Discovery of S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine hydrolase inhibitors based on non-adenosine analogs.

High throughput screening using Automated Ligand Identification System (ALIS) resulted in the discovery of a new series of S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine hydrolase inhibitors based on non-adenosine analogs. The optimization campaign led to very potent and competitive compound 39 with a Ki value of 1.5 nM. Compound 39 could be a promising lead compound for research to reduce elevated homocysteine levels.

Iron release in erythrocytes from patients with beta-thalassemia.

Our previous studies have shown that iron is released in a free (desferrioxamine-chelatable) form when erythrocytes undergo oxidative stress (incubation with oxidizing agents or aerobic incubation in buffer for 24-60 h (a model of rapid in vitro ageing)). The release is accompanied by oxidative alterations of membrane proteins as well as by the appearance of senescent antigen, a signal for termination of old erythrocytes. In hemolytic anemias by hereditary hemoglobin alterations an accelerated removal of erythrocytes occurs. An increased susceptibility to oxidative damage has been reported in beta-thalassemic erythrocytes. Therefore we have investigated whether an increased iron level and an increased susceptibility to iron release could be observed in the erythrocytes from patients with beta-thalassemia. Erythrocytes from subjects with thalassemia intermedia showed an extremely higher content (0 time value) of free iron and methemoglobin as compared to controls. An increase, although non-statistically-significant, was seen in erythrocytes from subjects with thalassemia major. Upon aerobic incubation for 24 h the release of iron in beta-thalassemic erythrocytes was by far greater than in controls, with the exception of thalassemia minor. When the individual values for free iron content (0 time) seen in thalassemia major and intermedia were plotted against the corresponding values for HbF, a positive correlation (P < 0.001) was observed. Also, a positive correlation (P < 0.01) was seen between the values for free iron release (24 h incubation) and the values for HbF. These results suggest that the presence of HbF is a condition favourable to iron release. Since in beta-thalassemia the persistance of HbF is related to the lack or deficiency of beta chains and therefore to the excess of alpha chains, the observed correlation between free iron and HbF, is consistent with the hypothesis by others that excess of alpha chains represents a prooxidant factor.

Exon-specific DNA hypomethylation of the p53 gene of rat colon induced by dimethylhydrazine. Modulation by dietary folate.

Folate deficiency enhances colorectal carcinogenesis in dimethylhydrazine-treated rats. Folate is an important mediator of DNA methylation, an epigenetic modification of DNA that is known to be dysregulated in the early stages of colorectal cancer. This study investigated the effect of dimethylhydrazine on DNA methylation of the colonic p53 gene and the modulation of this effect by dietary folate. Sprague-Dawley rats were fed diets containing 0, 2, 8, or 40 mg of folate/kg of diet. Five weeks after diet initiation, dimethylhydrazine was injected weekly for fifteen weeks. Folate-depleted and folate-replete control animals did not receive dimethylhydrazine and were fed the 0- and 8-mg folate diets, respectively. The extent of p53 methylation was determined by a quantitative HpaII-polymerase chain reaction. In exons 6 and 7, significant p53 hypomethylation was observed in all dimethylhydrazine-treated rats relative to controls (P < 0.01), independent of dietary folate. In exon 8, significant p53 hypomethylation was observed only in the dimethylhydrazine-treated folate-depleted rats compared with controls (P = 0.038) and was effectively overcome by increasing levels of dietary folate (P = 0.008). In this model, dimethylhydrazine induces exon-specific p53 hypomethylation. In some exons, this occurs independent of dietary folate, and in others, increasing levels of dietary folate effectively override the induction of hypomethylation in a dose-responsive manner. This may be a mechanism by which increasing levels of dietary folate inhibit colorectal carcinogenesis.

Slow-binding inhibition of gamma-aminobutyric acid aminotransferase by hydrazine analogues.

(3-Hydroxybenzyl)hydrazine and methylhydrazine have been found to be potent slow-binding inhibitors of the pyridoxal 5-phosphate (PLP)-dependent enzyme gamma-aminobutyric acid aminotransferase (GABA-AT). Both compounds follow mechanism A (Morrison, J.F.; Walsh, C. T. Adv. Enzymol. 1988, 61, 201-301) which does not involve formation of a rapidly reversible enzyme-inhibitor complex before the formation of the final tight complex. The rate constant for formation of the enzyme-inhibitor complex determined from the slow-binding kinetics was 2.08 x 10(3) and 1.98 x 10(4) M-1 min-1 for methylhydrazine and (3-hydroxybenzyl)hydrazine, respectively. The rate constant for dissociation of the enzyme--inhibitor complex determined for the slow-binding kinetics was 4.6 x 10(-3) and 5 x 10(-3) min-1, respectively. The inhibition constants calculated from the slow-binding inhibition kinetics are 2.2 microM for methylhydrazine and 0.3 microM for (3-hydroxybenzyl)hydrazine. Reactivation of the inhibited enzyme was not first order, perhaps due to a side reaction of the hydrazine, but was consistent with the results obtained from the slow-binding kinetics. Inhibition constants were calculated from the level of enzyme activity at equilibrium inhibition. These constants are 2.8 and 0.46 microM for methylhydrazine and (3-hydroxybenzyl)hydrazine, respectively, in good agreement with those calculated from the slow-binding inhibition kinetics. 3-Hydrazinopropionate also behaved as a slow-binding inhibitor. However, the dependence of its kinetics on the concentration of inhibitor could not be described by the slow-binding or slow, tight-binding inhibition models. These kinetics could not be described by the tight-binding character of the inhibition because the addition of the competitive inhibitor propionic acid at 100 times its Ki did not affect the shape of the curve for inhibitor concentration dependence. The slow-binding inhibition appeared to require 2-4 molecules of 3-hydrazinopropionate/enzyme. The reactivation of enzyme inhibited by 3-hydrazinopropionate was first order with a rate constant of 6.9 x 10(-3) min-1. Its equilibrium inhibition constant was calculated to be < 20 nM. However, the inhibition constant calculated was dependent on the concentration of inhibitor because of the unusual character discussed above and may be much lower. Only 1 PLP/enzyme dimer reacted with methylhydrazine or (3-hydroxybenzyl)hydrazine, as indicated by Scatchard plots, or with 3-hydrazinopropionate, as shown by a spectrophotometric titration. Slow-binding inhibition does not appear to be the result of a significant enzyme conformational change because there is no change in the tryptophan fluorescence of GABA-AT upon binding either methylhydrazine or 3-hydrazinopropionate. Implications for the design of hydrazine inhibitors of GABA-AT are discussed.

Further studies on the ex-vivo effects of procarbazine and monomethylhydrazine on rat semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase and monoamine oxidase activities.

Following administration of the anticancer agent, procarbazine, or one of its metabolites, monomethylhydrazine, to rats, activities of monoamine oxidases A and B (MAO A and MAO B) and of semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase (SSAO) were measured ex-vivo. Both compounds were found to be potent inhibitors of SSAO in tissue homogenates, exhibiting ID50 values in most tissues of approximately 8 mg kg-1 (procarbazine) and 0.08 mg kg-1 (monomethylhydrazine). Concurrent dose-dependent inhibition of MAO activities did not occur. However, in liver, potentiation of MAO B activity, to 140% of that in controls, was apparent following monomethyl-hydrazine and this effect was independent of the drug dose. Both compounds produced a dose-dependent potentiation of MAO A in brown adipose tissue, the elevation being more pronounced following monomethylhydrazine, with activity rising to 350% of that in control homogenates. In a parallel in-vitro study, monomethylhydrazine was without effect on MAO A in brown adipose tissue homogenates. By perfusing the SSAO substrate, benzylamine, through the isolated mesenteric arterial bed of the rat, it was found that pretreatment of animals with procarbazine or monomethylhydrazine reduced metabolism of this amine by a similar degree as had been determined ex-vivo in blood vessel homogenates. The results presented suggest that these compounds would be suitable for use as selective inhibitors in pharmacological examinations of SSAO function in isolated tissues and organs.

Suicide inactivation of hydroxylamine oxidoreductase of Nitrosomonas europaea by organohydrazines.

In the presence of a suitable electron acceptor such as mammalian cytochrome c, hydroxylamine oxidoreductase (HAO) from the chemolithotrophic bacterium Nitrosomonas europaea catalyzes the oxidation of hydroxylamine or hydrazine to nitrite or dinitrogen, respectively. Each subunit of HAO contains 7 c-hemes and a chromophore of the active site called heme P460, a c-heme bridged from a methylene carbon to a ring carbon of a tyrosine of the peptide chain. Reaction with either substrate results in reduction of several c-hemes of HAO. The reaction of organohydrazines with HAO was investigated in this work. HAO was inactivated by (phenyl-, (methyl-, or (hydroxyethyl)hydrazine. The process followed first order kinetics and was inhibited by the substrates, hydroxylamine or hydrazine. Complete loss of enzyme activity and absorbancy characteristic of native heme P460 of HAO occurred at a 1:1 ratio of phenylhydrazine and HAO. HAO was covalently derivatized by two molecules of [14C]-phenylhydrazine per subunit. Heme P460 was derivatized with high affinity, and an amino acid residue was derivatized with lower affinity. c-Hemes were not derivatized except for the partial reaction of (hydroxyethyl)hydrazine with one heme. As with hydroxylamine and hydrazine, incubation with organohydrazines resulted in reduction of c-heme of HAO. Derivatized minus native optical difference spectra of ferric or ferrous HAO revealed changes in the optical properties of heme P460 which were generally similar to shifts seen in the reaction of the heme of other hemoproteins with organohydrazines.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Oxidative damage and erythrocyte membrane transport abnormalities in thalassemias.

Oxidative damage induced by free globin chains has been implicated in the pathogenesis of the membrane abnormalities observed in alpha and beta thalassemia. We have evaluated transport of Na+ and K+ in erythrocytes of patients with thalassemias as well as in two experimental models that use normal human red blood cells, one for alpha thalassemia (methylhydrazine treatment, alpha thalassemia like) and one for beta thalassemia (phenylhydrazine treatment, beta thalassemia like). With the exception of the Na-K pump, similar alterations in membrane transport were observed in thalassemia and thalassemia-like erythrocytes. These were: increased K-Cl cotransport, Na-Li countertransport and reduced Na-K-Cl cotransport. The Na-K pump was reduced in thalassemia-like cells, whereas it was increased in severe alpha thalassemia and in beta thalassemia cells. The increased K-Cl cotransport activity could be observed in light and dense fractions of beta-thalassemic cells. K-Cl cotransport in thalassemic and thalassemia-like erythrocytes was partially inhibited by [(dihydro-indenyl) oxy] alkanoic acid and completely abolished by dithiothreitol. Thus, oxidative damage represents an important factor in the increased activity of the K-Cl cotransport observed in thalassemias, and of the K+ loss observed in beta-thalassemia erythrocytes.

The ex vivo effects of procarbazine and methylhydrazine on some rat amine oxidase activities.

Monoamine oxidase (MAO) and semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase (SSAO) activities were examined in homogenates of various rat tissues following i.p. administration of procarbazine or methylhydrazine. Both compounds inhibited SSAO in a dose-dependent manner in all tissues examined, with methylhydrazine the more potent agent in this respect. Little inhibition of MAO could be detected in most cases. However, hepatic MAO-B activity was potentiated significantly in rats receiving methylhydrazine and both drugs caused a dose-dependent potentiation of MAO-A in homogenates of brown adipose tissue. The potential use of these compounds in vivo as selective SSAO inhibitors is discussed.

Effects in-vitro of procarbazine metabolites on some amine oxidase activities in the rat.

The effects were examined of four metabolites of the anticancer agent, procarbazine (N-isopropyl-alpha-(2-methyl hydrazino)-p-toluamide hydrochloride) on semicarbazide-sensitive amine oxidase (SSAO) and monoamine oxidase-A and -B (MAO-A and -B) activities in rat brown adipose tissue and liver homogenates, respectively. Azoprocarbazine (AZO) and monomethylhydrazine (MMH) inhibited selectively the deamination of benzylamine by SSAO, when compared with their effects on MAO activities. The IC50 values against SSAO, of 32.7 nM (AZO) and 7.0 nM (MMH), were more than three orders of magnitude lower than those exhibited against MAO. Neither isomer of azoxyprocarbazine was an effective inhibitor of rat amine oxidase activities. The inhibition of SSAO by AZO was reversed very slowly by dialysis, in contrast to results seen for MMH. The non-competitive kinetics of MMH and the ability of B24, a rapidly reversible SSAO inhibitor, to protect SSAO against inhibition by MMH are consistent with the view that this compound binds to the enzyme cofactor at, or near, the active site.

Globin-chain specificity of oxidation-induced changes in red blood cell membrane properties.

We have previously shown that excess unpaired alpha- and beta-globin chains in severe alpha- and beta-thalassemia interacting with the membrane skeleton induce different changes in membrane properties of red blood cells (RBCs) in these two phenotypes. We suggest that these differences in membrane material behavior may reflect the specificity of the membrane damage induced by alpha- and beta-globin chains. To further explore this hypothesis, we sought in vitro models that induce similar membrane alterations in normal RBCs. We found that treatment of normal RBCs with phenylhydrazine produced rigid and mechanically unstable membranes in conjunction with selective association of oxidized alpha-globin chains with the membrane skeleton, features characteristic of RBCs in severe beta-thalassemia. Methylhydrazine, in contrast, induced selective association of oxidized beta-globin chains with the membrane skeleton and produced rigid but hyperstable membranes, features that mimicked those of RBCs in severe alpha-thalassemia. These findings suggest that consequences of oxidation induced by globin chains are quite specific in that those agents that cause alpha-globin chain accumulation at the membrane produce rigid but mechanically unstable membranes, whereas membrane accumulation of beta-globin chains results in rigid but mechanically stable membranes. These in vitro experiments lend further support to the hypothesis that membrane-associated alpha- and beta-chains induce oxidative damage to highly specific different skeletal components and that the specificity of this skeletal damage accounts for the differences in material membrane properties of these oxidatively attacked RBCs and perhaps of alpha- and beta-thalassemic RBCs as well.

Histology of rat placentas treated with methylhydrazine Ro 4-6467.

The placenta is a vascular organ within the uterus, connected to the fetus by the umbilical cord; it is the structure through which the fetus is nourished. In the rat placenta, three regions can be identified: the decidua basalis, the basal zone, and the labyrinth. In the present work, doses of 4.2 mg/kg of Natulán (Roche), as used for human therapy, were administered orally to pregnant rats. The number of glycogenic cells from the basal zone of the placenta was increased, which allows us to suggest that Natulán causes an inhibition of glycolysis, by blocking the metabolism of the placenta, as proposed by Warburg.

Inactivation of cytochrome cd1 by hydrazines.

The dissimilatory nitrite reductase, cytochrome cd1, from Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 19429) was irreversibly inactivated by methyl- or phenylhydrazine but was only reduced by hydrazine itself. The reaction required oxygen and several turnovers, approximately four, of the cytochrome acting to transfer reducing equivalents from phenylhydrazine to oxygen. The reaction with methyl- or phenylhydrazine altered the visible spectrum of the cytochrome. Bands characteristic of reduced heme c appeared plus new features that were not characteristic of either oxidized or reduced heme d1. Extraction of the heme from phenylhydrazine-treated cytochrome yielded a covalently modified form of the original heme d1. Visible, 1H NMR, and mass spectra were obtained on the purified modified heme and on the metal-free esterified derivative. The spectroscopic data indicate that the modification was the regiospecific substitution of the 5 meso-proton by a phenyl group.

On the mechanism of loss of deformability in human erythrocytes due to Heinz body formation: a flow EPR study.

The effects of phenylhydrazine (PHZ) and monomethylhydrazine (MMH) on the deformability of human erythrocytes and ghosts in relation to Heinz body formation are investigated using the sensitive flow EPR (electron paramagnetic resonance) method. The decrease in deformability starts even before Heinz body formation is recognized and is enhanced with PHZ as Heinz bodies are attached on the inner surface of the membrane, but remains at a low level in MMH-treated cells in which Heinz bodies are formed mostly away from the membrane surface. Dithioerythritol recovers part of the lost deformability by MMH but has no effect in PHZ-treated cells or in the ghosts. The membrane fluidity measurements by 12-doxyl stearate indicate that there are two distinct modes of spin-label interaction in PHZ-treated cell membrane, the one corresponding to more immobilization gaining with the PHZ concentration, while MMH has only minor effects on fluidity. The motional freedom of membrane proteins probed with maleimide label shows that the membrane binding of hemoglobin denatured with PHZ causes more immobilization than that with MMH. These observations and Fe(III) EPR absorptions of the treated cells and ghosts are interpreted on the basis of the difference in reaction products (denatured hemoglobin) by the two reagents: the ones with PHZ preferentially bind to the membrane proteins, such as band 3, resulting in a perturbation of the membrane viscoelastic properties, while MMH-denatured hemoglobins remain mostly in the cytosol as Heinz bodies, or in the polymeric form contributing to the internal viscosity.

In vivo formation of sigma-methyl- and sigma-phenyl-ferric complexes of hemoglobin and liver-cytochrome P-450 upon treatment of rats with methyl- and phenylhydrazine.

Ferric sigma-phenyl complexes of hemoglobin and liver cytochrome P-450 are formed in vivo upon administration of C6H5NHNH2 to rats. Small amounts of the sigma-methyl complex of hemoglobin were also detected in vivo upon treatment of rats with CH3NHNH2. At the doses used for CH3NHNH2 (25 and 50 mg/kg) the states and levels of hemoglobin in the blood and spleen, and of cytochrome P-450 in the liver were almost unchanged. On the contrary, C6H5NHNH2 (25-100 mg/kg) led to a decrease of the HbO2 blood level (10-50%), together with an increase in the HbFe(III) level and the appearance of the HbFe(III)-C6H5 complex. The concentration of this complex reaches its maximum value (2 mM) 1 h after C6H5NHNH2 administration (20% of total hemoglobin). At the same time large amounts of HbO2, HbFe(III) and HbFe(III)-C6H5 appeared in the spleen, and remained high up to 24 h after treatment. Treatment of rats with C6H5NHNH2 (25-100 mg/kg) led to a significant decrease in the level of liver cytochrome P-450 (a 70% decrease 2 h after treatment with 100 mg/kg C6H5NHNH2). About 15% of the remaining cytochrome P-450 existed as a cyt.-P-450-Fe(III)-C6H5 complex, a new example of cytochrome P-450-Fe-metabolite complex which is stable in vivo.

Methylation of liver DNA guanine in hamsters given hydrazine.

Formation of 7-methylguanine and O6-methylguanine in liver DNA was measured 24 hr after administration of various single oral doses of 15 to 120 mg hydrazine/kg body wt to Syrian golden hamsters, and at various times up to 96 hr after a single oral dose of 90 mg hydrazine/kg body wt. Formation of these bases in hamster liver DNA appeared similar to that reported earlier for rats and mice treated with necrogenic doses of hydrazine; however, persistence of O6-methylguanine in liver DNA following hydrazine administration was longer in hamster than in rat liver DNA. Administration of hydrazine sulfate in the drinking water of hamsters over a 9-week period resulted in accumulation of both 7-methylguanine and O6-methylguanine in liver DNA to the extent that about 2 out of every 10,000 guanine bases were methylated at each position on the base. Diethyl maleate pretreatment of hamsters depleted liver stores of glutathione and blocked DNA methylation in hydrazine-treated animals; however, buthionine sulfoximine, which also depleted glutathione stores, had no effect on the DNA methylation response to hydrazine poisoning in Sprague-Dawley rats. Hydrazine administration to hamsters and Swiss Webster mice resulted in more 7-methylguanine and O6-methylguanine in liver DNA than did administration of monomethylhydrazine, a proposed intermediate in the hydrazine-DNA methylation response. Even at the highest feasible dose of monomethylhydrazine to hamsters, no methylguanines could be detected, while these aberrant bases were readily quantifiable following hydrazine administration; thus, no evidence was obtained to support the proposal that monomethylhydrazine is an important intermediate in the methylation of DNA guanine in hydrazine-treated animals.

Inhibition of plant and mammalian diamine oxidases by hydrazine and guanidine compounds.

1. Pig kidney and pea seedling diamine oxidases have similar sensitivity to methylhydrazine and phenylhydrazine as inhibitors. 2. Inhibition of pig kidney and pea seedling enzymes by hydrazine and guanidine compounds is time dependent. To reveal full inhibitory potency, methylhydrazine and aminoguanidine need longer preincubation with plant diamine oxidase as compared with mammalian diamine oxidase. 3. Impromidine, a known H2 histamine receptor agonist with guanidine and imidazole structures, and aminoguanidine have higher inhibitory activity towards pig kidney enzyme in comparison with the pea seedling one. 4. Impromidine inhibits pig kidney diamine oxidase in a noncompetitive manner. The Ki value is 6.6 muM. 5. The 24 hr dialysis of rat intestinal diamine oxidase preincubated with phenylhydrazine or impromidine only partially recovered the enzymic activities. 6. Impromidine inhibits mouse intestinal diamine oxidase in vivo.

Indications for nitrosamide formation from the mushroom poison gyromitrin by rat liver microsomes.

1. N-Methyl-N-formylhydrazine, formed by hydrolysis from gyromitrin, the main toxin of the edible mushroom Gyromitra esculenta, lowers the cytochrome P-450 concn. in liver microsomes after its application to rats. 2. This decrease can be intensified by pretreatment of the rats with phenobarbital but not by induction with 3-methylcholanthrene. 3. The effect of methylformylhydrazine can be abolished in relation to inhibitor-treated controls by prior administration of SKF 525-A but not metyrapone. 4. After addition of methylformylhydrazine to liver microsomes of rats pretreated with phenobarbital in the presence of a NADPH-regenerating system and O2 a metabolite was formed with a time dependent difference spectral max. at 425 nm. When subsequently the microsomal mixture was reduced by addition of NADPH or sodium dithionite, a new spectrum was obtained with a max. at 447 nm, which decreased within a few minutes with a slight blue-shift. 5. The cytochrome P-450 mediated oxidation of methylformylhydrazine to a hydroxylamine derivative and further to a nitrosamide, is discussed in relation to its importance for the biological action of the hydrazine. This nitrosamide formation may be the reason for the known hepatocarcinogenicity of methylformylhydrazine.