Biological activity of 3-deazauridine nucleoside analogue: a theoretical study.

The incorporation model of Sanyal et al. has been used to understand the biological activity of the cytostatic compound 3-deazauridine. The interaction energies of various types of binding pattern of the enterant molecule with nucleic acid fragments have been computed. The energy values and the sites of association of the analogous base, obtained by optimization of energy values as well as the sites of association of nucleic acid bases during the transcription process have been compared. The specificity of the binding of the interacting molecule has been discussed, along with the inhibitory effect of 3-deazauridine. They are in agreement with the experimentally observed evidence.

3-Deazauridine (NSC 126849): an interesting modulator of biochemical response.

3-Deazauridine (NSC 126849) is a structural analog of uridine that inhibits the biosynthesis of Cytidine-5'-Triphosphate by competitive inhibition of Cytidine Triphosphate synthetase which is considered to be the primary mode of action of this nucleoside analog. Despite a paucity of clinical attention given to this drug as a single agent, it has generated much enthusiasm as a biological response modulator because of its synergistic effect with a number of antitumor agents including Cytosine Arabinoside, 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine, 5-azacytidine, thymidine and D-galactosamine, although only the cytosine arabinoside/3-Deazauridine combination has been explored clinically. In this paper, the current status of the drug and future perspectives will be discussed.

Quantitative determination of nucleosides and their phosphate esters--1. The acidic nucleosides, 3-deazauridine and 6-azauridine.

A relatively rapid, high-resolution chromatographic procedure, using mini-columns of DEAE cellulose equilibrated with 10 mM sodium phosphate, pH 6.0, is described in sufficient detail to permit ready replication. This initial paper demonstrates the quantitative separation, using suction, of the acidic nucleosides, 3-deazauridine and 6-azauridine, from their phosphorylated derivatives. The chemically stable, tritium-labeled nucleosides are eluted from the mini-columns (capacity approximately equal to 1.8 ml) with 10 mM sodium phosphate, pH 6.0; subsequently, the nucleotides are eluted completely with 0.5 M HCl/0.5 M NaCl. Quantitation is based on liquid scintillation counting of aliquots of the eluates.

Transport of uridine and 3-deazauridine in cultured human lymphoblastoid cells.

The transport of uridine and 3-deazauridine was compared in two lines of cultured human lymphoblastoid cells that differ in their sensitivity to 3-deazauridine apparently because of reduced uridine-cytidine kinase activity in the resistant line. The kinetic parameters (+/- S.E.) of uridine transport were similar in the two cell lines: Km, 0.23 +/- 0.02 and 0.25 +/- 0.07 mM; and Vmax, 35 +/- 2 and 57 +/- 10 pmol/microliter of cell water per sec, respectively, for 6410/MP (parental) and 6410/MP/DU (resistant) cells. 3-Deazauridine, while transported with similar kinetic characteristics in both cell lines, was not as good a substrate for the nucleoside transporter as was uridine, and its transport was dependent on pH. Kinetic parameters, determined using calculated concentrations of the undissociated form of 3-deazauridine (pKa, 6.5), were: Km, 0.52 +/- 0.01 and 0.51 +/- 0.03 mM; and Vmax, 28 +/- 0.5 and 24 +/- 0.9 pmol/microliter of cell water per sec, respectively, for 6410/MP and 6410/MP/DU cells. At pH 8, a condition in which 97% of 3-deazauridine molecules are ionized, rates of transport were almost zero. It is concluded that the undissociated form of 3-deazauridine is the substrate for the nucleoside transporter.

Phase I trial and pharmacokinetics of a daily x 5 schedule of 3-deazauridine.

The uridine analog 3-deazauridine has been given to 19 patients in a phase I and pharmacokinetic study. Only mild toxicity was seen at doses less than 1200 mg/m2/day for 5 days. At a dose of 1200 mg/m2/day x 5, leukopenia (mean wbc count nadir of 2650/mm3) was seen in nine of 12 patients and thrombocytopenia (mean platelet count nadir of 47,000/mm3) in five of 12 patients. Nausea and vomiting and oral toxicity were each seen in two patients, and diarrhea and skin toxicity occurred in one patient each. Pharmacokinetic studies indicate a biphasic plasma decay with a beta-half-life of 6.9 hours and urinary excretion, mostly of unchanged drug, as the most important route for drug elimination. A dose of 1200 mg/m2/day x 5 is recommended for phase II studies and great caution is advised in administering the drug in the presence of renal impairment.

Cytidine and deoxycytidylate deaminase inhibition by uridine analogs.

Cytidine deaminase, an enzyme found in the supernatant fluid of hepatocytes, granulocytes and tumor cells, and in plasma, degrades the antitumor agents cytosine arabinoside and 5-azacytidine. Uridine and its analogs, 3-deazauridine, 5-bromodeoxyuridine, 5-fluorodeoxyuridine and 6-azauridine, were found to competitively inhibit cytidine deaminase; the most potent inhibitor was 3-deazauridine (K(i) = 1.9 x 10(-5) M). In addition, deoxycytidylate deaminase, which degrades cytosine arabinoside monophosphate to the inactive uracil arabinoside monophosphate (K(m) = 9 x 10(-4) M), was competitively inhibited by 3-deazauridine monophosphate, as well as by the nucleotides of other uridine analogs. These results suggest that uridine analogs such as 3-deazauridine may have value in protecting cytosine arabinoside, 5-azacytidine and their monophosphate nucleotides from degration by neucleoside and nucleotide deaminases.

Penetration of 3-deazauridine into human brain, intracerebral tumor, and cerebrospinal fluid.

The antitumor agent 3-deazauridine (DAU) was administered rapidly to four patients before surgical removal of intracerebral tumor. Tumor, adjacent brain tissue, and temporalis muscle were assayed for DAU by high-pressure liquid chromatography. DAU penetrated comparably into tumor, brain, and muscle; in one patient, tissue concentrations were higher than concurrent plasma concentrations. The active metabolite 3-deazauridine 5'-triphosphate was quantitated in one tumor sample and greatly exceeded its Ki for cytidine 5'-triphosphate synthetase. DAU was also present in autopsy brain specimens from two patients treated shortly antemortem. Cerebrospinal fluid concentrations were 22.1 and 59.0%, respectively, of concurrent plasma concentrations during continuous infusion of DAU in two patients. Cerebrospinal fluid concentration was 3.1 microgram/ml 2 hr after a 30-min infusion of 1.5 g of drug per sq m and fell to 1.9 microgram/ml at 16 hr. Thus, DAU is capable of penetrating into intracerebral tumor, brain, and cerebrospinal fluid and is worthy of investigation in the treatment of intracerebral and meningeal neoplasms.

High-pressure liquid chromatographic analysis of 3-deazauridine-5'-triphosphate in human cancer cells.

A rapid high-pressure liquid chromatographic assay for the detection and quantitation of 3-deazauridine-5'-triphosphate (deazaUTP), the active metabolite of the anticancer drug 3-deazauridine (deazaUrd), in cell extracts is described. This procedure permits the simultaneous detection and quantitation of CTP, the cellular concentration of which is affected by treatment with deazaUrd. Human lymphoblastoid cells (line CCRF-CEM) treated with 100 nmols of deazaUrd/ml in culture accumulate deazaUTP to greater than 25 nmols/10(7) cells after 4 hours. The concentration of CTP in these cells decreased exponentially with a half-life of 1.1 hours. After these cells had been incubated with 100 nmols of deazaUrd/ml and were resuspended in drug-free medium, the intracellular deazaUTP concentration decreased exponentially with a half-life of 3.4 hours. This assay has been applied to clinical studies of deazaUrd; high cellular deazaUTP concentrations have been detected in brain tumor tissue after deazaUrd infusion.

Pharmacokinetics and disposition of 3-deazauridine in humans.

3-Deazauridine (3-DAU) pharmacology was studied in 20 patients who received the drug by rapid or continuous infusion. In 8 studies, the plasma clearance of 3-DAU after rapid administration was biphasic, with an average terminal t1/2 of 4.4 hr and an extrapolated volume of distribution of 0.57 liter/kg. After 5-day continuous infusion of 3-DAU, the plasma clearance was also biphasic, with an average terminal t1/2 of 21.3 hr and an extrapolated volume of distribution of 18.8 liter/kg. 2,4-Dihydroxypyridine, the aglycone of 3-DAU, was observed in plasma but not in urine of patients receiving the drug by rapid infusion. The urinary excretion of 3-DAU was low, only 7.8% 24 hr after rapid infusion and 7.2% up to 4 days after continuous infusion. Tissue distribution of 3-DAU was determined from autopsy samples of 2 patients. Not only were high levels of 3-DAU detected in the tissues studied, but 3-DAU triphosphate, the active metabolite of 3-DAU, was present in brain, lung, and liver.