in the body and to its biological import, we performed in vitro cytotoxicity experiments on dithiocarbamates. Preliminary results obtained with five tin-dithiocarbamates, where DDTC is the diethyldithiocarbamate anion, indicate some very promising compounds.

Developmental changes in brain glycoproteins.

During the postnatal development of rat brain there are large increases in the concentration of brain glycoproteins. Between 1 and 30 days the greatest changes (70-100%) take place in the levels of glycoprotein mannose, galactose and glucosamine, accompanied by smaller increases (35-55%) in sialic acid and fucose. By 30 days of age levels of brain glycoproteins are within 5% of the adult values. Analyses of the molecular size and composition of glycopeptides prepared from brains of 1- and 30-day-old rats lead to the conclusion that during postnatal brain development there is a preferential synthesis of a distinct population of glycoproteins containing oligosaccharides consisting predominantly of glucosamine, mannose and galactose. These oligosaccharides therefore have a large 'core' segment and a relative deficiency of the characteristically terminal sugars, fucose and sialic acid. In very young rat brain there are also large amounts of a metabolically stable form of glycogen or limit dextrin which accompanies the glycopeptides through the usual methods involved in their preparation from brain glycoproteins. The concentration of this glucose polymer decreases by 93% within 30 days after birth, but its presence even in adult brain is a likely explanation for the numerous reports of small amounts of glucose in brain glycopeptides and glycoproteins.

Distribution and metabolism of glycoproteins and glycosaminoglycans in subcellular fractions of brain.

The distribution, carbohydrate composition, and metabolism of glycoproteins have been studied in mitochondria, microsomes, axons, and whole rat brain, as well as in various synaptosomal subfractions, including the soluble protein, mitochondria, and synaptic membranes. Approximately 90% of the brain glycoproteins occur in the particulate fraction, and they are present in particularly high amounts in synaptic and microsomal membranes, where the concentration of glycoprotein carbohydrate is 2-3% of the lipid-free dry weight. Treatment of purified synaptic membranes with 0.2% Triton X-100 extracted 70% of the glycoprotein carbohydrate but only 35% of the lipid-free protein residue, and the resulting synaptic membrane subfractions differed significantly in carbohydrate composition. The glycoproteins which are not extracted by Triton X-100 also have a more rapid turnover, as indicated by the 80-155% higher specific activity of hexosamine and sialic acid 1 day after labeling with [3H]glucosamine in vivo. The specific activity of sialic acid in the synaptosomal soluble glycoproteins 2 hr after labeling was greater than 100 times that of the synaptosomal particulate fraction, whereas the difference in hexosamine specific activity in these two fractions was only twofold, and by 22 hr there was little or no difference in the specific activities of sialic acid and hexosamine in synaptosomal soluble as compared to membrane glycoproteins. These data indicate that sialic acid may be added locally to synaptosomal soluble glycoproteins before there is significant labeling of nerve ending glycoproteins by axoplasmic transport. Fifty to sixty percent of the hyaluronic acid and heparan sulfate of brain is located in the various membranes comprising the microsomal fraction, whereas half of the chondroitin sulfate is soluble and only one-third is in microsomal membranes. When microsomes are subfractionated on a discontinuous density gradient over half of the hyaluronic acid and chondroitin sulfate are found in membranes with a density less than that of 0.5 M sucrose (representing a six- to sevenfold enrichment over their concentrations in the membranes applied to the gradient), whereas half of the heparan sulfate is present in membranes with a density greater than that of 0.8 M.

Glycosaminoglycans of brain during development.

The concentration of hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulfate, and heparan sulfate was measured in rat brain at 2-day intervals from birth to 1 month of age, and in 40-day-old and adult animals. The levels of all three glycosaminoglycans increased after birth to reach a peak at 7 days after which they declined steadily, attaining by 30 days concentrations within 10% of those present in adult brain. The greatest change was seen in hyaluronic acid, which decreased by 50% in 3 days, and declined to adult levels (28% of the peak concentration) by 18 days of age. Only heparan sulfate showed a significant change in metabolic activity during development (a fourfold increase in the relative specific activity of glucosamine), most of which occurred after 1 week of age. In 7-day-old rats almost 90% of the hyaluronic acid in brain is extractable by water alone, as compared to only 15% in adult animals, and this large amount of soluble hyaluronic acid in young rat brain is relatively inactive metabolically. On the basis of our data we propose that the higher amounts of hyaluronic acid found in very young brain may be responsible for the higher water content of brain at these ages, and that the hydrated hyaluronic acid serves as a matrix through which neuronal migration and differentiation may take place during early brain development.