Synthesis, Biological Evaluation and Modeling Studies of New Pyrido[3,4-]indole Derivatives as Broad-Spectrum Potent Anticancer Agents.

Objective: There is an urgent need drugs against particularly difficult to treat solid tumors such as pancreatic, triple negative breast, lung, colon, metastatic prostate cancers and melanoma. Thus, the objective of this study was to synthesize compounds based computational modeling that indicated the pyrido[3,4-]indole class bind to MDM2, a new cancer target for which there are still no drug on the market.

Methods: Compounds were synthesized by established methods and tested for antiproliferative activity against a broad range of human cancer cell lines, comprising HCT116 colon, HPAC, MIA PaCa-2 and Panc-1 pancreatic, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-468 breast, A375 and WM164 melanoma, A549 lung, and LNCaP, DU145 and PC3 prostate cancer lines.

The Short-Term Effect of Weight Loss Surgery on Volumetric Breast Density and Fibroglandular Volume.

Purpose: Obesity and breast density are both associated with an increased risk of breast cancer and are potentially modifiable. Weight loss surgery (WLS) causes a significant reduction in the amount of body fat and a decrease in breast cancer risk. The effect of WLS on breast density and its components has not been documented.

Psychosocial risk factors as contributors to pregnancy-associated death in Virginia, 1999-2001.

Objective: To determine if substance abuse, mental illness, and domestic violence contributed to preventable pregnancy-associated death and to describe characteristics of women for whom these factors contributed to death.

Methods: The medical records of 121 women who had pregnancy-associated deaths in Virginia between 1999 and 2001 were reviewed. The incidence of substance abuse, mental illness, and domestic violence was noted during systematic review.

Feasibility and benefits of a parent-focused preschool child obesity intervention.

Objectives: This field study tested the feasibility and benefits of a program to promote 6 targeted parental behaviors to prevent obesity in children served by the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).

Methods: Two WIC sites participated in a nonrandomized, controlled 1-year prospective study to assess parents' self-reported behavior changes.

Results: Statistical analyses of preintervention and postintervention assessments of parental behavior demonstrated significant changes in 2 behaviors: frequency of offering the child water and frequency of engaging in active play with the child.

Nuclear factor-Y binding to the topoisomerase IIalpha promoter is inhibited by both the p53 tumor suppressor and anticancer drugs.

Expression of the human DNA topoisomerase IIalpha (topo IIalpha) gene is positively regulated by the binding of the nuclear factor Y (NF-Y) transcription factor to four of five inverted CCAAT boxes (ICBs) located in its promoter. We have demonstrated previously that expression of the p53 tumor suppressor inhibits human topo IIalpha promoter activity in murine (10)1 cells. In this report, we demonstrate that the inhibition of topo IIalpha gene expression by wild-type p53 correlates with the decreased binding of the transcription factor NF-Y to the first four ICBs of the topo IIalpha promoter.

Catalytic inhibition of DNA topoisomerase II by N-benzyladriamycin (AD 288).

N-Benzyladriamycin (AD 288) is a highly lipophilic, semi-synthetic congener of doxorubicin (DOX). Unlike DOX, which stimulates double-stranded DNA scission by stabilizing topoisomerase II/DNA cleavable complexes, AD 288 is a catalytic inhibitor of topoisomerase II, capable of preventing topoisomerase II activity on DNA. The concentration of AD 288 required to inhibit the topoisomerase II-catalyzed decatenation of linked networks of kinetoplast DNA was comparable to that for DOX.

Ras stimulates DNA topoisomerase II alpha through MEK: a link between oncogenic signaling and a therapeutic target.

Topoisomerase II alpha (topo II alpha) is a major target of antitumor treatments. In an effort to determine why this protein might be a better target in tumor cells than in normal cells, we attempted to determine if the altered proliferative signaling in a tumor cell might effect the levels of expression of the topo II alpha gene. In support of this idea, it was found that topo II alpha was elevated following microinjection of oncogenic Ras protein.

Inhibition of DNA topoisomerase II alpha gene expression by the p53 tumor suppressor.

DNA topoisomerase II (topo II) is an essential nuclear enzyme involved in major cellular functions such as DNA replication, transcription, recombination, and mitosis. While an elevated level of topo II alpha is associated with cell proliferation, wild-type (wt) p53 inhibits the expression of various growth-stimulatory genes. To determine if p53 downregulates topo II alpha gene expression, a murine cell line, (10)1val, that expresses a temperature-sensitive p53 was utilized.

UMP synthase activity expressed in deficient hamster cells by separate transferase and decarboxylase proteins or by linker-deleted bifunctional protein.

Segments of the human UMP synthase cDNA coding for the orotate phosphoribosyl transferase (OPRT) and orotidylate decarboxylase (ODC) domains of the bifunctional protein UMP synthase were produced by polymerase chain reaction techniques and cloned into a eukaryotic expression vector. The separate OPRT and ODC vectors, along with a selectable marker, were cotransfected into UMP synthase-deficient hamster cells (Urd-C) that require exogeneous uridine for growth. Transfected Urd-C cells surviving selection in media without added uridine were isolated and designated transferase decarboxylase Urd-C (TDU).

Isolation of genetic suppressor elements, inducing resistance to topoisomerase II-interactive cytotoxic drugs, from human topoisomerase II cDNA.

Many cytotoxic anticancer drugs act at topoisomerase II (topo II) by stabilizing cleavable complexes with DNA formed by this enzyme. Several cell lines, selected for resistance to topo II-interactive drugs, show decreased expression or activity of topo II, suggesting that such a decrease may be responsible for drug resistance. In the present study, etoposide resistance was used as the selection strategy to isolate genetic suppressor elements (GSEs) from a retroviral library expressing random fragments of human topo II (alpha form) cDNA.

Single-strand conformational polymorphism analysis of the M(r) 170,000 isozyme of DNA topoisomerase II in human tumor cells.

Five cell lines selected for resistance to the cytotoxicity of inhibitors of DNA topoisomerase II have point mutations in the gene that codes for the M(r) 170,000 form of this enzyme. In each case, the mutation results in an amino acid change in or near an ATP binding sequence of the M(r) 170,000 isozyme of topoisomerase II. We used single-strand conformational polymorphism analysis to screen for similar mutations in other drug-resistant cell lines or in leukemic cells from patients previously treated with etoposide or teniposide.

Expression of catalytic domains of human UMP synthase in uridine auxotrophic bacteria.

Orotate phosphoribosyltransferase (OPRT) and orotidine-5'-monophosphate decarboxylase (ODC), which catalyze the last two steps in de novo UMP biosynthesis, are two distinct monofunctional proteins in bacteria and lower eukaryotes. In mammals, OPRT and ODC activities are contained in a single bifunctional protein labeled UMP synthase. The human UMP synthase cDNA was separated into the predicted OPRT and ODC domains using polymerase chain reaction techniques and the domains inserted into pUC19 expression vectors.

Altered DNA topoisomerase II in multidrug resistance.

The characteristic feature of multidrug resistance (MDR) associated with drugs that interact with DNA topoisomerase II (topo II) is alterations in topo II activity or amount (at-MDR). We have characterized the at-MDR phenotype in human leukemic CEM cells selected for resistance to the topo II inhibitor, VM-26. Compared to drug-sensitive cells, the key findings are that at-MDR cells exhibit (i) decreased topo II activity; (ii) decreased drug sensitivity, activity and amount of nuclear matrix topo II; (iii) increased ATP requirement of topo II; (iv) a single base mutation in topo II resulting in a change of Arg to Gln at position 449, at the start of the motif B/nucleotide binding site; and (v) decreased topo II phosphorylation, suggesting decreased kinase or increased phosphatase activities.

Gene amplification and chromosome rearrangements: a study of a single cell lineage selected for amplification and deamplification of the UMP synthase gene.

The UMP synthase gene is stably amplified in Chinese hamster lung cells selected for resistance to pyrazofurin (PF) and 6-azauridine (6AUR), inhibitors of the decarboxylase activity of the bifunctional UMP synthase enzyme. The amplified DNA is located intrachromosomally as expanded chromosomal regions (ECRs). Growth of these cells in 5-fluorouracil enables rapid selection of cells that have undergone deamplification and consequently lost resistance to PF + 6AUR.

Expression of a mutant DNA topoisomerase II in CCRF-CEM human leukemic cells selected for resistance to teniposide.

Nuclear extracts from teniposide (VM-26)-resistant sublines of the human leukemic cell line CCRF-CEM have decreased levels of DNA topoisomerase II catalytic activity and decreased capacity to form drug-stabilized covalent protein-DNA complexes. The ATP concentration required for equivalent activity in a DNA-unknotting assay is 2- to 8-fold higher in nuclear extracts from drug-resistant cell lines as compared with the parental line. When adenosine 5'-[beta,gamma-imido]triphosphate is substituted for ATP in complex-formation assays, no significant change is seen with drug-sensitive cells, but a 50-65% reduction is seen with VM-26-resistant cells.

Localization of the adenosine deaminase, transferrin, and UMP synthetase genes on Chinese hamster chromosomes 4 and 6 by in situ hybridization.

Careful analysis of G-band patterns in various rodent families allows identification of homology and thus accurate prediction of gene map positions. However, conclusions based on the synteny of genes without a careful study of chromosome evolution and G-band homology can be misleading. We tested these generalizations by means of G-band analysis and in situ hybridization with three genes in Chinese hamster (Cricetulus griseus, CGR) chromosomes.

Cytogenetic analysis of amplification and deamplification of UMP synthase genes in Chinese hamster cells.

Chinese hamster lung cells selected for resistance to pyrazofurin and 6-azauridine contain amplified UMP synthase genes. With selection in 5-fluorouracil, cells that have lost the amplified gene copies can be isolated. Reselection of deamplified cells in pyrazofurin and 6-azauridine results in reamplification of the UMP synthase genes.

A reversible selection system for UMP synthase gene amplification and deamplification.

The bifunctional enzyme UMP synthase provides a unique reversible selection system whereby cells that have amplified the UMP synthase gene can be isolated from a wild-type population and cells that have deleted the extra genes can be selected from a population with amplified copies of the gene. UMP synthase catalyzes the conversion of orotic acid to orotidine 5'-monophosphate (OMP) and then OMP to UMP. In the amplification step, Chinese hamster lung cells are selected for resistance to pyrazofurin and 6-azauridine, two inhibitors of the orotidine 5'-decarboxylase activity that converts OMP to UMP.

Localization of the gene for uridine monophosphate synthase to human chromosome region 3q13 by in situ hybridization.

The bifunctional enzyme uridine monophosphate (UMP) synthase catalyzes the last two steps in de novo pyrimidine biosynthesis. A genetic deficiency in the activity of this enzyme causes the inherited human disease orotic aciduria. We used a human cDNA probe to localize the gene for UMP synthase to human chromosome region 3q13 by the technique of in situ hybridization.

Altered catalytic activity of and DNA cleavage by DNA topoisomerase II from human leukemic cells selected for resistance to VM-26.

The simultaneous development of resistance to the cytotoxic effects of several classes of natural product anticancer drugs, after exposure to only one of these agents, is referred to as multiple drug resistance (MDR). At least two distinct mechanisms for MDR have been postulated: that associated with P-glycoprotein and that thought to be due to an alteration in DNA topoisomerase II activity (at-MDR). We describe studies with two sublines of human leukemic CCRF-CEM cells approximately 50-fold resistant (CEM/VM-1) and approximately 140-fold resistant (CEM/VM-1-5) to VM-26, a drug known to interfere with DNA topoisomerase II activity.

Analysis of UMP synthase gene and mRNA structure in hereditary orotic aciduria fibroblasts.

Hereditary orotic aciduria is an autosomal recessive disease in which there is a severe deficiency in the activity of the de novo pyrimidine pathway enzyme uridine 5'-monophosphate (UMP) synthase. UMP synthase is a bifunctional enzyme containing the two activities orotate phosphoribosyltransferase and orotidine 5'-monophosphate decarboxylase, which catalyze the two-step conversion of orotic acid to UMP. Cell lines from three orotic aciduria patients have been characterized for UMP synthase gene and mRNA content.