No abstract

The activities of several enzymes involved in reactive oxygen production and detoxification were quantified in murine skin during the ontogeny of chemically induced skin cancer. Relative to solvent-treated controls, the specific activities of epidermal superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) were reduced approximately 45, approximately 60 and approximately 24% respectively, 24 h after the fourth or tenth topical application of 1 microgram of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) to the dorsal skin of SENCAR mice. The specific activity of epidermal xanthine oxidase (XO) increased approximately 350% during the same period. SOD and CAT specific activities in papillomas and carcinomas generated in an initiation-promotion protocol were approximately 15 and approximately 40% respectively of the activities measured in age-matched, non-treated mice. CAT and SOD activities were also significantly suppressed in the skin adjacent to the papillomas for several weeks following the cessation of TPA promotion, but eventually recovered to the levels measured in age-matched controls. XO specific activities in papillomas and squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) were approximately 85-350% greater than the activities determined in skin adjacent to the tumors. The increases in XO and the decreases in SOD and CAT activities measured in the tumors were independent of continued treatment with TPA, and thus characteristic of the tumor phenotype. GPX activities in papillomas were comparable to normal, untreated skin, but reduced approximately 22-41% in SCC. Collectively, these studies demonstrate that TPA orchestrates changes in the activities of several enzymes involved in reactive oxygen metabolism that are characteristic of the papilloma and SCC phenotype.

Acquired drug resistance is a major drawback of using cisplatin in the treatment of cancer; however, analogs containing the 1,2-diaminocyclohexane (DACH) ligand can overcome this resistance. DACH can exist as the trans-1R,2R, trans-1S,2S or cis isomer, and we have examined whether specific isomers coordinated to a platinum(IV) center can modulate antitumor activities in murine tumor models in vivo. Ten isomeric series of DACH-Pt(IV) complexes were synthesized, each series containing a different combination of axial and equatorial ligands and varying only by the isomeric form of the DACH ligand. Among the ten series, seven clearly indicated superiority of the (R,R)-DACH-Pt(IV) complex against leukemia L1210/0 cells, while in three the R,R and S,S configurations gave similar efficacies which were better than that of the corresponding cis analog. In three out of the ten series, the antitumor activities of the S,S and cis complexes were similar, in six the cis analogs were the least effective, and in the remaining one the cis analog was superior to S,S. One series of complexes with axial chloro ligands and an equatorial 1,1-cyclobutanedicarboxylato group, which had produced the efficacy ranking R,R > cis > S,S in the L1210/0 model, gave S,S > R,R > cis against cisplatin-resistant L1210/DDP cells, R,R = S,S > cis against B16 melanoma cells, and R,R = S,S = cis against M5076 reticulosarcoma cells. The results demonstrate that profound variation can occur in antitumor activities among isomeric forms of the DACH-Pt(IV) complex. However, the (R,R)-DACH-Pt(IV) complexes appear to be of greater interest overall.

A procedure was developed for the per cell estimation of catalase activities in suspensions and cultures of murine epidermal keratinocytes (MEKs). Per cell catalase activity in MEKs cultured in low Ca2+ medium was relatively constant during the proliferation phase of culturing, but increased approximately 100% within 24 h of cessation of cell division. 12-O-Tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) treatment of proliferating MEKs cultured in low Ca2+ medium resulted in (i) an initial suppression of proliferation, (ii) the accelerated detachment and differentiation of detached MEKs and (iii) a suppression of catalase induction in the detached population. Induction of MEK differentiation by raising the medium Ca2+ concentration resulted in rapid inhibition of cell division and approximately 200% increases in per cell catalase activities. Addition of TPA immediately prior to Ca2+ shift completely suppressed the Ca2(+)-dependent increases in activity. However, the addition of TPA 48 h after the induction of differentiation by Ca2+ shift had no effects on the elevated, pre-existing catalase activities. Per cell catalase activities varied in vivo with the stage of MEK differentiation. Specifically, the lowest and highest per cell activities (approximately 4-fold difference) were measured in enriched basal cell and spinous cell populations respectively. Catalase activity in the more differentiated MEKs was reduced approximately 33% within 24 h of topical treatment of dorsal skin with a promoting dose of TPA. However, catalase activity in enriched basal cell preparations was unaffected. Collectively, these studies demonstrate that per cell catalase activities increase as MEKs differentiate, and that TPA suppresses the increases in catalase activities that normally occur during differentiation.

The clinical potential of mixed amine platinum(IV) complexes has been identified, and interest in this new class of antitumor agents has been heightened by demonstration of their activity in cisplatin-resistant neoplasms. These tetravalent platinum agents are expected to undergo a reductive reaction to form the corresponding platinum(II) drug prior to eliciting biological activity. cis-Ammine/cyclohexylamine-dichloroplatinum(II) is one such product that we evaluated with cisplatin in vivo, and we found the two complexes given i.v. or i.p. to have comparable activities against a solid murine fibrosarcoma. Following i.v. administration of the two compounds at equitoxic dose levels (20 mg/kg) to tumor-bearing mice, platinum levels in the plasma were consistently higher for cisplatin. Tissue platinum levels, in contrast, were comparable between the agents or higher for the mixed amine analog at the earliest (3-h) time point. The temporal profiles determined for the concentrations over 48 h were tissue- and/or drug-specific and could be described by terminal-phase constants or half-lives of platinum in most tissues. In the plasma, kidney, lung, and jejunum, platinum levels arising from both compounds decayed with half-lives of 24-92 h. The terminal-phase constants of platinum determined in the heart for the two complexes were not significantly different from zero, indicative of levels remaining steady, whereas the constants were negative in the spleen, indicative of an increase in tissue drug concentration. In the tumor, liver, and testes, positive values for the decay-phase constants corresponding to half-lives of 47, 256, and 79 h, respectively, were seen with the mixed amine complex; this pattern contrasted with that found for cisplatin, for which the terminal-phase constant was either zero or negative. In vitro binding studies demonstrated the mixed amine complex to be more reactive. Thus, the presence of one ammine and one cyclohexylamine carrier ligand in the mixed amine complex, as opposed to the diammine ligands in cisplatin, leads to an increase in drug distribution and an alteration in the kinetics of tissue binding and removal of platinum.