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Akt, a serine/threonine kinase that promotes cell survival, is activated by binding of its pleckstrin homology (PH) domain to membrane phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns)-3-phosphates formed by PtdIns-3-kinase. D-3-Deoxy-phosphatidyl-myo-inositols that cannot be phosphorylated on the 3-position of the myo-inositol group are inhibitors of the Akt PH domain. The most active compound is D-3-deoxy-phosphatidyl-myo-inositol 1-[(R)-2-methoxy-3-octadecyloxypropyl hydrogen phosphate] (PX-316). PX-316 administered intraperitoneally to mice at 150 mg/kg inhibits Akt activation in HT-29 human tumor xenografts up to 78% at 10 h with recovery to 34% at 48 h. Phosphorylation of GSK-3beta, a downstream target of Akt, is also inhibited. There is no decrease in PtdIns(3,4,5)-trisphosphate levels by PX-316, showing it is not an inhibitor of PtdIns-3-K in vivo. Gene expression profiling of HT-29 tumor xenografts shows many similarities between the effects of PX-316 and the PtdIns-3-K inhibitor wortmannin, with downregulation of several ribosomal-related genes, while PX-316 uniquely increases the expression of a group of mitochondrial-related genes. PX-316 has antitumor activity against early human MCF-7 breast cancer and HT-29 colon cancer xenografts in mice. PX-316 formulated in 20% hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin for intravenous administration is well tolerated in mice and rats with no hemolysis and no hematological toxicity. Thus, PX-316 is the lead compound of a new class of potential agents that inhibit Akt survival signaling.

Mitomycin C (MMC) is a commonly used and extensively studied chemotherapeutic agent requiring biological reduction for activity. Damage to nuclear DNA is thought to be its primary mechanism of cell death. Due to a lack of evidence for significant MMC activation in the nucleus and for in vivo studies demonstrating the formation of MMC-DNA adducts, we chose to investigate alternative nucleic acid targets. Real-time reverse transcription-PCR was used to determine changes in mitochondrial gene expression induced by MMC treatment. Although no consistent effects on mitochondrial mRNA expression were observed, complementary results from reverse transcription-PCR experiments and gel-shift and binding assays demonstrated that MMC rapidly decreased the transcript levels of 18S ribosomal RNA in a concentration-dependent manner. Under hypoxic conditions, transcript levels of 18S rRNA decreased by 1.5-fold compared with untreated controls within 30 min. Recovery to base line required several hours, indicating that de novo synthesis of 18S was necessary. Addition of MMC to an in vitro translation reaction significantly decreased protein production in the cell-free system. Functional assays performed using a luciferase reporter construct in vivo determined that protein translation was inhibited, further confirming this mechanism of toxicity. The interaction of MMC with ribosomal RNA and subsequent inhibition of protein translation is consistent with mechanisms proposed for other natural compounds.Nuclear DNA has long been considered the primary target for bioreductive anticancer drugs. These agents, which include the mitomycins, anthracyclines, nitroimidazoles, quinones, and nitrogen mustards, are used by oncologists primarily because of their toxicity toward radiation-insensitive hypoxic fractions in solid tumors (1-4). The historical mechanism for bioreductive drugs, based on studies with the prototype mitomycin C (MMC), 3 involves intracellular activation, binding G/C-rich regions of nuclear DNA, and subsequent cell death (5-7). Many aspects of this hypothesis, however remain problematic and unsubstantiated.The initial evidence for an MMC interaction with DNA was presented in the early 1960s and demonstrated cross-linking of purified bacterial DNA in the presence of cell lysates after exposure to MMC in vitro (5,6,8,9). Subsequent studies using labeled MMC or the MMC analogue, porfiromycin, in various cell-free or in situ conditions have described the metabolic activation, chemical intermediates, and drug-DNA adducts formed from these exposures (9 -11). MMC-DNA adducts have also been detected in various studies using cultured cell lines, but these DNA-drug interactions have only been demonstrated following exposure to extremely high concentrations of MMC (12, 13). Other studies using very high concentrations of MMC have also shown MMC-DNA adducts when tested in cultured cell lines transfected with MMC-activating enzymes modified to be targeted to the nucleus (21, 22). Thus, all direct evidence for a MMC-DNA adduct comes fro...

Purpose-Thioredoxin-1 (Trx-1) redox signaling regulates multiple aspects of cell growth and survival, and elevated tumor levels of Trx-1 have been associated with decreased patient survival. PX-12, an inhibitor of Trx-1 currently in clinical development, has been found to decrease tumor levels of the HIF-1α transcription factor. SSAT1 has been reported to bind to HIF-1α and RACK1, resulting in oxygen-independent HIF-1 ubiquitination and degradation. SSAT2, a related protein, stabilizes the interaction of the VHL protein and elongin C with HIF-1 leading to oxygendependent HIF-1α ubiquitination and degradation. We investigated the effects of PX-12 and Trx-1 on SSAT1, SSAT2, and inhibition of HIF-1α.Methods-A panel of cell lines was treated with PX-12 to investigate its effects on SSAT1 and SSAT2 expression, and on HIF-1α protein levels. We also evaluated the regulation of SSAT1 through the Nrf2 and PMF-1, two trans-acting transcription factors.Results-We found that PX-12 increased nuclear Nrf2 activity and antioxidant response element binding. PX-12 also increased the expression of SSAT1 but not SSAT2 in a PMF-1-dependent manner that was independent of Trx-1. Inhibition of Nrf2 or PMF-1 prevented the increase in SSAT1 caused by PX-12.Conclusions-The results show that PX-12, acting independently of Trx-1, increases nuclear Nrf2, which interacts with PMF-1 to increase the expression of SSAT1. The degradation of HIF-1α that results from binding with SSAT1 may explain the decrease in HIF-1α caused by PX-12 and could contribute to the antitumor activity of PX-12.