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Research in this laboratory is currently focused on the biochemical and pharmacological properties of liposomes in which an otherwise water-soluble drug is anchored to the lipid bilayers via an appropriate non-polar residue. To this end, we have synthesized three (I-III) methotrexate (MTX) derivatives of dimyristoylphosphatidylethanolamine (DMPE) by conjugation of the alpha and/or gamma glutamyl carboxyl groups of the drug with the amino function of the phospholipid. These derivatives have been characterized analytically and chromatographically as MTX-gamma-DMPE (I), MTX-alpha-DMPE (II), and MTX-alpha, gamma-diDMPE (III). The corresponding glycerophosphorylethanolamine analogs have also been prepared and identified. The biological activity of these compounds (as inhibitors of in vitro cell proliferation and dihydrofolate reductase) is described in the following paper.

Methotrexate has been conjugated (amide bond) via either the alpha or gamma, or both alpha and gamma, glutamyl carboxyl groups to the amino function of dihexanoylphosphatidylethanolamine (C6C6PE) and 1-tetradecanoyl-2-hexanoylphosphatidylethanolamine (C14C6PE). These phospholipid prodrugs (either free or incorporated into liposomes) were compared with the corresponding ditetradecanoylphosphatidylethanolamine (C14C14PE) conjugates, some of whose properties have been described previously, for their ability to inhibit the proliferation of human leukemic cells (CEM/O) or cells derived therefrom (CEM/MTX) that are resistant to methotrexate because of a defective drug transport system. Regardless of chain length, the gamma conjugates were more effective than either the alpha or the alpha, gamma conjugates, in inhibiting growth of the parent cells, confirming initial experiments with mouse cells. Chain length had, however, a pronounced influence on the capacity of the various gamma derivatives to circumvent the transport defect. For example, CEM/MTX cells were 120-fold less susceptible than CEM/O cells to inhibition by either methotrexate or methotrexate-gamma-C6C6PE, whereas both cell lines were equally sensitive to methotrexate-gamma-C14C14PE. Although less potent than either of the foregoing, methotrexate-gamma-C14C6PE could partially by-pass the defective transport system. These results suggest that methotrexate-gamma-PE derivatives with appropriate acyl residues might be useful probes to investigate the mechanism by which phospholipids in general are able to traverse cell membranes.

This study compares the ability of methotrexate and liposomes, in which the drug is anchored to the lipid bilayers via methotrexate-gamma-dimyristoylphosphatidylethanolamine, to inhibit proliferation of human leukemic cells (CEM/O) and cells derived from this line that are resistant to methotrexate because of either a defective transport system (CEM/MTX cells) or elevated levels of dihydrofolate reductase (CEM/R1 cells). Whereas CEM/O and CEM/MTX cells show a 120-fold difference in their susceptibility to methotrexate (as measured by the incorporation of tritiated deoxyuridine into DNA), both lines are equally sensitive to the liposomes. In contrast, proliferation of CEM/MTX cells is not inhibited significantly by methotrexate-gamma-glycerophosphorylethanolamine (MTX-gamma-glyceroPE), the water-soluble analog of MTX-gamma-DMPE. Both the ability of the liposomes to circumvent the transport defect, and the inability of MTX-gamma-glyceroPE to do so, were anticipated on the basis of previous experiments which show that thiamine pyrophosphate could antagonize inhibition of mouse 3T3 and L1210 cell proliferation by methotrexate and MTX-gamma-glyceroPE, but not inhibition by liposomes. Human cells (CEM/O) behave similarly. The present experiments also suggest that liposomes prepared with MTX-gamma-DMPE can partially reverse the methotrexate resistance of CEM/R1 cells that is due to overproduction of the target enzyme.

Previous investigations have shown that untargeted liposomes, in which methotrexate is anchored to the lipid bilayers as methotrexate-gamma-dimyristoylphosphatidylethanolamine (methotrexate-gamma-DMPE), can inhibit in vitro cell proliferation. To test the possibility that this inhibition may involve extracellular metabolism of methotrexate-gamma-DMPE, we have degraded it chemically (dilute alkali) or enzymatically (phospholipase A2, phospholipase C, phospholipase C plus phosphatase), and assayed the products using human lymphoblastoid T cells or a subline that has a defective methotrexate transport system. Neither methotrexate-gamma-(1-myristoyl)-glycerophosphorylethanolamine, methotrexate-gamma-glycerophosphorylethanolamine, methotrexate-gamma-phosphorylethanolamine, nor methotrexate-gamma-ethanolamine resemble methotrexate-gamma-DMPE sensitized liposomes or the free derivative in their ability to block tritiated deoxyuridine incorporation into DNA. When added extracellularly, these putative metabolites manifest a higher ID50 concentration and/or, unlike the liposomes or unincorporated methotrexate-gamma-DMPE, utilize the methotrexate transport system to enter cells. Additionally, we have synthesized methotrexate-gamma-dihexadecylphosphatidylethanolamine and methotrexate-gamma-hexadecylphosphorylethanolamine, analogs of methotrexate-gamma-DMPE that cannot be hydrolyzed by phospholipases A2, C and D; liposomes prepared with these derivatives are markedly less potent cytotoxic agents than methotrexate-gamma-DMPE sensitized liposomes. All together, these results are consistent with the conclusion that methotrexate-gamma-DMPE must undergo intracellular metabolism to exert optimal inhibition; they also bear on possible mechanisms by which methotrexate-gamma-DMPE may enter cells.

Because of the sustained interest in liposomes as immunogens and vehicles for drug delivery, the present investigation was designed to reevaluate the iodoacetyl group as a means of binding sulfhydryl-containing substances to liposomes in thioether linkage, and to develop an alternative method by which liposomes with bound ligand can be conveniently and rapidly separated from free ligand. For the purpose of the first goal, we synthesized a homologous series of dimyristoylphosphatidylethanolamine (DMPE) derivatives in which the iodoacetyl (IA) function was separated from the phospholipid amino group by either 0, 1, or 2 aminoethylthioacetyl (AETA) spacers. Results show that liposomes prepared with IA-DMPE can not bind 125I-radiolabeled rabbit IgG which had been thiolated by reaction with S-acetylmercaptosuccinic anhydride. Significant IgG attachment was, however, obtained with liposomes containing either IA-AETA-DMPE or IA-(AETA)2-DMPE, and the amount bound was directly related to spacer length. In contrast, spacer length had no effect on the covalent binding of a low molecular weight hapten, N-dinitrophenylcysteine. Other parameters (incubation time, IgG concentration, density of IA-(AETA)2-DMPE, sulfhydryl inhibitors) were also examined. To achieve the second objective, biotinyl-(AETA)2-DMPE was incorporated into the same liposomal bilayers that contained the iodoacetylated derivatives. Thus, liposomes with bound ligand could be readily precipitated by avidin, and washed free of unreacted IgG by low speed centrifugation. Comparative experiments with liposomes containing biotinyl-DMPE revealed that spacer length also had a pronounced effect on the avidin precipitability of liposomes in the presence of proteins that may be non-covalently absorbed or covalently bound to the model membrane surface.

Liposomes, which were prepared with the three methotrexate (MTX)-dimyristoylphosphatidylethanolamine (DMPE) derivatives described in the preceding paper, were tested for their ability to block proliferation of mouse 3T3 and L1210 cells. Tritiated deoxyuridine incorporation into DNA could be completely inhibited by liposomes sensitized with MTX-DMPE I (MTX-gamma-DMPE). Under similar conditions, liposomes containing MTX-DMPE II (MTX-alpha-DMPE) and MTX-DMPE III (MTX-alpha, gamma-diDMPE) produced partial and no inhibition, respectively. These effects on cell growth were paralleled by the capacity of liposomes, prepared with each of the DMPE derivatives, to inhibit dihydrofolate reductase isolated from L1210 cells. Analogous experiments with the three corresponding glycerophosphorylethanolamine (glyceroPE) analogs also indicated that MTX-glyceroPE I was the most effective inhibitor of both cell proliferation and enzymatic activity. However, MTX-DMPE I sensitized liposomes apparently enter target cells as a consequence of phagocytosis, and not via the ubiquitous methotrexate transport system that is employed by MTX-glyceroPE I. For example, novel use of thiamine pyrophosphate showed that this compound had no influence on inhibition of cell proliferation due to liposomes, whereas thiamine pyrophosphate could completely antagonize the inhibitory effects of methotrexate and MTX-glyceroPE I. The results are discussed with reference to possible therapeutic advantages of these liposomes.