Bioactivation of the selective estrogen receptor modulator acolbifene to quinone methides.

Although approved for the treatment of hormone-dependent breast cancer as well as for the prevention of breast cancer in high-risk women, the selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) tamoxifen has been associated with an increased risk of endometrial cancer in women. With an understanding of the potential carcinogenic mechanisms of these compounds, SERMs could in principle be designed or selected for use that avoids these problems. Acolbifene (EM-652) is a fourth-generation SERM and the active form of the ester prodrug EM-800.

Bioactivation of the selective estrogen receptor modulator desmethylated arzoxifene to quinoids: 4'-fluoro substitution prevents quinoid formation.

Although selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) are useful in the treatment and prevention of breast cancer, the SERM tamoxifen has been associated with an increased risk of endometrial cancer possibly due to metabolism to electrophilic quinoids. Another SERM, arzoxifene is currently in clinical trials for the treatment of breast cancer, and since it has similar structural characteristics to tamoxifen, it also has the potential to form quinoids. In the current study, the active form of arzoxifene in vivo, desmethylated arzoxifene (DMA), was synthesized and chemically or enzymatically oxidized to DMA diquinone methide.

Liquid chromatography/electrospray tandem mass spectrometry of terpenoid lactones in Ginkgo biloba.

Ginkgo biloba (ginkgo) is one of most frequently used botanical dietary supplements. The bioactive constituents include the terpenoid lactones consisting of bilobalide and the ginkgolides A, B, C and J. A new assay based on high-performance liquid chromatography/electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) was developed for the measurement of the terpenoid lactones in ginkgo products such as leaf powder and extracts.

Metabolism of xanthohumol and isoxanthohumol, prenylated flavonoids from hops (Humulus lupulus L.), by human liver microsomes.

The female flowers of hops (Humulus lupulus L.) used to flavor beer contain the prenylated flavonoids xanthohumol (XN) and isoxanthohumol (IX). IX is moderately estrogenic in vitro and XN has pharmacological properties that might make it useful as a cancer chemopreventive agent.

Ultrafiltration tandem mass spectrometry of estrogens for characterization of structure and affinity for human estrogen receptors.

Although hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is used by post-menopausal women for the relief of menopausal symptoms and the potential reduction of osteoporosis, HRT also increases their risk of Alzheimer's disease, stroke, breast cancer, and endometrial cancer. Since the majority of these effects are associated primarily with estrogen binding to only one of the estrogen receptors (ER), new assays are needed that can more efficiently evaluate ER-binding and identify ligands selective for ER-alpha and ER-beta. High performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) was combined with ultrafiltration as a new method to investigate the relative binding of compounds to the ERs and to evaluate the structures of these estrogens.

Mechanism of inactivation of inducible nitric oxide synthase by amidines. Irreversible enzyme inactivation without inactivator modification.

Nitric oxide synthases (NOS) are hemoproteins that catalyze the reaction of L-arginine to L-citrulline and nitric oxide. N-(3-(Aminomethyl)benzyl)acetamidine (1400W) was reported to be a slow, tight-binding, and highly selective inhibitor of iNOS in vitro and in vivo. Previous mechanistic studies reported that 1400W was recovered quantitatively after iNOS fully lost its activity and modification to iNOS was not detected.

A non-equilibrium isoelectric focusing method to determine states of phosphorylation of cardiac troponin I: identification of Ser-23 and Ser-24 as significant sites of phosphorylation by protein kinase C.

Phosphorylation of cardiac troponin I (cTnI) by cAMP-dependent kinase (PKA), protein kinase C (PKC) and potentially other kinases modulates the activity of myofilaments. To elucidate the signaling mechanisms involving this modulation, it is important to determine the phosphorylation states of cTnI and its phosphorylation sites in a simple and efficient manner. In this report, we describe a method to determine the phosphorylation states of cTnI with non-equilibrium isoelectric focusing gel electrophoresis (NEIEF).

Estrogens and congeners from spent hops (Humulus lupulus).

Estrogenicity-directed fractionation of a methanol extract of the strobiles of Humulus lupulus that had been extracted previously with supercritical CO(2), known as "spent hops", led to the isolation and identification of 22 compounds including 12 prenylated chalcones (1-8, 10-13), five prenylflavanones (14-17), 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde (18), sitosterol-3-O-beta-glucopyranoside (19), humulinone (20), and cohumulinone (21). In addition, the prenylated chalcone xanthohumol C (9a) was obtained as a 6:1 mixture along with its 1' ',2' '-dihydro derivative (9b). Three new chalcones (4, 11, 12) and four previously unreported constituents of hops (5, 6, 9b, 13) are reported.

Analysis of GAA/TTC DNA triplexes using nuclear magnetic resonance and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.

The formation of a GAA/TTC DNA triplex has been implicated in Friedreich's ataxia. The destabilization of GAA/TTC DNA triplexes either by pH or by binding to appropriate ligands was analyzed by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and positive-ion electrospray mass spectrometry. The triplexes and duplexes were identified by changes in the NMR chemical shifts of H8, H1, H4, 15N7, and 15N4.

In vitro assessment of intestinal permeability and hepatic metabolism of 4'-bromoflavone, a promising cancer chemopreventive agent.

1. The intestinal permeability and hepatic metabolism of the investigational cancer chemoprevention agent 4'-bromoflavone were investigated in vitro using human intestinal Caco-2 cell monolayers, human liver microsomes and human hepatocytes. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and tandem mass spectrometry were used for quantitative analysis in support of the Caco-2 cell studies and for the characterization of metabolites of 4'-bromoflavone.

Oxidation of raloxifene to quinoids: potential toxic pathways via a diquinone methide and o-quinones.

Raloxifene was approved in 1997 by the FDA for the treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women, and it is currently in clinical trials for the chemoprevention of breast cancer. Before widespread use as a chemopreventive agent in healthy women, the potential cytotoxic mechanisms of raloxifene should be investigated. In the current study, raloxifene was incubated with GSH and either rat or human liver microsomes, and the metabolites and GSH conjugates were characterized using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

Chemical and biological characterization and clinical evaluation of botanical dietary supplements: a phase I red clover extract as a model.

Botanical dietary supplements, as compared with nutritional supplements or single-component pharmaceutical drugs, are typically less-refined preparations derived from bulk plant material and, as such, require a modified approach to their development, production, and evaluation. An integrated, multidisciplinary team of scientific and clinical investigators is required in order to develop high quality phytomedicines and rigorously evaluate their safety and efficacy. Research on botanicals involves unique challenges as plant source materials frequently vary in chemical content and may contain unwanted pesticides, heavy metals, contaminant plant species, or other adulterants.

Equine catechol estrogen 4-hydroxyequilenin is a more potent inhibitor of the variant form of catechol-O-methyltransferase.

Catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) plays an important role in the inactivation of biologically active and toxic catechols. It has been shown that COMT is genetically polymorphic with a wild-type and variant form where a valine has been substituted with a methionine. Several, but not all, epidemiological studies have shown that women, homozygous with the variant form, have an increased risk of developing breast cancer.

New metabolic pathways for flavanones catalyzed by rat liver microsomes.

Flavonoids represent a diverse group of natural pigments widely distributed in the plant kingdom and are an important component of human diet due to their high content in fruits and vegetables. Since many flavonoids have been shown to be potent inhibitors, substrates, and even inducers of various cytochrome P450 isoforms, there is considerable interest in studying interactions of this class of molecules with the cytochrome P450 enzyme system. In this study, the metabolism of several simple flavanones by rat liver microsomes was investigated and compared.

Enhanced ionization of phosphorylated peptides during MALDI TOF mass spectrometry.

Although alpha-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid functions as an excellent matrix for the analysis of most peptides using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight (MALDI TOF) mass spectrometry, the ionization of phosphorylated peptides is usually suppressed by nonphosphorylated peptides. As an alternative matrix, 2',4',6'-trihydroxyacetophenone (THAP) with diammonium citrate was found to overcome this problem for the MALDI TOF mass spectrometric analysis of proteolytic digests of phosphorylated proteins. Specifically, the abundances of phosphorylated peptides in tryptic digests of bovine beta-casein and protein kinase C (PKC)-treated mouse cardiac troponin I were enhanced more than 10-fold using THAP during positive ion MALDI TOF mass spectrometry.

Isolation of linoleic acid as an estrogenic compound from the fruits of Vitex agnus-castus L. (chaste-berry).

A methanol extract of chaste-tree berry (Vitex agnus-castus L.) was tested for its ability to displace radiolabeled estradiol from the binding site of estrogen receptors alpha (ERalpha) and beta (ERbeta). The extract at 46 +/- 3 microg/ml displaced 50% of estradiol from ERalpha and 64 +/- 4 microg/ml from ERbeta.

Metabolism of 8-prenylnaringenin, a potent phytoestrogen from hops (Humulus lupulus), by human liver microsomes.

The female flowers of hops are used throughout the world as a flavoring agent for beer. Recently, there has been increasing interest in the potential estrogenic properties of hop extracts. Among the possible estrogenic compounds in hops, 8-prenylnaringenin is perhaps most significant due to its high in vitro potency exceeding that of other known phytoestrogens.

Ethanol inhibits benzo[a]pyrene-DNA adduct removal and increases 8-oxo-deoxyguanosine formation in human mammary epithelial cells.

The effect of ethanol and acetaldehyde treatment on the removal of benzo[a]pyrene diol-epoxide (BPDE)-DNA adducts in the immortalized, human mammary epithelial cell line MCF-10F was examined. Treatment of cells with 15 mM and 25 mM ethanol resulted in significantly more BPDE-DNA adducts/unit DNA remaining at multiple time points, compared to controls. The half-life of BPDE-DNA adducts in cells exposed to both 15 and 25 mM ethanol were 11.

Increasing the throughput and productivity of Caco-2 cell permeability assays using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry: application to resveratrol absorption and metabolism.

The Caco-2 cell monolayer permeability assay has become a standard model of human intestinal absorption and transport. This paper reviews recent progress in increasing the throughput of Caco-2 cell monolayer assays and in expanding the scope of this assay to include modeling intestinal drug metabolism. The state-of-the-art in Caco-2 cell monolayer permeability assays combines multi-well plates fitted with semi-permeable inserts on which Caco-2 cells have been cultured with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) or LC-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) for the quantitative analysis of test compounds and the identification of their intestinal metabolites.

Inhibition of rat mammary tumorigenesis by concord grape juice constituents.

The effects of Concord grape juice constituents on the promotion of chemically induced rat mammary tumor development and on the proliferation of a rat mammary adenocarcinoma cell line were studied. Isocaloric grape juice formulations provided in the drinking fluid of rats at concentrations of 489 and 651 mg of phenolics/dL of fluid significantly inhibited mammary adenocarcinoma multiplicity compared to controls. Final tumor mass also was significantly decreased for animals provided these two grape juice concentrations compared to controls.

A mechanism for substrate-Induced formation of 6-hydroxyflavin mononucleotide catalyzed by C30A trimethylamine dehydrogenase.

Experiments are described to determine the origin of the 6-hydroxyl group of 6-hydroxyFMN produced by the substrate-induced transformation of FMN in the C30A mutant of trimethylamine dehydrogenase. The conversion of FMN to 6-hydroxyFMN is carried out in the presence of H(2)(18)O and 18O(2), and the results clearly show that the 6-hydroxyl group is derived from molecular oxygen and not from water.

Resveratrol in raw and baked blueberries and bilberries.

Resveratrol in the fruits of bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.), the lowbush "wild" blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium Aiton), the rabbiteye blueberry (Vaccinium ashei Reade), and the highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) were measured using a new assay based on high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS).

Quantitative analysis of betulinic acid in mouse, rat and dog plasma using electrospray liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry.

Betulinic acid is under development as a therapeutic agent for the treatment of metastatic malignant melanoma. In support of pharmacokinetic and toxicological evaluations, a robust assay based on liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS) was developed for the quantitative analysis of betulinic acid. Sample preparation consisted of deproteinization of the plasma by the addition of three volumes of acetonitrile and one volume of methanol followed by centrifugation.

Black cohosh acts as a mixed competitive ligand and partial agonist of the serotonin receptor.

Extracts of the rhizome of black cohosh [Actaea racemosa L., formerly called Cimicifuga racemosa (L.) Nutt.