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The isolation and identification of the major metabolites of porfiromycin formed in the presence of a rat liver preparation under aerobic conditions were performed with high‐performance liquid chromatography and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. Porfiromycin was extensively metabolized by the rat liver preparation in an aqueous 0.1 M potassium phosphate buffer (pH 7.4) containing an NADPH generating system at 37°C. A total of eight metabolites was identified as mitosene analogs. Of these, three primary metabolites are 2‐methylamino‐7‐aminomitosene, 1,2‐ cis and 1,2‐ trans ‐1‐hydroxy‐2‐methylamino‐7‐aminomitosene, which are consistent with those previously observed in hypoxia using purified rat liver NADPH‐cytochrome c reductase. Interestingly, 2‐methylamino‐7‐aminomitosene is a reactive metabolite, which undergoes further activation at the C‐10 position by the loss of carbamic acid and then links with the 7‐amino group of the primary metabolites to yield two dimeric adducts. In addition, three phosphate adducts, 10‐decarbamoyl‐2‐methylamino‐7‐aminomitosene‐10‐phosphate, 1,2‐ cis and 1,2‐ trans ‐2‐methylamino‐7‐aminomitosene‐1‐phosphate, were also identified in the incubation system. The configurations of the diastereoisomeric metabolites were determined with 1 HNMR and phosphatase digestion. On the basis of the metabolite profile, we propose in vitro metabolic pathways for porfiromycin. The findings provide direct evidence for understanding the reactive nature and hepatic metabolism of the drug currently in phase III clinical trials. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc. and the American Pharmaceutical Association J Pharm Sci 89:191–198, 2000

The mitomycin C-resistance gene, mcrA , of Streptomyces lavendulae produces MCRA, a protein that protects this microorganism from its own antibiotic, the antitumor drug mitomycin C. Expression of the bacterial mcrA gene in mammalian Chinese hamster ovary cells causes profound resistance to mitomycin C and to its structurally related analog porfiromycin under aerobic conditions but produces little change in drug sensitivity under hypoxia. The mitomycins are prodrugs that are enzymatically reduced and activated intracellularly, producing cytotoxic semiquinone anion radical and hydroquinone reduction intermediates. In vitro , MCRA protects DNA from cross-linking by the hydroquinone reduction intermediate of these mitomycins by oxidizing the hydroquinone back to the parent molecule; thus, MCRA acts as a hydroquinone oxidase. These findings suggest potential therapeutic applications for MCRA in the treatment of cancer with the mitomycins and imply that intrinsic or selected mitomycin C resistance in mammalian cells may not be due solely to decreased bioactivation, as has been hypothesized previously, but instead could involve an MCRA-like mechanism.

Abasic sites (AP sites) are generated in DNA either directly by DNA-damaging agents or by DNA glycosylases acting during base excision repair. These sites are repaired in human cells by the HAP1 protein, which, besides its AP-endonuclease activity, also possesses a redox function. To investigate the ability of HAP1 protein to modulate cell resistance to DNA-damaging agents, CHO cells were transfected with HAP1 cDNA, resulting in stable expression of the protein in the cell nuclei. The sensitivity of the transfected cells to the toxic effect of various agents, e.g. methylmethane sulfonate, bleomycin and H 2 O 2 , was not modified. However, the transfected cells became more sensitive to killing by mitomycin C, porfiromycin, daunorubicin and aziridinyl benzoquinone, drugs that are activated by reduction. To test whether the redox function of HAP1 protein was involved in this increased cytotoxicity, we have constructed a mutated HAP1 protein endowed with normal AP-endonuclease activity but deleted for redox function. When this mutated protein was expressed in the cells, elevated AP-endonuclease activity was measured, but sensitization to the lethal effects of compounds requiring bioreduction was no longer observed. These results suggest that HAP1 protein, besides its involvement in DNA repair, is able to activate bioreduction of alkylating drugs used in cancer chemotherapy.

A resistant subline (AH130/5A) selected from rat hepatoma AH130 cells after exposure to adriamycin (ADM) showed remarkable resistance to multiple antitumor drugs, including mitomycin C (MMC) and porfiromycin (PFM). PFM, vinblastine (VLB), and ADM accumulated in AH130/5A far less than in the parent AH130 (AH130/P) cells. AH130/5A cells showed overexpression of P-glycoprotein (PGP), an increase in glutathione S-transferase activity, and a decrease in DT-diaphorase and glutathione peroxidase activity. The resistance to MMC and VLB of AH130/5A cells was partly reversed by H-87, an inhibitor of PGP. Buthionine sulfoximine, an inhibitor of glutathione synthase, did not affect the action of MMC. tert-Butylhydroquinone induced DT-diaphorase activity, increased PFM uptake, and enhanced the growth-inhibitory action of MMC in AH130/5A cells. Dicumarol, an inhibitor of DT-diaphorase, decreased PFM uptake and reduced the growth-inhibitory action of MMC in AH130/P cells. These results indicated that the adriamycin treatment of hepatoma cells caused multifactorial multidrug resistance involving a decrease in DT-diaphorase activity.

DT-Diaphorase catalyzes a two-electron reduction of mitomycin C (MC) and porfiromycin (POR) to reactive species. Many cell lines that overexpress DT-diaphorase and are sensitive to the mitomycins are protected from the aerobic cytotoxicity of these drugs by the DT-diaphorase inhibitor dicumarol. The cytoprotective properties of this relatively non-specific inhibitor, however, vanish under hypoxic conditions. To ascertain the role of DT-diaphorase in mitomycin bioactivation and cytotoxicity in living cells, a rat liver DT-diaphorase cDNA was transfected into Chinese hamster ovary cells. MC was equitoxic to the parental cells under oxygenated and hypoxic conditions. In contrast, POR was less toxic than MC to these cells under aerobic conditions, but significantly more toxic than MC under hypoxia. Two DT-diaphorase-transfected clones displayed increases in DT-diaphorase activity of 126- and 133-fold over parental cells. The activities of other oxidoreductases implicated in mitomycin bioreduction were unchanged. MC was more toxic to both DT-diaphorase-transfected lines than to parental cells; the toxicity of MC to the transfected lines was similar in air and hypoxia. POR was also more toxic to the DT-diaphorase-elevated clones than to parental cells under oxygenated conditions. Under hypoxia, however, the toxicity of POR to the transfected clones was unchanged from that of parental cells. The findings implicate DT-diaphorase in mitomycin bioactivation in living cells, but suggest that this enzyme does not contribute to the differential toxicity of MC or POR in air and hypoxia.

N-7[2-(4-nitrophenyldithio)-ethyl] mitomycin C, (BMS-181174; previously designated as BMY25067) is a mitomycin C analog now in initial clinical trials. The experiments described in this report were performed to assess whether BMS-181174, like mitomycin C and porfiromycin, was selectively toxic to the hypoxic cells in solid tumors and might therefore prove valuable in combination with radiotherapy. In contrast to mitomycin C and porfiromycin, BMS-181174 was more toxic to aerobic EMT6 cells in vitro than to cells made acutely hypoxic. In vitro, BMS-181174 and radiation produced cytotoxicity compatible with either additive or slightly supra-additive cytotoxicity. In vivo, BMS-181174 was effective in killing cells in solid EMT6 tumors. The effects of regimens combining BMS-181174 and radiation in vivo were complex. Combinations of low doses of BMS-181174 plus a large dose of radiation were very effective in killing cells in solid tumors. However, the survival curve plateaued at high doses of BMS-181174, providing evidence for a subpopulation of tumor cells which were resistant to both BMS-181174 and radiation; this was hypothesized to be a hypoxic cell population.

Hypoxic-specific cytotoxins are a new, and as yet clinically untested, mode of treatment of solid tumors. If they can be given at high enough concentrations and sufficiently often, they should prove extremely effective both in combination with standard radiotherapy and also with certain chemotherapeutic drugs. It is likely that their optimum use with turn hypoxic cells in solid tumors from a therapeutic disadvantage to an advantage. In this report, we review the rationale for the use of hypoxia-specific cytotoxins, including both the theoretical basis for combining them with fractionated radiation and the preclinical results that have been obtained to date combining these agents with fractionated radiation. We also discuss the three major classes of bioreductive drugs, including the quinones (mitomycin C, porfiromycin, and E09), nitroaromatic compounds (including RB6145 and various deoxyribonucleic acid [DNA] targeted aromatics), and finally the N-oxides of which tirapazamine is the lead compound. We also briefly discuss new approaches to bioreductive drug development. The best ways to use these agents are also covered. These include using them in combination with radiation, in combination with chemotherapy, and in combination with agents that increase tumor hypoxia. Finally, the importance of the selection of patients for clinical trials is illustrated by showing how dramatically the number of patients in a clinical trial has to increase to obtain statistical significance for a procedure targeted towards hypoxic cells if some of the patients in the trials have well-oxygenated tumors.

Laboratory studies and clinical trials are exploring the use of hypoxia-directed cytotoxic agents as adjuncts to radiotherapy. Because hypoxia and the microenviron-mental inadequacies associated with hypoxia in solid tumours inhibit cell proliferation, an essential requirement for the successful use of hypoxia-directed drugs in cancer therapy is that these drugs be toxic to quiescent tumour cells, as well as tumour cells progressing rapidly through the cell cycle. The experiments reported here compared the cytotoxicities of mitomycin C and porfiromycin to exponentially growing and plateau phase cultures of EMT6 mouse mammary tumour cells. The proliferative status of the cultures did not influence the cytotoxicity of mitomycin C under either aerobic or hypoxic conditions, or the cytotoxicity of porfiromycin in air. Exponentially growing cultures were slightly more sensitive than plateau phase cultures to porfiromycin in hypoxia, but the difference between the sensitivities of proliferating and quiescent cells was much smaller than the difference between aerobic and hypoxic cells. No evidence for repair of potentially lethal damage was found after treatment with porfiromycin in air or in hypoxia; this is in agreement with previous findings for mitomycin C. Mitomycin C and porfiromycin therefore exhibit the toxicity to quiescent cells needed for effective use as hypoxia-directed drugs for the treatment of solid tumours.

The mitomycin antibiotics, because of their preferential toxicities for hypoxic cells, have significant potential as adjuncts to ionizing radiation in the treatment of solid tumors. To gain information on the mechanism by which these agents exert their cytotoxicities to hypoxic and aerobic cells, the effects of MC, POR and several of their analogs were studied in EMT6 mammary carcinoma cells. The rate of uptake of POR by these cells was directly correlated with the cytotoxicity produced by this agent under both hypoxia and aeration. At equivalent concentrations, uptake of POR into hypoxic cells was more rapid than into aerobic cells. Hypoxic cells also accumulated the antibiotic in concentrations well in excess of that present in the extracellular medium, presumably as a result of reductive activation and covalent binding of POR to cellular structures. Such activation and binding occur to a much lesser degree in aerated cells, resulting in the rapid efflux of POR from these cells when the antibiotic is removed from the extracellular environment. To gain information on the reaction of POR with DNA, mono- and bis-adducts formed in EMT6 cells exposed to this agent were measured. Three major adducts were formed. Two were mono-adducts consisting of deoxyguanosine linked at its N2-position to the C-1 of POR and of 10-decarbamoyl POR. The third was a bis-adduct in which POR was cross-linked to two deoxyguanosines at their N2-positions. More adducts were formed in hypoxia than in air, and more bis-adducts were present in hypoxic cells. Simultaneous exposure of cells to both POR and DIC reduced the total adduct level and a new unknown adduct was formed, primarily under hypoxia. Several mitomycins were evaluated for their capacity to kill EMT6 cells and to produce DNA cross-links in both hypoxia and aeration. The number of cross-links required to produce a given amount of cell kill was similar, regardless of the mitomycin employed or the degree of oxygenation. The findings support the concept that DNA is a critical target in the action of the mitomycins and that cross-linking of the DNA creates an important lesion for cytodestruction.

The first example of C-3 alkoxylation in mitomycins has been achieved. 3 alpha-iso-Propoxy-10-O-decarbamoylmitomycin D (4) and 3 alpha-iso-propoxymitomycin D (5) were derived from mitomycin D (3) under decarbamoylation conditions with iso-propoxide. Under similar conditions 3 alpha-iso-propoxy-10-O-decarbamoylporfiromycin (8) and 3 alpha-methoxy-10-O-decarbamoylmitomycin B (11) were also derived from porfiromycin (6) and mitomycin B (9), respectively. The mechanism of generation of these novel analogs was based on the premise that the key intermediate of hydroquinone iminium salt (14) was led through the iminium salt (13), followed by alkoxide addition and oxidation.

Mitomycin G (2) was derived from porfiromycin (10b) in 3 steps via the methanesulfonate (14b) in an overall yield of 39%. On the basis of the established method for the introduction of an exomethylene group in mitomycins with a 9a-methoxy group, the preparation of biologically more important 1a-demethylmitomycin G (5) from mitomycin C (1) was accomplished by the use of a protective acetyl group on the aziridine in an overall yield of 57%. 1a-Demethylmitomycin K (6) was obtained from 5 in a yield of 42%. In a preliminary evaluation of their antitumor activity, compound 5 showed superior activity against sarcoma 180 (sc-ip) to its 1a-methyl congener, i.e., mitomycin G (2).

The solvolysis rates for the substituted C(7)-cyclohexylamino- or C(8)-cyclohexyliminomitomycins 8-19 were determined in buffered methanolic solutions (0.06 M bis-Tris.HCl, pH: 5.5) at 25 degrees C and then compared with mitomycin C (1) and porfiromycin. Kinetic studies showed that C(8)-cyclohexyliminomitomycins 8-13 underwent solvolysis 150-230 times faster than mitomycin C (1) to give C(1)-methoxymitosene products. The solvolysis rates were slightly faster than that reported for 6. The C(7)-(2'-hydroxy)cyclohexylaminomitomycins 16-19 exhibited comparable solvolysis rates with 1 and porfiromycin.

We have directly demonstrated the involvement of human NADPH: cytochrome c (P-450) reductase in the aerobic/hypoxic differential toxicity of mitomycin C and porfiromycin in living cells by varying only this enzyme in a transfected cell line. In the same manner, we have implicated rat DT-diaphorase in the aerobic and hypoxic activation of mitomycin C, but found only a minor role for this enzyme in the aerobic activation of porfiromycin. DT-Diaphorase does not cause the production of an aerobic/hypoxic differential toxicity by mitomycin C, but rather activates this agent through an oxygen insensitive pathway. The evidence suggests that DT-diaphorase activates mitomycin C more effectively than porfiromycin, with porfiromycin being preferentially activated through a one-electron reductive pathway. The therapeutic potential of mitomycin antibiotics in the treatment of cancer can be envisioned to be enhanced for those tumors containing elevated levels of the bioreductive enzymes. However, cytogenetic heterogeneity within the tumor cell population and the various environmental factors which impact on bioreductive enzyme function, including pH and oxygen tension, may subvert this approach. Moreover, if high tumor levels of a drug activating enzyme reflect high levels in the normal tissues of the patient, normal tissue damage may also be enhanced with possibly no improvement in the therapeutic ratio. Approaches utilizing gene therapy, whereby a specific bioreductive catalyst is introduced into the tumor cell population via a targeting vehicle to activate a particular prodrug, may be more effective in that not only will the prodrug of choice be specifically activated in the tumor, but the source of the catalyst, be it bacterial, rodent, or human, will not be important. In fact, in the case of DT-diaphorase and mitomycin C, the rat form of the enzyme could be advantageous because it is more effective in activating mitomycin C than is the human form of this enzyme. Assuming targeted gene delivery to malignant cells, a non-host enzyme which is more effective at activating mitomycin C than the analogous host enzyme might also result in less drug activation in normal tissue and, hence, less normal tissue toxicity.

Purified NADPH:cytochrome c (P-450) reductase (FpT; NADPH-ferrihemoprotein oxidoreductase, EC 1.6.2.4) can reductively activate mitomycin antibiotics through a one-electron reduction to species that alkylate DNA. To assess the involvement of FpT in the intracellular activation of the mitomycins, transfectants overexpressing a human FpT cDNA were established from a Chinese hamster ovary cell line deficient in dihydrofolate reductase (CHO-K1/dhfr-). The parental cell line was equisensitive to the cytotoxic action of mitomycin C under oxygenated and hypoxic conditions. In contrast, porfiromycin was considerably less cytotoxic to wild-type parental cells than was mitomycin C in air and markedly more cytotoxic under hypoxia. Two FpT-transfected clones were selected that expressed 19- and 27-fold more FpT activity than the parental line. Levels of other oxidoreductases implicated in the activation of the mitomycins were unchanged. Significant increases in sensitivity to mitomycin C and porfiromycin in the two FpT-transfected clones were seen under both oxygenated and hypoxic conditions, with the increases in toxicity being greater under hypoxia than in air. These findings demonstrate that FpT can bioreductively activate the mitomycins in living cells and implicate FpT in the differential aerobic/hypoxic toxicity of the mitomycins.

Stable acquired resistance to etoposide (VP-16) or teniposide (VM-26) in HCT116 human colon carcinoma cells and A549 human lung adenocarcinoma cells, was previously obtained by weekly 1-h exposures to either drug (B. H. Long, Natl. Cancer Inst. Monogr., 4: 123-127, 1987). The purpose of this study was to identify possible mechanisms of resistance present in these cells by using human mdr1 and topoisomerase II DNA probes, antibodies to these gene products, and P4 phage unknotting assay for topoisomerase II activities. HCT116(VP)35 cells were 9-, 7-, and 6-fold resistant to VP-16, VM-26, and Adriamycin, respectively, and showed no cross-resistance to colchicine and actinomycin D. These cells had no differences in mdr1 gene, mdr1 mRNA, or P-glycoprotein levels but displayed decreased levels of topoisomerase II mRNA and enzyme activity without any alteration of drug sensitivity displayed by the enzyme. HCT116(VM)34 cells were 5-, 7-, and 21-fold resistant to VP-16, VM-26, and Adriamycin; were cross-resistant to colchicine (7-fold) and actinomycin D (18-fold); and possessed a 9-fold increase in mdr1 mRNA and increased P-glycoprotein without evidence of mdr1 gene amplification. No alterations in topoisomerase II gene or mRNA levels, enzyme activity, or drug sensitivity were observed. A549(VP)28 and A549(VM)28 cells were 8-fold resistant to VP-16 and VM-26 and 3-fold resistant to Adriamycin. Both lines were not cross-resistant to colchicine or actinomycin D but were hypersensitive to cis-platinum. No alterations in mdr1 gene, mdr1 mRNA, or P-glycoprotein levels, but lower topoisomerase II mRNA levels and decreased enzyme activities, were observed. Of the four acquired resistant cell lines, resistance is likely related to elevated mdr1 expression in one line and to decreased topoisomerase II expression in the other three lines.

An automatic, reliable, scanning reductive electrochemical detection system is described for on-line qualitative and semi-quantitative determination and characterization ofelectro-active compounds in effluentsfrom high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) systems. Applying a static mercury drop electrode, detection can be performed at constant potentialfor quantitative analysis (current range: 50 nA F.S.) at a routine base. Applying potential scans, qualitative analysis can be performed (current range: 0"5 4 F.S.). The system consists of easily obtainable commercial hardware, combined with commonly available chromatographic and electrochemical apparatus. Special attention has been paid to automatic, multi-reference-point component detection, data storage in a Ramdisk, machine language noise filtering, automatic half-wave potential and peak potential calculation and a high-resolution paper copy of the chromatograms and voltammograms. The system has been evaluated through analysis of mitomycin C, porfiromycin and the degradation products of

Two non-transformed human skin fibroblast strains, GM38 and 3437T, were found to be more sensitive to the bioreductive alkylating agents mitomycin C (MMC) and porfiromycin (PM) under hypoxic compared to aerobic conditions. One of these strains, 3437T, was 6-7 times more resistant to these agents under aerobic exposure conditions, but was identical in sensitivity to the normal strain, GM38, under hypoxic conditions. Aerobic 3437T cells demonstrated no increased resistance to cisplatin compared to the normal strain, arguing against enhanced ability to repair DNA interstrand cross-links as the underlying explanation for the mitomycin resistance. The aerobic resistance of 3437T was not altered by dicumarol, an inhibitor of the enzyme DT-diaphorase which is believed to be involved in aerobic activation of MMC and PM. Dicumarol did increase the resistance of GM38, but not to the same level of resistance demonstrated by 3437T. These results suggest that the aerobic MMC and PM resistance of 3437T may arise, in part, from a deficiency in DT-diaphorase activity. The identical sensitivities under hypoxic conditions indicate that drug activation pathways operative in the absence of oxygen are similar in both the normal and 3437T cells.

Two non-transformed human skin fibroblast strains, GM38 and 3437T, were found to be more sensitive to the bioreductive alkylating agents mitomycin C (MMC) and porfiromycin (PM) under hypoxic compared to aerobic conditions. One of these strains, 3437T, was 6-7 times more resistant to these agents under aerobic exposure conditions, but was identical in sensitivity to the normal strain, GM38, under hypoxic conditions. Aerobic 3437T cells demonstrated no increased resistance to cisplatin compared to the normal strain, arguing against enhanced ability to repair DNA interstrand cross-links as the underlying explanation for the mitomycin resistance. The aerobic resistance of 3437T was not altered by dicumarol, an inhibitor of the enzyme DT-diaphorase which is believed to be involved in aerobic activation of MMC and PM. Dicumarol did increase the resistance of GM38, but not to the same level of resistance demonstrated by 3437T. These results suggest that the aerobic MMC and PM resistance of 3437T may arise, in part, from a deficiency in DT-diaphorase activity. The identical sensitivities under hypoxic conditions indicate that drug activation pathways operative in the absence of oxygen are similar in both the normal and 3437T cells.

Under anaerobic conditions and with proper electron donors, NADPH-cytochrome P-450 reductase (EC 1.6.2.4) and xanthine oxidase (EC 1.2.3.2) similarly reductively metabolized mitomycin C. Reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography was used to separate, detect, and isolate several metabolites. Three metabolites were identified by mass spectrometry and thin layer chromatography as 1,2-cis- and trans-2,7-diamino-1-hydroxymitosene and 2,7-diaminomitosene. Three metabolites were phosphate-dependent, and two of them were identified to be 1,2-cis- and trans-2,7-diaminomitosene 1-phosphate. The amounts of the five identified metabolites generated during the reduction of mitomycin C varied with pH and nucleophile concentration. At pH 6.5, 2,7-diaminomitosene was essentially the only metabolite formed, whereas from pH 6.8 to 8.0, trans- and cis-2,7-diamino-1-hydroxymitosene increased in quantity as 2,7-diaminomitosene decreased. The disappearance of mitomycin C and the production of metabolites were enzyme and mitomycin C concentration-dependent. Substrate saturation was not reached for either enzyme up to 5 mM mitomycin C. Electron paramagnetic resonance studies demonstrated the formation of mitomycin C radical anion as an intermediate during enzymatic activation. Our results indicate that either enzyme catalyzed the initial activation of mitomycin C to a radical anion intermediate. Subsequent spontaneous reactions, including the elimination of methanol and the opening of the aziridine ring, generate one active center at C-1 which facilitates nucleophilic attack. Simultaneous generation of two reactive centers was not observed. All five primary metabolites were metabolized further by either flavoenzyme. The secondary metabolites exhibited similar changes in their absorbance spectra and were unlike the primary metabolites, suggesting that a second alkylating center other than C-1 was generated during secondary activation. We propose that secondary activation of monofunctionally bound mitomycin C is probably a main route for the bifunctional binding of mitomycin C to macromolecules and that the cytotoxic actions of mitomycin C result from multiple metabolic activations and reactions.

Mitomycins and porfiromycin, generally nonreactive in the natural oxidized state, behave as bifunctional "alkylating" agents upon chemical or enzymatic reduction, followed by spontaneous loss of the tertiary methoxy (hydroxyl) group and formation of an aromatic indole system. Thus activated, mitomycins and porfiromycin react in vitro with purified DNA, linking its complementary strands. A high content of guanine and cytosine favors this cross-linking reaction, which is the basis of the lethal effect in vivo of these antibiotics. The activation and cross-linking reactions are discussed in terms of reactive sites on the mitomycin and DNA molecules.

Some factors affecting the cytotoxicity of porfiromycin (PM), an analogue of mitomycin C (MMC), were investigated in suspension cultures of wild-type (AA8-4) and repair-deficient (UV-20) Chinese hamster ovary cells. Oxygen was an important modulator of PM toxicity in AA8-4 cells. The aerobic toxicity was significantly less, and toxicity under extremely hypoxic conditions was significantly greater for PM than MMC. Porfiromycin cytotoxicity at intermediate O2 levels was similar to that observed previously for MMC. While the aerobic/hypoxic ratio was greater for PM than MMC, survival at intermediate oxygen concentrations could limit the therapeutic utility of these drugs as adjuncts to radiotherapy. Ascorbic acid was found to increase the aerobic, but not hypoxic, cytotoxicity of PM in AA8-4 cells, as was observed previously for MMC. Investigation of various exposure times and drug concentrations revealed that drug toxicity for both aerobic and hypoxic cells was dependent on the product of drug concentration and time, and that the aerobic/hypoxic differential observed in AA8-4 cells was constant over a broad range of exposure conditions. The sensitivity of UV-20 cells was also a linear function of concentration and time, but no aerobic/hypoxic differential was observed in these cells. It is suggested that the sensitivity of UV-20 to PM and MMC, and its lack of an hypoxic/aerobic differential could result from lethality being due to a different lesion than in wild-type cells.

We have demonstrated previously that dicoumarol (DIC) increased the generation of reactive metabolites from mitomycin C (MC) in EMT6 cells under hypoxic conditions in vitro. This increased reaction rate was associated with an increased toxicity of MC to hypoxic EMT6 cells. In contrast, aerobic cells treated with DIC in vitro were protected from MC toxicity. We now demonstrate that DIC sensitizes EMT6 cells to two MC analogues, porfiromycin (POR) and the 7-N-dimethylaminomethylene analogue of mitomycin C (BMY-25282), in hypoxia and protects cells from these agents in air, despite the fact that POR is preferentially toxic to hypoxic cells and BMY-25282 is preferentially toxic to aerobic cells. In contrast, DIC increases menadione cytotoxicity in both air and hypoxia and has no effect on the cytotoxicity of Adriamycin. We have also shown previously that the preferential toxicity of POR to hypoxic cells is associated with an increased rate of drug uptake. In the present study, DIC had no measurable effect on the uptake of [3H]POR but increased the extent of efflux of this agent. MC-induced DNA cross-links, which have been proposed as the lesions responsible for the lethality of MC, are decreased by DIC in air and increased by DIC in hypoxia, in concert with the observed modifications of MC cytotoxicity by DIC. However, in aerobic cells treated with DIC and MC, the decrease in DNA interstrand cross-links is not directly associated with a decrease in cytotoxicity. L1210 cells, which have no measurable quinone reductase activity, demonstrate increased toxicity when treated with DIC and MC in hypoxia, as observed with EMT6 cells. Unlike EMT6 cells, however, L1210 cells are not protected by DIC from MC toxicity in air. Taken together, these findings suggest that DIC is altering the intracellular metabolism of MC and that quinone reductase or another, unidentified, enzyme sensitive to DIC may be involved in activating MC to a toxic product in aerobic EMT6 cells.

The bioreductive alkylating agent porfiromycin (POR) is more toxic to EMT6 cells that are hypoxic at the time of treatment than to aerobic cells. The toxicity of POR to hypoxic EMT6 cells in vitro was similar to that of mitomycin C (MC): the aerobic toxicity of POR was considerably less than that of MC. Treatment of cells in vitro with POR before and during irradiation did not sensitize either hypoxic or aerobic cells to X rays; instead, only additive cytotoxicity was produced. In contrast, treatment of solid EMT6 tumors in vivo with POR plus radiation produced supra-additive cytotoxicity, as assessed by analyses of the complete dose-response curves for the killing of tumor cells by radiation alone or by POR alone. The supra-additivity of the combination regimens appeared to reflect the preferential killing by each agent of those tumor cells which were in an environment conferring resistance to the other agent. In contrast, combinations of POR and X rays produced only additive cytotoxicities to marrow CFU-GM. Supra-additive antineoplastic effects were obtained at doses of POR which produced little hematologic or other host toxicity. The complementary cytotoxicities of radiation and POR to cells in different microenvironments in solid tumors and the absence of a similar effect in normal tissue make optimized regimens combining radiotherapy and POR unusually promising for the treatment of solid tumors.

Hypoxic cells may limit the curability of solid tumors by conventional chemotherapeutic agents and radiotherapy. Agents which are preferentially toxic to cells with low oxygen contents could therefore be useful as adjuncts to the regimens now used to treat these cancers. To date, the best agent of this type that we have tested is porfiromycin. Porfiromycin is similar to mitomycin C in its toxicity to hypoxic EMT6 cells in vitro but has much less toxicity than mitomycin C to well-oxygenated EMT6 cells. EMT6 cell sonicates reduce mitomycin C and porfiromycin to reactive electrophiles at similar rates under hypoxic conditions, a finding that correlates with cytotoxicity, whereas the rate of production of reactive species from both drugs is very slow under aerobic conditions. We also show that porfiromycin is capable of killing hypoxic radiation-resistant cells in solid EMT6 tumors. Appropriate regimens combining porfiromycin (which preferentially kills hypoxic cells) and radiation (which preferentially kills aerated cells) may therefore be especially efficacious for the treatment of solid tumors.

When the normal fermentation medium for the production of mitomycin C with Streptomyces caespitosus is supplemented with a number of primary amines, two new types of mitomycin analogs described as Type I and Type II are produced. Type I analogs are related to mitomycin C with the amine substitution at position C7 on the mitosane ring. Type II analogs also contain the same substitutions at C7 but the conformation of the mitosane ring is related to mitomycin B having an OH at positions C9a and a methyl substituted aziridine. The products obtained from the supplementation of the medium with methylamine, ethylamine, propylamine, propargylamine and 2-methylallylamine were isolated and characterized. In all cases the Type I analogs are more active in a prophage induction test and against L1210 lymphatic leukemia in mice. A number of other amines have been tested and shown to yield new products that have not yet been isolated. No secondary amines are incorporated.

The mechanism of uptake and efflux of porfiromycin (PFM) by HCT 116 human colon carcinoma cells or freshly obtained human RBC was investigated. The time course of uptake of radioactivity upon exposure of HCT 116 cells to [14C]PFM showed one fast and one slow phase of linear increase. The initial phase of PFM uptake was not saturable with external drug concentrations from 2 to 100 microM. PFM accumulation was temperature dependent with a temperature coefficient (Q10 24-37 degrees C) of 2.3 +/- 0.3. PFM uptake was not affected either by individual inhibitors such as 1 mM 2,4-dinitrophenol, sodium azide, iodoacetic acid, ouabain, 0.02 mM oligomycin, p-hydroxylmercuribenzoate, 0.2 mM N-ethylmaleimide, or by combinations of inhibitors. PFM uptake did not demonstrate competitive inhibition by unlabeled PFM and mitomycin C. Efflux of cellular radioactivity was not affected by the above mentioned inhibitors or by verapamil, diltiazem, or trifluoperazine. Only aliphatic alcohols accelerated the initial influx rate. The RBC, however, only exhibited the initial fast accumulation of [14C]PFM, and all the 14C accumulated by RBC was exchangeable. These data demonstrate that the uptake and the efflux of PFM in HCT 116 cells and RBC comprise a passive diffusion process.

Solid neoplasms may contain deficient or poorly functional vascular beds, a property that leads to the formation of hypoxic tumor cells, which form a therapeutically resistant cell population within the tumor that is difficult to eradicate by ionizing irradiation and most existing chemotherapeutic agents. As an approach to the therapeutic attack of hypoxic cells, we have measured the cytotoxicity and DNA lesions produced by the bioreductive alkylating agents mitomycin C and porfiromycin, two structurally similar antibiotics, in oxygen-deficient and aerobic cells. Mitomycin C and porfiromycin were preferentially cytotoxic to hypoxic EMT6 cells in culture, with porfiromycin producing a greater differential kill of hypoxic EMT6 cells relative to their oxygenated counterparts than did mitomycin C. Chinese hamster ovary cells were more resistant to these quinone antibiotics; although in this cell line, porfiromycin was significantly more cytotoxic to hypoxic cells than to aerobic cells, and the degree of oxygenation did not affect the toxicity of mitomycin C. Alkaline elution methodology was utilized to study the formation of DNA single-strand breaks and DNA interstrand cross-links produced by mitomycin C and porfiromycin in both EMT6 and Chinese hamster ovary cells. A negligible quantity of DNA single-strand breaks and DNA interstrand cross-links were produced in hypoxic and aerobic Chinese hamster ovary cells by exposure to mitomycin C or porfiromycin, a finding consistent with the considerably lower sensitivity of this cell line to these agents. In EMT6 tumor cells, no single-strand breaks appeared to be produced by these antitumor antibiotics under both hypoxic and aerobic conditions; however, a significant number of DNA interstrand cross-links were formed in this cell line following drug treatment, with substantially more DNA interstrand cross-linking being produced under hypoxic conditions. Mitomycin C and porfiromycin caused the same amount of cross-linking under conditions of oxygen deficiency; however, mitomycin C produced considerably more DNA cross-linking than did porfiromycin in oxygenated cells. DNA interstrand cross-links were observed in hypoxic EMT6 cells throughout a 24-h period following removal of mitomycin C and porfiromycin, with a decrease in DNA interstrand cross-links observed at 24 h. An increase in DNA interstrand cross-links occurred in aerobic EMT6 cells treated with mitomycin C and porfiromycin at 6 h after drug removal, with a decrease in these lesions being observed by 24 h, suggesting that the rate of formation of the cross-links may be slower and the removal of cross-links more rapid under aerobic conditions.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

THE marked sensitivity in vitro1 of various metabolic pathways in T. equiperdum to actinomycin D, mitomycin C, porfiromycin, phleomycin, and pactamycin indicated that these tumour-inhibitory antibiotics may be trypanocidal in vivo. Our results show this to be so with all except pactamycin, and also that phleomycin and porfiromycin in particular cured a high percentage of infected mice at certain dosages.

Cyanide and phenethyl alcohol greatly enhance the lethal action of mitomycin C, porfiromycin, and streptonigrin on an exponentially growing culture of Escherichia coli. Dinitrophenol similarly enhances the lethal action of mitomycin C and porfiromycin, but only slightly that of streptonigrin. Phenethyl alcohol may be functioning in these experiments as an inhibitor of electron transport.

The bioreductive alkylating agent porfiromycin (POR) is more toxic to EMT6 cells that are hypoxic at the time of treatment than to aerobic cells. The toxicity of POR to hypoxic EMT6 cells in vitro was similar to that of mitomycin C (MC): the aerobic toxicity of POR was considerably less than that of MC. Treatment of cells in vitro with POR before and during irradiation did not sensitize either hypoxic or aerobic cells to X rays; instead, only additive cytotoxicity was produced. In contrast, treatment of solid EMT6 tumors in vivo with POR plus radiation produced supra-additive cytotoxicity, as assessed by analyses of the complete dose-response curves for the killing of tumor cells by radiation alone or by POR alone. The supra-additivity of the combination regimens appeared to reflect the preferential killing by each agent of those tumor cells which were in an environment conferring resistance to the other agent. In contrast, combinations of POR and X rays produced only additive cytotoxicities to marrow CFU-GM. Supra-additive antineoplastic effects were obtained at doses of POR which produced little hematologic or other host toxicity. The complementary cytotoxicities of radiation and POR to cells in different microenvironments in solid tumors and the absence of a similar effect in normal tissue make optimized regimens combining radiotherapy and POR unusually promising for the treatment of solid tumors.