tiazofurin and 8-chloro-cyclic-adenosine-monophosphate

Novel antineoplastic agents, 8-chloroadenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (8-Cl-cAMP) and tiazofurin (TR), have been shown to be effective against different malignant cells. Through specific mechanisms of action they modulate the cellular signal transduction pathway, thereby causing growth inhibition, cell differentiation, and apoptosis. The aim of this work was the in vitro study of either 8-Cl-cAMP or TR effects on B16/F10 and B16/C3 mouse melanoma cell growth and cell death. Significant cell growth inhibition was obtained after the application of 8-Cl-cAMP or TR. The presence and number of apoptotic cells was evaluated using agarose gel electrophoresis and flow cytometry. The number of apoptotic nuclei, after treatment with antineoplastic agents, did not significantly change in B16/F10 cells, although it did show a significant increase in B16/C3 cells. The expression of c-myc did not significantly change in B16/F10 cells after treatment with 8-Cl-cAMP or TR. The same results were obtained in B16/C3 cells after treatment with 8-Cl-cAMP. The level of c-myc expression showed a significant increase in B16/C3 cells after treatment with TR. Concerning the effects that the analyzed agents exhibited on melanoma cells and other cancer cells, further preclinical studies of these drugs will potentially lead to better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of their action and finally more efficient therapeutic approaches to malignant diseases.

Topics: 8-Bromo Cyclic Adenosine Monophosphate; Animals; Antineoplastic Agents; Apoptosis; Base Sequence; Cell Division; Cell Line, Tumor; DNA Primers; Melanoma, Experimental; Mice; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Ribavirin

Compounds that could block tumor angiogenesis and induce tumor cell differentiation in malignant gliomas represent a very valuable tool in anticancer treatments. In this paper, we demonstrate that more selective drugs, which interfere with specific cellular targets, could treat glioma more effectively. 8-Cl-cAMP and tiazofurin (TR) are site-specific analogs that selectively inhibit PKAI and IMP dehydrogenase, are directly involved in cell proliferation and apoptosis, and mediate the mitogenic effects of different oncogenes and growth factors. In this study, we have examined influence of 8-Cl-cAMP and TR on the production of an angiogenic factor [vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)] by human glioblastoma U251 MG cells, as well as their influence on the expression of a differentiating marker [glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP)]. Using a cell proliferation assay, VEGF enzyme-linked immunoassay and GFAP immunocytochemistry we demonstrated the effects of these compounds. Our results demonstrate that 8-Cl-cAMP and TR decrease VEGF production by U251 MG cells, and that under the influence of both agents these cells increase GFAP expression and change their morphology, becoming more differentiated. These findings also suggest that 8-Cl-cAMP and TR may have potential for further investigation of their antiangiogenic and differentiational role in malignant disease such as human gliomas.

Topics: 8-Bromo Cyclic Adenosine Monophosphate; Antineoplastic Agents; Cell Differentiation; Cell Division; Endothelial Growth Factors; Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; Glioblastoma; Humans; Lymphokines; Ribavirin; Tumor Cells, Cultured; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors

8-Chloroadenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (8-Cl-cAMP) is a potential new anticancer agent, but its mechanism of action is not clearly defined. In this work we have studied the effect of various heat inactivated and heat untreated human sera in the absence or in the presence of a nonspecific phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitor, IBMX, or of nucleoside transport inhibitor and cGMP-specific PDE inhibitor dipiridamole (DP), or of inosine-monophosphatedehydrogenase (IMPDH) inhibitor, tiazofurin, (T), on the antiproliferative 8-Cl-cAMP action towards two human malignant cell lines, K562 and HeLa cells, in vitro. Cell survival was determined 72 hrs after the agents action, using MTT assay. The results obtained, indicated the similar inhibitory effect of 8-Cl-cAMP on HeLa cell survival in the presence of four different heat untreated human sera (IC50 = 4-4.8 microM). Serum heat inactivation caused decrease in 8-Cl-cAMP antiproliferative action depending on the blood donor (IC50 = 23 microM, 15 microM, 19 microM, and 9 microM) and suggesting that some thermolabile ingredient(s) present in sera is involved, at least partially, in the induction or permittance of antiproliferative 8-Cl-cAMP action. K562 Cells were not as much resistant to 8-Cl-cAMP as HeLa cells, or mouse melanoma B16 cells; in the presence of heat untreated FBS, IC50 = 16 microM, while for B16 cells IC50 was 8 microM. Different human sera show different effect on 8-Cl-cAMP action on K562 cells: IC50 = 7.5 microM and 16.5 microM. In the presence of heat inactivated human sera 8-Cl-cAMP IC50 concentrations were higher, with relevant mutual differences. The effect of different sera on 8-Cl-cAMP action was only partly abrogated in the presence of a nonspecific PDE inhibitor, IBMX, suggesting that the serum PDE action is one of the various factors contributing to the induction of 8-Cl-cAMP antiproliferative action. Nucleoside transport inhibitor and cGMP-specific PDE inhibitor dipiridamole inhibited the antiproliferative 8-Cl-cAMP action to HeLa and K562 cells. Tiazofurin and 8-Cl-cAMP acted as antagonists on HeLa, but not on K562 cells.

Topics: 1-Methyl-3-isobutylxanthine; 8-Bromo Cyclic Adenosine Monophosphate; Animals; Antineoplastic Agents; Blood; Cell Division; Cell Survival; Culture Media; Dipyridamole; Enzyme Inhibitors; HeLa Cells; Humans; K562 Cells; Kinetics; Melanoma, Experimental; Mice; Ribavirin; Tumor Cells, Cultured

Tiazofurin and 8-Cl-cAMP are novel chemotherapeutic agents shown to be effective against various cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. They act through distinct mechanisms that might modulate the signal transduction pathway, which causes growth inhibition, differentiation and down-regulation of c-ras and c-myc oncogene expression. We examined the effects of tiazofurin and 8-Cl-cAMP on colony formation of HT-29 human colon cancer and BxPC-3 and PANC-1 human pancreatic cancer cell lines. The IC50 of 8-Cl-cAMP was 0.1 and 0.2 microM in the pancreatic and colon cancer cell lines, respectively, and tiazofurin yielded IC50s from 4 (PANC-1) to 18 microM (HT-29). Simultaneous incubation with 8-Cl-cAMP and tiazofurin had additive effects on the inhibition of colony formation in the three examined cell lines. These results indicate possible clinical usefulness of a combination of tiazofurin and 8-Cl-cAMP in the treatment of colon and pancreatic carcinomas.

Topics: 8-Bromo Cyclic Adenosine Monophosphate; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols; Colonic Neoplasms; Drug Synergism; Humans; IMP Dehydrogenase; Pancreatic Neoplasms; Ribavirin; Signal Transduction; Tumor Cells, Cultured; Tumor Stem Cell Assay