Interaction of N,N′,N″-Triethylenethiophosphoramide and N,N′,N-Triethylenephosphoramide with Cellular DNA

Noam A. Cohen, Merrill J. Egorin, Stuart W. Snyder, Bimal Ashar, Bruce E. Wietharn, Su shu Pan, Douglas D. Ross, John Hilton

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

32 Scopus citations

Abstract

The antineoplastic agents N,N′,N″-triethylenethiophosphoramide (thioTEPA) and N,N′,N″-triethylenephosphoramide (TEPA) were studied for their interaction with the DNA of LI 210 cells in the presence and absence of rat hepatic microsomes and NADPH. Alkaline elution was used to study 3 types of DNA lesions. When LI 210 cells were incubated with thioTEPA alone, or with thioTEPA in the presence of microsomes and NADPH, no single-strand breaks were detected. However, incubation of LI 210 cells for 2 h with thioTEPA, at concentrations ≥100 μm, caused a dose-dependent increase in interstrand cross-linking that reached a maximum by 2 h after drug exposure. In the presence of rat hepatic microsomes and NADPH, this cross-linking was eliminated, but a different DNA lesion, alkali-labile sites, was produced. These alkali-labile sites were partially reparable with maximum repair achieved by 2 h after removal of drug. ThioTEPA was >85% consumed by the microsomal incubation conditions employed, and TEPA was the only product of the microsomal metabolism of thioTEPA. Alkaline elution studies of LI 210 cells that had been incubated with TEPA, alone or in the presence of microsomes and NADPH, demonstrated an elution pattern identical to that produced by thioTEPA in the presence of microsomes and NADPH. Lymphoblastoid cell lines derived from patients with Fanconi's anemia were far more sensitive to thioTEPA and mechlorethamine hydrochloride than were lymphoblasts derived from normal humans, but this hypersensitivity was not noted with TEPA or bleomycin. This is consistent with the known hypersensitivity of cells from patients with Fanconi's anemia to agents that produce interstrand cross-links and with the alkaline elution studies described above. In contrast, lymphoblastoid cell lines derived from patients with ataxia telangiectasia were no more sensitive to thioTEPA than were lymphoblasts derived from normal humans but were far more sensitive to bleomycin. One of these cell lines proved hypersensitive to TEPA, whereas the other was no more sensitive to TEPA than were lymphoblasts from normal humans. Our data imply that thioTEPA produces interstrand cross-links but that TEPA, the primary metabolite of thioTEPA, produces DNA lesions that are alkali labile.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)4360-4366
Number of pages7
JournalCancer Research
Volume51
Issue number16
StatePublished - Aug 15 1991

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Oncology
  • Cancer Research

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