oligomycins and sulofenur

Diarylsulfonylurea (DSU) antitumor agents represent a new class of oncolytic compounds with an unknown, potentially novel, mechanism of action. At high concentrations of several of these agents, cytotoxicity appears to be a consequence of uncoupling of mitochondria. However, the mechanism of action at pharmacologically achievable concentrations is unknown. To further study these agents a subline of human colon carcinoma, GC3/c1, was selected for resistance to N-(5-indanylsulfonyl)-N'-(4-chlorophenyl)urea (ISCU) (Sulofenur). This clone (designated LYC5) was stably resistant for 2 years in the absence of selection pressure and was characterized for cross-resistance to other antitumor DSU and therapeutically used oncolytic agents. LYC5 was cross-resistant to six of seven DSU analogues examined when cells were exposed to drugs for 7 days. However, the degree of resistance was inversely related to the potency of the individual DSU against the parental GC3/c1 clone. Consequently, against LYC5 cells there was a relatively narrow range for concentrations inhibiting colony formation by 50% (4-fold), compared with that in GC3/c1 cells (12-fold range). With a single exception, each DSU examined caused uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation in isolated mitochondria at 50 microM, and data suggest that cytotoxicity in LYC5 cells may be a consequence of mitochondrial impairment. In contrast, LYC5 cells were collaterally sensitive to the mitochondrial toxins rotenone, antimycin, and oligomycin, by 11.4-, 7.2-, and 36.9-fold respectively. LYC5 cells were also collaterally sensitive to vincristine (7.7-fold), Actinomycin D (5.9-fold), and rhodamine-123 (10.5-fold), agents associated with P-glycoprotein (Pgp)-mediated multidrug resistance (MDR). LYC5 cells were slightly more sensitive to Melphalan and doxorubicin (2.8- and 2.3-fold, respectively) but not to cisplatin or dideazatetrahydrofolic acid. Collateral sensitivity to vincristine and Actinomycin D was consistent with decreased Pgp levels in LYC5 cells. Immunohistochemical staining and Western blotting with anti-Pgp antibodies indicated an 8-fold reduction in Pgp levels in LYC5 cells, relative to expression in parental GC3/c1 cells. Consequently, association of mitochondrial toxins with resistance in MDR KB8-5 cells was examined in the presence or absence of the MDR-reversing agent verapamil. KB8-5 cells had equal or greater sensitivity, compared with parental KB3-1 cells, to rotenone, antimycin, and oligomycin and al

Topics: Antimycin A; Antineoplastic Agents; ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Member 1; Carrier Proteins; Drug Interactions; Drug Resistance; Humans; Membrane Glycoproteins; Mitochondria; Oligomycins; Rotenone; Sulfonylurea Compounds; Tumor Cells, Cultured; Verapamil

Diarylsulfonylureas, such as N-(4-chlorophenyl)aminocarbonyl-2,3-dihydro-1-indene-5-sulfonamide (LY186641, Sulofenur) and N-(4-chlorophenyl)aminocarbonyl-4-methylbenzene sulfonamide (LY181984), have been shown to be effective antitumor agents in a variety of in vivo and in vitro animal models. Their mechanism of action is unknown but does not appear to be the result of nonselective destruction of actively dividing cell populations. Mitochondria have been shown to accumulate Sulofenur and therefore may be targets of drug action. The purpose of these investigations was to examine the effects of a variety of diarylsulfonylureas in mitochondria and attempt to determine the relevance of these changes to antitumor activity. Many of the diarylsulfonylureas which were effective antitumor agents in animal models were also uncouplers of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. They increased state 4 respiration and dissipated the mitochondrial membrane potential in a concentration-related fashion. The mechanism of uncoupling appeared to be related to a dissociable hydrogen ion as these molecules had pKa values that ranged from 6.0 to 6.2 and were highly lipophilic. Thus, the uncoupling action appears to be the result of hydrogen ion translocation. The mechanism of antitumor activity does not appear to be the result of uncoupling as no correlation was evident between inhibition of cell growth and uncoupling action of a variety of active and inactive diarylsulfonylureas. In vitro, Sulofenur is cytotoxic at high concentrations and inhibits cell growth at lower concentrations in the absence of any overt cell kill. The inhibition of cell growth also did not appear to be related to the uncoupling action of these drugs. In contrast, uncoupling may have played a partial role in the early, high exposure cell kill that can occur with these compounds.

Topics: Adenosine Triphosphate; Animals; Antineoplastic Agents; Cell Death; Cell Division; Humans; Male; Membrane Potentials; Mice; Mice, Nude; Mitochondria, Liver; Oligomycins; Oxygen Consumption; Rats; Rats, Inbred F344; Sulfonylurea Compounds; Tumor Cells, Cultured