Inhibition of STAT3 by Anticancer Drug Bendamustine.

Bendamustine (BENDA), which bears the bis(2-chloroethyl)amino moiety, is an alkylating agent that stops the growth of cancer cells by binding to DNA and interfering with its replication. However, the mechanism of action underlying its excellent clinical efficacy remains unclear. In this work, we report that BENDA inhibits signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3). In an AlphaScreen-based biochemical assay using recombinant human STAT3, binding of STAT3-Src homology 2 (SH2) to the phosphotyrosine (pTyr, pY) peptide was inhibited by BENDA but not by the inactive metabolite dihydroxy bendamustine (HP2). When a single point mutation of C550A or C712A was introduced into recombinant human STAT3, its sensitivity to BENDA was substantially reduced, suggesting that these cysteine residues are important for BENDA to inhibit STAT3. Furthermore, BENDA suppressed the function of cellular STAT3 as a transcriptional activator in a human breast cancer cell line, MDA-MB-468, with constitutively activated STAT3. A competitive pull-down assay using biotinylated BENDA (Bio-BENDA) revealed that BENDA bound tightly to cellular STAT3, presumably through covalent bonds. Therefore, our results suggest that the anticancer effects of BENDA may be associated, at least in part, with its inhibitory effect on the SH2 domain of STAT3.

Infusion Rate Dependent Pharmacokinetics of Bendamustine with Altered Formation of γ-hydroxybendamustine (M3) Metabolite Following 30- and 60-min Infusion of Bendamustine in Rats.

Bendamustine is an alkylating agent administered as 1 h intravenous infusion in the clinic for the treatment of malignant haematological cancers. The aim of the study was to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of bendamustine and its key cytochrome P 450 (CYP) 1A2 mediated γ-hydroxybendamustine (M3) metabolite after 30- and 60-min intravenous infusion of bendamustine in rats. 2 groups were assigned to receive bendamustine either as 30- or 60-min infusion and doses were normalized to 15 mg/kg for the sake of statistical evaluation. Serial pharmacokinetic samples were collected and were analysed for the circulatory levels of bendamustine and its M3 metabolite. Standard pharmacokinetic parameters were generated for bendamustine and its M3 metabolite. Regardless of the intravenous regimens, Cmax coincided with end of infusion for both bendamustine and its M3 metabolite. Immediately after stoppage of infusion, a rapid decline in the plasma levels occurred for both bendamustine and M3 metabolite. The Cmax and AUC0-∞ parameters for bendamustine after 60-min infusion were 1.90 and 1.34-fold higher; while CL was lower by 1.32-fold as compared to the 30-min infusion. In contrast, the Cmax and AUC0-∞ after 30-min infusion for the M3 metabolite was 2.15- and 2.78-fold greater; while CL was 2.32-fold lower when compared to the 60-min infusion. However, T1/2 and Vz values were similar between the 2 intravenous treatments for bendamustine or the M3 metabolite. The data unequivocally confirmed the existence of differential pharmacokinetics of bendamustine and its M3 metabolite as the function of the duration of intravenous infusion.

Human organic cation transporter 1 (hOCT1) as a mediator of bendamustine uptake and cytotoxicity in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) cells.

Bendamustine is used in the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Routes for bendamustine entry into target cells are unknown. This study aimed at identifying transporter proteins implicated in bendamustine uptake. Our results showed that hOCT1 is a bendamustine transporter, as bendamustine could cis-inhibit the uptake of a canonical hOCT1 substrate, with a Ki in the micromolar range, consistent with the EC50 values of the cytotoxicity triggered by this drug in HEK293 cells expressing hOCT1. hOCT1 polymorphic variants determining impaired bendamustine-transporter interaction, consistently reduced bendamustine cytotoxicity in HEK293 cells stably expressing them. Exome genotyping of the SLC22A1 gene, encoding hOCT1, was undertaken in a cohort of 241 CLL patients. Ex vivo cytotoxicity to bendamustine was measured in a subset of cases and shown to correlate with SLC22A1 polymorphic variants. In conclusion, hOCT1 is a suitable bendamustine transporter, thereby contributing to its cytotoxic effect depending upon the hOCT1 genetic variants expressed.