Ikuo Horii

Mice Lacking p27Kip1 Display Increased Body Size, Multiple Organ Hyperplasia, Retinal Dysplasia, and Pituitary Tumors

SUMMARYnMice lacking p27(Kip1) have been created by gene targeting in embryonic stem cells. These mice are larger than the control animals, with thymus, pituitary, and adrenal glands and gonadal organs exhibiting striking enlargement. CDK2 activity is elevated about 10-fold in p27(-/-) thymocytes. Development of ovarian follicles seems to be impaired, resulting in female sterility. Similar to mice with the Rb mutation, the p27(-/-) mice often develop pituitary tumors spontaneously. The retinas of the mutant mice show a disturbed organization of the normal cellular layer pattern. These findings indicate that p27(Kip1) acts to regulate the growth of a variety of cells. Unexpectedly, the cell cycle arrest mediated by TGFbeta, rapamycin, or contact inhibition remained intact in p27(-/-) cells, suggesting that p27(Kip1) is not required in these pathways.

The design and synthesis of a new tumor-selective fluoropyrimidine carbamate, Capecitabine

To identify an orally available fluoropyrimidine having efficacy and safety profiles greatly improved over those of parenteral 5-fluorouracil (5-FU: 1), we designed a 5-FU prodrug that would pass intact through the intestinal mucisa and be sequentially converted to 5-FU by enzymes that are highly expressed in the human liver and then in tumors. Among various N4-substituted 5-deoxy-5-fluorocytidine derivatives, a series of N4-alkoxycarbonyl derivatives were hydrolyzed to 5-deoxy-5-fluorocytidine (5-DFCR: 8) specifically by carboxylesterase, which exists preferentially in the liver in humans and monkeys. Particularly, derivatives having an N4-alkoxylcarbonyl moiety with a C4-C6 alkyl chain were the most susceptible to the human carboxylesterase. Those were then converted to 5-deoxy-5-fluorouridine (5-DFUR: 4) by cytidine deaminase highly expressed in the liver and solid tumors and finally to 5-FU by thymidine phosphorylase (dThdPase) preferentially located in tumors. When administered orally to monkeys, a derivative having the N4-alkoxylcarbonyl moiety with a C5 alkyl chain (capecitabine: 6) The highest AUC and Cmax for plasma 5-DFUR. In tests with various human cancer xenograft models, capecitabine was more efficacious at wider dose ranges than either 5-FU or 5-DFUR and was significantly less toxic to the intestinal tract than the others in monkeys.

Relationship between molecular mass and duration of activity of polyethylene glycol conjugated granulocyte colony-stimulating factor mutein

Proteins conjugated with polyethylene glycol (PEG) have increased in vivo activity compared to native proteins. We examined the activity of a variety of PEG conjugates prepared with a recombinant mutein of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (nartograstim [NTG], KW-2228). The total PEG mass was varied by the number and size of the PEG molecules conjugated. In vitro activity, determined using a proliferation assay with G-NFS-60 cells, demonstrated an inverse relationship between PEG mass and concentration required for half-maximal proliferation. In vivo activity was examined by injecting compounds subcutaneously into normal mice and determining neutrophil counts at various times. Initial experiments in C57BL/6J mice indicated that neutrophil levels were significantly elevated 5 days after a single injection of 25 micrograms/mouse of each PEG-NTG preparation. More detailed experiments were performed with several of the preparations in C3H/HeJ mice lacking endotoxin receptors. The results demonstrated that the time after injection at which neutrophil numbers reached a maximum increased with increasing size of PEG. Similar results were obtained with purified preparations containing 1, 2, or 3 units of 20-kDa PEG per molecule of NTG, showing that increasing the extent of PEGylation also increases in vivo activity. Dose-response studies with the 20-kDa PEG-NTG demonstrated a plateau at doses > 2.7 micrograms/mouse at day 3. The plateau dose increased to 8.4 micrograms/mouse at day 5, and no plateau was evident at the highest dose tested (50 micrograms/mL) at days 7 and 10. These results demonstrate that elevated neutrophil levels can be maintained for extended periods following single administration of high-molecular-weight PEG-NTG.

A physiologically based pharmacokinetic analysis of capecitabine, a triple prodrug of 5-FU, in humans: the mechanism for tumor-selective accumulation of 5-FU.

AbstractPurpose. To identify the factors governing the dose-limiting toxicity in the gastrointestine (GI) and the antitumor activity after oral administration of capecitabine, a triple prodrug of 5-FU, in humans.nMethod. The enzyme kinetic parameters for each of the four enzymes involved in the activation of capecitabine to 5-FU and its elimination were measured experimentally in vitro to construct a physiologically based pharmacokinetic model. Sensitivity analysis for each parameter was performed to identify the parameters affecting tissue 5-FU concentrations.nResults. The sensitivity analysis demonstrated that (i) the dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) activity in the liver largely determines the 5-FU AUC in the systemic circulation, (ii) the exposure of tumor tissue to 5-FU depends mainly on the activity of both thymidine phosphorylase (dThdPase) and DPD in the tumor tissues, as well as the blood flow rate in tumor tissues with saturation of DPD activity resulting in 5-FU accumulation, and (iii) the metabolic enzyme activity in the GI and the DPD activity in liver are the major determinants influencing exposure to 5-FU in the GI. The therapeutic index of capecitabine was found to be at least 17 times greater than that of other 5-FU-related anticancer agents, including doxifluridine, the prodrug of 5-FU, and 5-FU over their respective clinical dose ranges.nConclusions. It was revealed that the most important factors that determine the selective production of 5-FU in tumor tissue after capecitabine administration are tumor-specific activation by dThdPase, the nonlinear elimination of 5-FU by DPD in tumor tissue, and the blood flow rate in tumors.

5-Fluorouracil-induced intestinal toxicity: what determines the severity of damage to murine intestinal crypt epithelia?

To elucidate the relationship between 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) distribution and 5-FU-induced apoptosis and/or cell cycle arrest, microautoradiography was applied to murine intestinal crypts exposed to [14C] 5-FU by intravenous infusion. The histologic location of apoptotic cells in the crypt did not correlate to that of 5-FU. The temporal profiles of apoptotic and/or mitotic indexes corresponded to those of orally administered 5-FU in a previous study. Two cell cycle-related proteins, p21(WAF/Cip1) and bax, were also investigated in the present study. With time, p21(WAF/Cip1)-positive nuclei apparently migrated up the crypt. Bax-positive cytoplasm was observed throughout the crypt epithelial cells, accompanied by the occurrence of apoptosis, and remained until 48 h when the control level recovered. The findings demonstrate that 5-FU mainly exerts an apoptotic effect and/or cell cycle arrest by systemic exposure, and p21 and bax expression determine an individual cells fate.

Design and Synthesis of the Tumor-Activated Prodrug of Dihydropyrimidine Dehydrogenase (DPD) Inhibitor, RO0094889 for Combination Therapy with Capecitabine

A series of tumor-activated prodrugs of the inhibitors of dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD), an enzyme catabolizing 5-fluorouracil (5-FU: 4g), has been designed and synthesized. RO0094889 (11c) is a prodrug of 5-vinyluracil (4c), a known DPD inhibitor, and was designed to generate 4c selectively in tumor tissues by sequential conversion of 11c by three enzymes: esterase, cytidine deaminase and thymidine phosphorylase, the latter two of which are known to be highly expressed in various tumor tissues. When capecitabine (1), a tumor-activated prodrug of 5-FU, was co-administered orally with 11c, 5-FU in tumor tissues was significantly increased with only a slight increase of 5-FU in plasma as compared with oral capecitabine alone.

Extended Activity in Cynomolgus Monkeys of a Granulocyte Colony‐Stimulating Factor Mutein Conjugated With High Molecular Weight Polyethylene Glycol

The activity of a granulocyte colony‐stimulating factor (G‐CSF) mutein (nartograstim; [NTG]) conjugated with an average of two polyethylene glycol (PEG) chains per protein molecule was examined in cynomolgus monkeys following a single s.c. injection. Groups of monkeys were given 10 μg/kg, 30 μg/kg, or 100 μg/kg. For comparison, one group of monkeys was given 5 μg/kg of recombinant human G‐CSF (rHuG‐CSF) daily for six days. In monkeys given 100 μg/kg of PEG‐NTG, neutrophil levels reached a peak one day after injection approximately 20‐fold higher than baseline levels. Neutrophil numbers in these animals were still significantly elevated six days after injection. In contrast, peak neutrophil levels in monkeys given six injections of rHuG‐CSF reached a peak only on day 6 and were approximately the same as that in monkeys given a single dose of PEG‐NTG six days before. Pharmacokinetics of PEG‐NTG in these monkeys indicated that the area under the plasma concentration time curve (AUC) increased with increasing the dose from 497 ng•h/ml at 10 μg/kg, 6,140 ng•h/ml at 30 μg/kg to 27,900 ng•h/ml at 100 μg/kg. In a separate study, the effects of single doses of 100 μg/kg of PEG‐NTG, rHuG‐CSF, and unmodified NTG were compared. In this experiment, peak numbers of neutrophils were reached two days after injection in animals receiving PEG‐NTG and one day after in animals given unmodified proteins. The pharmacokinetic parameters demonstrated increased exposure for PEG‐NTG relative to the unmodified proteins with an AUC0‐∞ of 21,012 ng•h/ml compared with 5,492 ng•h/ml for rHuG‐CSF and 5,153 ng•h/ml for NTG. These results demonstrate that conjugation of a G‐CSF mutein with high molecular weight PEG results in a preparation that can induce prolonged elevation of neutrophils in normal nonhuman primates following a single injection.

Synthesis and antifungal activities of novel 1,3-β-D-glucan synthase inhibitors. Part 1

Highly potent 1,3-beta-D-glucan synthase inhibitors 10, 11 and 13 have been identified by the chemical modification of the fungicidal macrocyclic lipopeptidolactone, RO-09-3655 (1), isolated from the cultured broth of Deuteromycotinia spp. D-Ornithine derivative (10) showed improved antifungal activity in the systemic candidiasis model in mice and reduced hepatotoxicity in vitro, as compared with 1.

Cassette dosing approach and quantitative structure-pharmacokinetic relationship study of antifungal N-myristoyltransferase inhibitors.

Pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters of N-myristoyltransferase (Nmt) inhibitors were measured, and a multivariate quantitative structure-pharmacokinetic relationship (QSPKR) model for predicting rat elimination half-life (t(1/2)) values was constructed. One hundred seven benzofuran derivatives have been selected as the data set for QSPKR analysis. The correlation between the t(1/2) values and 30 physicochemical descriptors was examined by a stepwise multiple linear regression method. The statistical analysis gives a significant QSPKR model (r = 0.843) with the following three variables: partial negative surface area (PNSA), atomic-based octanol/water partition coefficient (AlogP), and the number of rotational bonds (Rotlbonds). The QSPKR model obtained is predictive and simple, and would give a direction for designing new Nmt inhibitors having good PK profiles.

Detection of an endothelin-1-binding protein complex by low temperature SDS-PAGE

We found that the complex of ET-1 and its binding protein was stable enough to be separated by SDS-PAGE when electrophoresis was run at a low temperature. Cross-linking was not necessary for the detection of [125I]-ET-1 and its binding protein complex by autoradiography. This simple method could be used in qualitative (estimation of apparent molecular weight of ET-1 binding protein) and quantitative (determination of relative content of ET-binding protein) analysis of the ET-binding protein complex. ET-binding protein complexes of various animal species and organs were investigated by this method.