Folylpolyglutamate synthetase inhibition and cytotoxic effects of methotrexate analogs containing 2,omega-diaminoalkanoic acids.

The properties of a series of methotrexate analogs containing 2,omega-diaminoalkanoic acids have been investigated. The compounds were potent inhibitors of dihydrofolate reductase but, unlike methotrexate, they were also inhibitors of mammalian folylpolyglutamate synthetases. The potency of synthetase and reductase inhibition increased with increasing length of the 2,omega-diaminoalkanoate moiety. The most cytotoxic compound and the most potent inhibitor of both dihydrofolate reductase (I50 = 2.5 to 4 nM) and folylpolyglutamate synthetase (Ki ca. 4 microM) contained 2,5-diaminopentanoic acid (ornithine). These compounds were 70- to 100-fold less cytotoxic than methotrexate to human leukemia cell lines; however, they retained their potency against sublines resistant to methotrexate via defective transport. Their dual loci of enzyme inhibition and their efficacy against methotrexate transport-defective cell lines indicate that these compounds may be an important new class of antifol.

Cytotoxic effects of folate antagonists against methotrexate-resistant human leukemic lymphoblast CCRF-CEM cell lines.

A human T-lymphoblast cell line, CCRF-CEM/R1, resistant to methotrexate by virtue of increased dihydrofolate reductase activity, was grown in stepwise increasing concentrations of methotrexate. This additional selection pressure resulted in a cell line, CCRF-CEM/R2, resistant to methotrexate by virtue of both an elevation of dihydrofolate reductase activity and a marked decrease in methotrexate transport. The R1 and R2 cells were approximately 70- and 350-fold more resistant to methotrexate than were the parent cells. The effects of three folate antagonists were studied on these cell lines and also on CCRF-CEM/R3 cells, characterized by impaired methotrexate transport but normal levels of dihydrofolate reductase. The elevated reductase subline CCRF-CEM/R1 was cross-resistant to triazinate [Baker's antifol, NSC 139105; ethanesulfonic acid compounded with alpha-(2-chloro-4-[4,6-diamino-2,2-dimethyl-S-triazine-1-(2H)-yl] phenoxyl)-N,N-dimethyl-m-toluamide (1:1)] and trimetrexate (NSC 249008, JB-11, TMQ; 2,4-diamino-6-[(3,4,5-trimethoxyanilino)methyl]quinazoline), two nonclassical folate antagonists. In contrast, the transport defective subline, CCRF-CEM/R3 was not cross-resistant to these two compounds. In cells resistant to MTX by virtue of both mechanisms, CCRF-CEM/R2, triazinate, and trimetrexate were partially cross-resistant. All three methotrexate-resistant sublines showed minor cross-resistance to isoaminohydroxyquinazoline (IAHQ, NSC 289517; 5,8-dideazaisopteroylglutamate), a folate antagonist inhibitor of thymidylate synthase. These data demonstrate that methotrexate-resistant tumor cells may be effectively inhibited by antifolates with different route of entry into cells or with different enzyme targets.

Amplification and organization of dihydrofolate reductase genes in a human leukemic cell line, K-562, resistant to methotrexate.

A subline of human leukemia cells (K-562), highly resistant to methotrexate, was developed by stepwise selection in the presence of increasing concentrations of this drug. The ED50 of these resistant cells was 1 mM compared to 10 nM for the parental line. Comparison of certain folate-requiring enzymes from crude extracts of the parent and resistant cells showed a 240-fold elevation of dihydrofolate reductase activity in the resistant cells with no significant increase in the levels of the other enzymes. Purified dihydrofolate reductase from the resistant cells had the same physical and kinetic properties as the enzyme from the sensitive cells. Southern blot analysis showed a marked increase in the number of dihydrofolate reductase genes in the resistant line. The genomic organization of the human dihydrofolate reductase gene was determined by hybridization with specific cDNA sequences from a human cDNA to DNA fragments from K-562 cells generated by restriction endonucleases. The human dihydrofolate reductase gene contained at least four intervening sequences and was approximately 30 kb in size. Northern blot studies demonstrated an increase of dihydrofolate reductase mRNA species; the predominant message was 3.8 kb. Karyotype analysis revealed three elongated marker chromosomes, derived from chromosomes 5, 6, and 19 which contained homogeneous staining regions, which were not present in the parent cell line.