Therapeutic effect reflected by plasma levels of a viral protein during combination chemotherapeutic treatment of mammary tumor-bearing mice.

Plasma concentrations of gp52, a Mr 52,000 glycoprotein of the mouse mammary tumor virus, have been measured during cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin (adriamycin) and 5-fluorouracil (CAF) treatment of mammary tumor-bearing CD8F1 mice. The value of plasma concentrations of gp52 as an indicator of CAF-mediated changes in tumor status was supported by each of the following findings: (a) CAF treatment did not interfere with the detection of elevated viral antigen levels in the plasma of tumor-bearing mice; (b) at 9-11 days after initiation of treatment, a significantly lower mean gp52 level, observed in the group of CAF-treated mice, provided definitive evidence of therapeutic effect; and (c) serial determinations of plasma gp52 levels in individual mice before, during, and after treatment provided a relative measure of therapeutic effect for each individual that was a reflection of corresponding changes in tumor size. Changes in viral antigen levels (i.

Properties of retrovirus-like particles produced by a human breast carcinoma cell line: immunological relationship with mouse mammary tumor virus proteins.

Clonal derivatives 8 and 11 of the T47D human breast carcinoma cell line release particles that have the biochemical characteristics of a retrovirus. Particles recovered from cultures of [3H]uridine-labeled clone 11 had a density of 1.18 g/ml and contained 60-70S and 35S RNAs associated with reverse transcriptase activity.

Incorporation of 5-fluorouracil into murine bone marrow DNA in vivo.

Although 5-fluorouracil (FUra) is readily incorporated into RNA, the possibility of its being incorporated into DNA in substantial amounts has only recently been recognized. Examination of nucleic acids prepared from tumor-bearing BALB/c X DBA/8 F1 mice labeled with [3H]FUra in vivo revealed very little alkali-stable, acid-precipitable radioactivity in tumor and only small amounts in intestine. However, substantial amounts were detected in bone marrow.

Increased incidence of mouse mammary tumor virus-related antigen in Tunisian patients with breast cancer.

Biopsies obtained from 74 Tunisian women with breast cancer (33 cases), benign breast disease (17 cases), and cervical cancer (24 cases) were assayed for the presence of an antigen cross-reacting with gp52 of the mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) in order to determine the frequency and possible prognostic significance of this antigen in a form of rapidly progressing breast cancer designated poussée évolutive or PEV. Antigen was detected in 23/33 breast carcinomas (70%) but in none of the 41 control specimens. An evaluation of reactivity according to tumor aggressiveness and survival could be performed in retrospect on 29 of the breast cancer patients with a follow-up of up to 11 years.

Effect of Uridine on the Metabolism of 5-Fluorouracil in the CD8F 1 Murine Mammary Carcinoma System.

The effect of uridine on the incorporation of 5-fluorouracil into RNA and the inhibition of DNA synthesis by the FdUMP block of thymidylate synthetase was studied in the CD8F1 murine mammary carcinoma system. The administration of exogenous uridine resulted in about a one third reduction of 5-fluorouracil in RNA of tumor and normal tissues. However, unlike thymidine, uridine was unable to reverse the early, partial inhibition of DNA synthesis.

Improved therapeutic index with sequential N-phosphonacetyl-L-aspartate plus high-dose methotrexate plus high-dose 5-fluorouracil and appropriate rescue.

Although clinical trials of high-dose methotrexate (MTX) sequenced before 5-fluorouracil (FUra) with leucovorin (LV) rescue apparently have resulted in increased numbers of tumor responses, this increased antitumor activity often has been accompanied with toxicity. The present report describes an attempt to improve therapeutic results with this drug combination by appropriate metabolic modulation in the preclinical BALB/c X DBA/8 F1 murine breast tumor model. A LV rescue schedule consisting of 300 mg/kg administered at 4.

Therapeutic utility of utilizing low doses of N-(phosphonacetyl)-L-aspartic acid in combination with 5-fluorouracil: a murine study with clinical relevance.

Doses of N-(phosphonacetyl)-L-aspartic acid (PALA) lower than those required for therapeutic activity against the spontaneous murine breast tumor (BALB/c X DBA/8 F1) were found to produce significant depression in uridine triphosphate pools in the tumor. Using such low, nontherapeutic, but biochemically active doses of PALA in combination with 5-fluorouracil (FUra(, it was possible to maintain the dose of FUra at its full maximum tolerated single agent dose. In comparison with the maximum tolerated dose of FUra alone, the combination of FUra plus low-dose PALA produced a significant increase in the level of tumor FUra-containing RNA, only a slight increase in intestinal FUra-containing RNA, and no increase in bone marrow FUra-containing RNA.

Modulation of 5-fluorouracil-induced toxicity in mice with interferon or with the interferon inducer, polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid.

Partially purified preparations of mouse interferon, administered during the 2-day period following the administration of a toxic dose of 5-fluorouracil (FUra), yielded significant protection from mortality in BALB/c X DBA/2 F1 mice. Protection against FUra-induced toxicity was also observed when the interferon inducer polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (poly I X poly C) was administered with FUra. The temporal relationship between the administration of poly I X poly C and FUra was found to be a critical determinant of the intensity of toxic manifestations.

Tumor-associated antigens produced by mouse mammary tumor cells in artificial capillary culture.

Mouse mammary tumor cells were cultured on a three-dimensional bundle of semipermeable hollow fibers as a prototype system for large-scale in vitro production of mammary tumor-associated antigens. Cells were seeded onto the surface of the hollow fibers that served as an artificial capillary network. The cells grew to tissue-like densities within 3 weeks, achieving the high density and three-dimensional intercellular relationships known to potentiate expression of murine mammary tumor virus (MuMTV) antigens.

High-dose 5-fluorouracil with delayed uridine "rescue" in mice.

Because of the association between the incorporation of 5-fluorouracil (FUra) into RNA and cytotoxicity, uridine was examined for potential selective reduction of host toxicity. Male BALB/c x DBA/2 F1 mice (tumor free or bearing advanced colon tumor 26) were used. Two uridine schedules (each beginning 2 hr after FUra) have been successful: (a) uridine at 800 mg/kg every 2 hr for three doses followed 18 hr later by uridine at 800 mg/kg every 2 hr for four doses; or (b) two doses of uridine at 3500 mg/kg separated by an 18-hr interval.

Diagnosis of primary breast carcinoma through immunohistochemical detection of antigen related to mouse mammary tumor virus in metastatic lesions: a report of two cases.

Recent investigations have established that approximately half of human breast carcinomas contain an immunohistochemically detectable antigen which is cross-reactive with the 52000-dalton major glycoprotein (gp52) of the mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV). This antigen can be localized in paraffin-embedded sections of routinely fixed tissues using heterologous antibodies to gp52 or MMTV. This report describes two patients with metastatic carcinoma in axillary lymph nodes without any clinical evidence of a primary lesion in the breast or elsewhere.

Protection by testosterone from fluorouracil-induced toxicity without loss of anticancer acitvity against autochthonous murine breast tumors.

The present paper describes the specific amelioration of 5-flourouracil (FUra)-induced host toxicity (manifest in body weight loss, leukopenia, and mortality) by testosterone in the spontaneous, autochthonous CD8F1 (BALB/c x DBA/8F1) murine breast tumor model. Administration of testosterone did not affect the growth rate of these hormone-independent tumors, and, most importantly the antitumor activity of FUra was not reduced in testosterone-treated mice. Therefore, the net result of treatment with the combination of FUra and testosterone was an increase in the selective antitumor specificity of FUra.

Improving the anti-tumor activity of 5-fluorouracil by increasing its incorporation into RNA via metabolic modulation.

The experiments described here illustrate the use of metabolic modulation to improve the therapeutic effectiveness of 5-fluorouracil (5FUra) in two murine tumor systems (CD8F1 mannary carcinoma and CD2F1 colon tumor 26). The manipulations chosen were based on the assumption that a major fraction of the anti-tumor activity of 5FUra is due to its incorporation into RNA and that the resulting 5FUra-RNA creates difficulty for a variety of cellular mechanisms requiring RNA processing and function. This hypothesis leads to the prediction that thymidine would promote the anti-neoplastic effect of 5FUra due to the following possible interactions: (i) sparing 5FUra from catabolic degradation by saturating the relevant enzymes wit thymidine; (ii) selective arrest of normal cells due to feedback inhibition of robonucleotide reductase by the accumulating thymidine triphosphate (TTP); and (iii) the high levels of TTP would also be expected to repress the anabolic conversion of 5FUra to the deoxy derivatives, thus preserving it for entry into RNA.

An overview of thymidine.

This review summarizes a body of information suggesting that proper metabolic modulation with certain metabolites can sensitize tumor cells to anti-metabolites, and others can de-sensitize (i.e. protect) normal cells from the toxicity of anti-metabolites.

RNA primer used in synthesis of anticomplementary DNA by reverse transcriptase of avian myeloblastosis virus.

When either the homologous RNA (avian myeloblastosis virus RNA) or a heterologous RNA (poliovirus RNA) was used as a template, the anticomplementary DNA synthesized in vitro by avian myeloblastosis virus reverse transcriptase (RNA-directed DNA nucleotidyltransferase, EC 2.7.7.

RNA replication: required intermediates and the dissociation of template, product, and Q beta replicase.

Replication complexes containing only one molecule of Q beta replicase and one strand of midivariant RNA (MDV-1 RNA) template were prepared by incubating the replicase with an excess of MDV-1 (-) RNA. In the presence of excess minus strands, these monoenzyme replication complexes were shown to synthesize essentially pure MDV-1 (+) RNA in both the first and second cycles of replication. When an equivalent concentration of mutant MDV-1 (-) RNA was added to this reaction before completion of the first cycle of replication, only wild-type MDV-1 (+) RNA was produced in the first cycle, but both mutant and wild-type MDV-1 (+) RNA were produced in the second cycle of replication.

Immunohistochemical evidence for RNA virus related components in human breast cancer.

The localization of antigenic components with cross-reactivity to a 52,000 dalton group specific glycoprotein (gp52) of the mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) in paraffin sections of human breast carcinomas is described using an indirect immunoperoxidase method. This method was first optimized on paraffin sections of mouse mammary tumors. The specificity of the reaction observed in the human tissues was established by absorption of the specific IgG with: a) purified gp52; b) several relevant and irrelevant viral preparations; c) normal human plasma, leukocytes, breast tissue, milk, actin, collagen, and hyaluronic acid; d) sheep erythrocytes, bovine mucin and fetal calf serum.

Human breast carcinoma antigen is immunologically related to the polypeptide of the group-specific glycoprotein of mouse mammary tumor virus.

We have shown [Mesa-Tejada, R., Keydar, I., Ramanarayanan, M.

Sodium pyrophosphate inhibition of RNA.DNA hybrid degradation by reverse transcriptase.

Sodium pyrophosphate inhibits synthesis of anticomplementary DNA during a reverse transcriptase (RNA-directed DNA nucleotidyltransferase, EC 2.7.7.