5-methyltetrahydrofolate and Leukemia--Lymphoid

We studied the effect of (dl)-5-methyltetrahydrofolate (mTHF) on the lymphoid cell lines BALM 3, CCRF-SB, CEM, Daudi, MOLT 4 and P3HR1, employing doses in the mM range. The growth of all the lines studied was inhibited by mTHF in a dose-dependent fashion. mTHF demonstrated a substantial cytocidal effect on leukemic lymphoid cells of up to 3 log, as measured by limiting dilution analysis, at a concentration of 10(-3) M. At this dose normal human lymphocyte viability was not affected, and their mitogen-induced proliferation was only slightly impaired. We tested the effect of high doses of mTHF on a clone of CEM cells (CEM-MTXr) infected with the pSDHT retrovirus able to transduce a dominant-acting gene encoding a mutant, less efficient, dihydrofolate reductase. CEM-MTXr cells were inhibited by high doses of mTHF to the same degree as the parental line, thus suggesting that the enzymatic reactions leading to folate reduction are not involved in the cytocidal effect of mTHF.

Topics: Cell Cycle; Cell Division; Cell Survival; Humans; Kinetics; Leukemia, Lymphoid; Lymphocyte Activation; Lymphocytes; Tetrahydrofolates; Tumor Cells, Cultured

The growth inhibitory effects of 5-fluorouracil (FUra) or 5-fluoro-2'-deoxyuridine (FdUrd) combined with 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-CH3-H4PteGlu) were determined, as a function of time, dose, and sequence of exposure, on human T-lymphoblast leukemia cells, CCRF-CEM. Synergistic inhibitory effects on cell growth were obtained when exponentially growing CCRF-CEM cells were exposed to 5-CH3-H4PteGlu (1-100 microM) for 4 hr and to FUra (250 microM) or FdUrd (0.5 microM) during the last 2 hr. Synergism was dependent on 5-CH3-H4PteGlu dose (100 greater than 10 greater than 1 microM) and did not occur at 0.1 microM. No clear dependence of synergism on sequence was observed with FUra and 5-CH3-H4PteGlu combinations (5-CH3-H4PteGlu----FUra,5-CH3-H4PteGlu + FUra, or FUra----5-CH3-H4PteGlu). With 5-CH3-H4PteGlu and FdUrd combinations, synergism was dependent on sequence of exposure (5-CH3-H4PteGlu + FdUrd, 5-CH3-H4PteGlu----FdUrd were synergistic, but FdUrd----5-CH3-H4PteGlu was not). Thymidine (0.1 microM), added after drug treatment, substantially rescued CCRF-CEM cells from 5-CH3-H4PteGlu----FUra cytotoxicity. L-methionine (1500 mg/l) completely protected CCRF-CEM cells from enhanced cytotoxicity of the combination, 5-CH3-H4PteGlu-FdUrd. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that the mechanism by which 5-CH3-H4PteGlu potentiates fluoropyrimidine cytotoxicity is the enhancement of complex formation between thymidylate synthase and 5-fluorodeoxyuridylate, as a consequence of an increase of intracellular levels of 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate generated from 5-CH3-H4PteGlu. Also, enhanced stability of the complex in the presence of high levels of this folate coenzyme may contribute to the synergism observed. These data provide a rationale basis for further trials of folate coenzymes and fluoropyrimidine combinations in the clinic.

Topics: Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols; Cell Division; Cell Line; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Drug Synergism; Floxuridine; Fluorouracil; Humans; Leukemia, Lymphoid; Methionine; Tetrahydrofolates; Thymidine

Influx kinetics and inhibitor specificity have been compared for the transport of methotrexate, 5-methyltetrahydrofolate, and folate in CCRF-CEM human lymphoblastoid cells. Influx of each folate compound proceeded with approximately the same Vmax, fluctuated in the same fashion with the ionic composition of the medium, and was blocked by low concentrations of an N-hydroxysuccinimide ester of methotrexate in both an anion-deficient buffer and in a buffered saline medium containing physiological concentrations of glucose and bicarbonate. Moreover, methotrexate influx was inhibited by 5-methyltetrahydrofolate and folate, and the inhibition constants (Ki) of the latter compounds were equivalent to their Kt values for half-maximal influx. Folate influx was likewise inhibited by methotrexate. The Ki for methotrexate was equivalent to its Kt for influx, and o-phthalate and phosphate each inhibited folate and methotrexate with the same degree of effectiveness. Various reversible and irreversible inhibitors reduced the influx of each folate substrate by greater than 90%, and the progression of inhibition in each case was indicative of a single uptake component. Folate influx exhibited the same high sensitivity to inhibitors of methotrexate influx when measurements were performed at folate concentrations near the Kt for influx (10-50 microM) or at concentrations approximating physiological conditions (5-20 nM). These results indicate that CCRF-CEM cells possess a single shared transport system for the uptake of methotrexate, 5-methyltetrahydrofolate, and folate and that other high- or low-affinity uptake processes are not present in these cells.

Topics: Biological Transport; Buffers; Cell Line; Folic Acid; Humans; Kinetics; Leukemia, Lymphoid; Methotrexate; Phthalic Acids; Tetrahydrofolates

The liquid-chromatographic measurement of 5-methyltetrahydrofolate in biological fluids is described. The sensitivity of the spectrophotofluorometric detector used allows direct evaluation of basal concentrations of the compound in plasma. Because it is resolved from the other common folates and from methotrexate, the procedure is suitable for monitoring it in plasma of patients receiving high-dose therapy with methotrexate.

Topics: Adult; Animals; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Dogs; Folic Acid; Humans; Leucovorin; Leukemia, Lymphoid; Lymphoma; Male; Middle Aged; Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet; Tetrahydrofolates; Time Factors