1. Detecting Attomolar DNA-Damaging Anticancer Drug Activity in Cell Lysates with Electrochemical DNA Devices
- Author
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Reema McMullen, Colton L. Starcher, Edward A. Motea, Zakari Ishak-Boushaki, Chloe C. DiTusa, Dimithree Kahanda, Naveen Singh, Jason D. Slinker, and Ashan P. Wettasinghe
- Subjects
Drug ,media_common.quotation_subject ,Bioengineering ,Antineoplastic Agents ,02 engineering and technology ,01 natural sciences ,Article ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Western blot ,Cell Line, Tumor ,medicine ,NAD(P)H Dehydrogenase (Quinone) ,Potency ,Instrumentation ,media_common ,Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,Process Chemistry and Technology ,010401 analytical chemistry ,Base excision repair ,DNA ,021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology ,Orders of magnitude (mass) ,0104 chemical sciences ,Kinetics ,Biochemistry ,chemistry ,Cancer cell ,NAD+ kinase ,0210 nano-technology ,Naphthoquinones - Abstract
Here, we utilize electrochemical DNA devices to quantify and understand the cancer-specific DNA-damaging activity of an emerging drug in cellular lysates at femtomolar and attomolar concentrations. Isobutyl-deoxynyboquinone (IB-DNQ), a potent and tumor-selective NAD(P)H quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) bioactivatable drug, was prepared and biochemically verified in cancer cells highly expressing NQO1 (NQO1+) and knockdowns with low NQO1 expression (NQO1-) by Western blot, NQO1 activity analysis, survival assays, oxygen consumption rate, extracellular acidification rate, and peroxide production. Lysates from these cells and the IB-DNQ drug were then introduced to a chip system bearing an array of DNA-modified electrodes, and their DNA-damaging activity was quantified by changes in DNA-mediated electrochemistry arising from base-excision repair. Device-level controls of NQO1 activity and kinetic analysis were used to verify and further understand the IB-DNQ activity. A 380 aM IB-DNQ limit of detection and a 1.3 fM midpoint of damage were observed in NQO1+ lysates, both metrics 2 orders of magnitude lower than NQO1- lysates, indicating the high IB-DNQ potency and selectivity for NQO1+ cancers. The device-level damage midpoint concentration in NQO1+ lysates was over 8 orders of magnitude lower than cell survival benchmarks, likely due to poor IB-DNQ cellular uptake, demonstrating that these devices can identify promising drugs requiring improved cell permeability. Ultimately, these results indicate the noteworthy potency and selectivity of IB-DNQ and the high sensitivity and precision of electrochemical DNA devices to analyze agents/drugs involved in DNA-damaging chemotherapies.
- Published
- 2021