valinomycin and Breast-Neoplasms

We report the discovery of a series of new drug leads that have potent activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis as well as against other bacteria, fungi, and a malaria parasite. The compounds are analogues of the new tuberculosis (TB) drug SQ109 (1), which has been reported to act by inhibiting a transporter called MmpL3, involved in cell wall biosynthesis. We show that 1 and the new compounds also target enzymes involved in menaquinone biosynthesis and electron transport, inhibiting respiration and ATP biosynthesis, and are uncouplers, collapsing the pH gradient and membrane potential used to power transporters. The result of such multitarget inhibition is potent inhibition of TB cell growth, as well as very low rates of spontaneous drug resistance. Several targets are absent in humans but are present in other bacteria, as well as in malaria parasites, whose growth is also inhibited.

Topics: Anti-Infective Agents; Antineoplastic Agents; Antitubercular Agents; Bacteria; Breast Neoplasms; Cell Proliferation; Drug Design; Drug Discovery; Female; Fungi; Humans; Malaria, Falciparum; MCF-7 Cells; Membrane Transport Proteins; Models, Molecular; Molecular Structure; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Plasmodium falciparum; Structure-Activity Relationship; Tuberculosis; Tumor Cells, Cultured

Mitochondrial membrane potential is essential for adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthesis by oxidative phosphorylation, and its abolition is an early event during apoptosis, a type of cell death commonly exhibited by tumor cells responding to treatment. Dissipation of mitochondrial membrane potential can be specifically induced using the K+ ion channel-opening agent valinomycin and has been used in this study to determine how the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential could influence 18F-FDG incorporation.. MCF-7 cells were treated with valinomycin for 30 min, inducing loss of mitochondrial membrane potential as determined using flow cytometry with the JC-1 probe. 18F-FDG incorporation, the initial rate of O-methyl-D-glucose incorporation (a measure of glucose transport), hexokinase activity and subcellular distribution, ATP content using bioluminescence, and lactate production were determined on control and valinomycin-treated cells.. A 30-min treatment of MCF-7 cells with 1 micromol of valinomycin per liter resulted in absence of red fluorescence from JC-1, indicative of dissipation of mitochondrial membrane potential. 18F-FDG incorporation was significantly increased by 30 min of treatment with valinomycin and was still apparent after 3.5 h of incubation. Hexokinase activity and subcellular distribution were not significantly different between control cells and cells treated for 30 min with valinomycin. Glucose transport was moderately though significantly increased, and lactate production was also increased.. Loss of mitochondrial membrane potential is associated with increased 18F-FDG incorporation, glucose transport, and lactate production.

Topics: Adenosine Triphosphate; Breast Neoplasms; Cell Line, Tumor; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; Humans; Membrane Potentials; Mitochondria; Radiopharmaceuticals; Valinomycin

MDR1 (multidrug resistance) P-glycoprotein (Pgp; ABCB1) decreases intracellular concentrations of structurally diverse drugs. Although Pgp is generally thought to be an efflux transporter, the mechanism of action remains elusive. To determine whether Pgp confers drug resistance through changes in transmembrane potential (E(m)) or ion conductance, we studied electrical currents and drug transport in Pgp-negative MCF-7 cells and MCF-7/MDR1 stable transfectants that were established and maintained without chemotherapeutic drugs. Although E(m) and total membrane conductance did not differ between MCF-7 and MCF-7/MDR1 cells, Pgp reduced unidirectional influx and steady-state cellular content of Tc-Sestamibi, a substrate for MDR1 Pgp, without affecting unidirectional efflux of substrate from cells. Depolarization of membrane potentials with various concentrations of extracellular K(+) in the presence of valinomycin did not inhibit the ability of Pgp to reduce intracellular concentration of Tc-Sestamibi, strongly suggesting that the drug transport activity of MDR1 Pgp is independent of changes in E(m) or total ion conductance. Tetraphenyl borate, a lipophilic anion, enhanced unidirectional influx of Tc-Sestamibi to a greater extent in MCF-7/MDR1 cells than in control cells, suggesting that Pgp may, directly or indirectly, increase the positive dipole potential within the plasma membrane bilayer. Overall, these data demonstrate that changes in E(m) or macroscopic conductance are not coupled with function of Pgp in multidrug resistance. The dominant effect of MDR1 Pgp in this system is reduction of drug influx, possibly through an increase in intramembranous dipole potential.

Topics: Adenocarcinoma; ATP Binding Cassette Transporter, Subfamily B, Member 1; Biological Transport; Breast Neoplasms; Cell Membrane; Drug Resistance, Multiple; Female; Humans; Ionophores; Membrane Potentials; Organotechnetium Compounds; Patch-Clamp Techniques; Tumor Cells, Cultured; Valinomycin

The mechanism of mammalian polyamine transport is poorly understood. We have investigated the role of plasma-membrane potential (DeltaPsipm) in putrescine and spermidine uptake in ZR-75-1 human breast cancer cells. The rate of [3H]putrescine and [3H]spermidine uptake was inversely correlated to extracellular [K+] ([K+]o) and to DeltaPsipm, as determined by the accumulation of [3H]tetraphenylphosphonium bromide (TPP). Inward transport was unaffected by a selective decrease in mitochondrial potential (DeltaPsimit) induced by valinomycin at low [K+]o, but was reduced by approximately 60% by the rheogenic protonophore carbonylcyanide m-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP), which rapidly (<=15 min) collapsed both DeltaPsipm and DeltaPsimit. Plasma-membrane depolarization by high [K+]o or CCCP did not enhance putrescine efflux in cells pre-loaded with [3H]putrescine, suggesting that decreased uptake caused by these agents did not result from a higher excretion rate. On the other hand, the electroneutral K+/H+ exchanger nigericin (10 microM) co-operatively depressed -3H-TPP, [3H]putrescine and [3H]spermidine uptake in the presence of ouabain. Suppression of putrescine uptake by nigericin+ouabain was Na+-dependent, suggesting that plasma-membrane repolarization by the electrogenic Na+ pump was required upon acidification induced by nigericin, due to the activation of the Na+/H+ antiporter. The sole addition of 5-N, N-hexamethylene amiloride, a potent inhibitor of the Na+/H+ antiporter, strongly inhibited putrescine uptake in a competitive fashion -Ki 4.0+/-0.9 (S.D.) microM-, while being a weaker antagonist of spermidine uptake. The potency of a series of amiloride analogues to inhibit putrescine uptake was clearly different from that of the Na+/H+ antiporter, and resembled that noted for Na+ co-transport proteins. These data demonstrate that putrescine and spermidine influx is mainly unidirectional and strictly depends on DeltaPsipm, but not DeltaPsimit. This report also provides first evidence for a high-affinity amiloride-binding site on the putrescine carrier, which provides new insight into the biochemical properties of this transporter.

Topics: Amiloride; Animals; Binding Sites; Biological Transport; Breast Neoplasms; Carbonyl Cyanide m-Chlorophenyl Hydrazone; Cell Membrane; Female; Humans; Indicators and Reagents; Kinetics; Mammals; Membrane Potentials; Onium Compounds; Organophosphorus Compounds; Potassium; Putrescine; Sodium-Hydrogen Exchangers; Spermidine; Tumor Cells, Cultured; Valinomycin

The mechanism of the G0/G1 arrest and inhibition of proliferation by quinidine, a potassium channel blocker, was investigated in a tissue culture cell line, MCF-7, derived from a human breast carcinoma. The earliest measurable effect of quinidine on the cell cycle was a decrease in the fraction of cells in S phase at 12 hr, followed by the accumulation of cells in G1/G0 phases at 30 hr. Arrest and release of the cell cycle established quinidine as a cell synchronization agent, with a site of arrest in early G1 preceding the lovastatin G1 arrest site by 5-6 hr. There was a close correspondence among the concentration-dependent arrest by quinidine in G1, depolarization of the membrane potential, and the inhibition of ATP-sensitive potassium currents, supporting a model in which hyperpolarization of the membrane potential and progression through G1 are functionally linked. Furthermore, the G1 arrest by quinidine was overcome by valinomycin, a potassium ionophore that hyperpolarized the membrane potential in the presence of quinidine. With sustained exposure of MCF-7 cells to quinidine, expression of the Ki67 antigen, a marker for cells in cycle, decreased, and apoptotic and necrotic cell death ensued. We conclude that MCF-7 cells that fail to progress through the quinidine-arrest site in G1 die.

Topics: Anti-Arrhythmia Agents; Antineoplastic Agents; Breast Neoplasms; Cell Death; Cell Survival; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; G1 Phase; Humans; Ionophores; Ki-67 Antigen; Lovastatin; Membrane Potentials; Potassium Channels; Quinidine; Resting Phase, Cell Cycle; S Phase; Time Factors; Tumor Cells, Cultured; Valinomycin

The mechanism of polyamine uptake in mammalian cells is still poorly understood. The role of inorganic cations in polyamine transport was investigated in ZR-75-1 human breast cancer cells. Although strongly temperature dependent, neither putrescine nor spermidine uptake was mediated by a Na+ cotransport mechanism. In fact, Na+ and cholinium competitively inhibited putrescine uptake relative to that measured in a sucrose-based medium. On the other hand, ouabain, H+, Na+, and Ca2+ ionophores, as well as dissipation of the K+ diffusion potential, strongly inhibited polyamine uptake in keeping with a major role of membrane potential in that process. Polyamine transport was inversely dependent on ambient osmolality at near physiological values. Putrescine transport was inhibited by 70% by decreasing extracellular pH from 7.2 to 6.2, whereas spermidine uptake had a more acidic optimum. Deletion of extracellular Ca2+ inhibited putrescine uptake more strongly than chelation of intracellular Ca2+. In fact, bound divalent cations were absolutely required for polyamine transport, as shown after brief chelation of the cell monolayers with EDTA. Either Mn2+, Ca2+, or Mg2+ sustained putrescine uptake activity with high potency (Km = 50-300 microM). Mn2+ was a much stronger activator of spermidine than putrescine uptake, suggesting a specific role for this metal in polyamine transport. Other transition metals (Co2+, Ni2+, Cu2+, and Zn2+) were mixed activators/antagonists of carrier activity, while Sr2+ and Ba2+ were very weak agonists, while not interfering with Ca2+/Mg(2+)-dependent transport. Thus, polyamine uptake in human breast tumor cells is negatively affected by ionic strength and osmolality, and is driven, at least in part, by the membrane potential, but not by the Na+ electrochemical gradient. Moreover, the polyamine carrier, or a tightly coupled accessory component, appears to have a high-affinity binding site for divalent cations, which is essential for the uptake mechanism.

Topics: Biological Transport; Breast Neoplasms; Calcimycin; Calcium; Carbonyl Cyanide m-Chlorophenyl Hydrazone; Cations, Divalent; Cations, Monovalent; Cell Line; Egtazic Acid; Gramicidin; Humans; Kinetics; Ouabain; Putrescine; Sodium; Spermidine; Temperature; Tumor Cells, Cultured; Valinomycin; Zinc

Quantitative studies of MCF-7 cells (derived from human breast adenocarcinoma) and CV-1 cells (from normal African green monkey kidney epithelium), using the permeant cationic compound tetraphenylphosphonium (TPP), in conjunction with fluorescence microscopy using rhodamine 123 (Rh123), indicate that the mitochondrial and plasma membrane potentials affect both uptake and retention of these compounds. Under conditions that depolarize the plasma membrane, uptake and retention of TPP and Rh123, driven only by the mitochondrial membrane potential, is greater in MCF-7 than in CV-1. An ionophore that dissipates the mitochondrial membrane potential of MCF-7 cells causes them to resemble CV-1 cells by decreasing uptake and retention. Hyperpolarizing the mitochondrial membrane of CV-1 increases accumulation and prolongs retention; hyperpolarization of the plasma membrane further heightens this effect, causing the uptake of CV-1 cells to resemble that of MCF-7 cells even more closely. The greater uptake and retention by MCF-7 appears to be a consequence of elevated mitochondrial and plasma membrane potentials. The plasma membrane potential affects mitochondrial retention of TPP and Rh123 and its role in enhancing the effect of a difference in mitochondrial membrane potential is explained.

Topics: Adenocarcinoma; Animals; Breast Neoplasms; Cell Line; Chlorocebus aethiops; Female; Humans; Kidney; Membrane Potentials; Mitochondria; Nigericin; Onium Compounds; Organophosphorus Compounds; Ouabain; Potassium; Rhodamine 123; Rhodamines; Sodium; Valinomycin; Xanthenes