The bisdioxopiperazines ICRF-187 (dexrazoxane), ICRF-193, and ICRF-154 are catalytic noncleavable complex-forming inhibitors of DNA topoisomerase II that do not produce protein-linked DNA strand breaks. In this study, we showed that bisdioxopiperazines induced erythroid differentiation, inhibited human leukemia K562 cell growth, and caused a slow induction of apoptosis. Dexrazoxane treatment caused DNA endoreduplication resulting in large highly polyploid cells. This result suggested the lack of a DNA topoisomerase II activity-based cell cycle checkpoint. The percentage of K562 cells that became apoptotic was much larger than the percentage of cells that stained for hemoglobin, suggesting that prior differentiation was not required for induction of apoptosis. Use of the Bcr-Abl tyrosine kinase inhibitor STI-571 resulted in a reduction in Bcl-xL levels and potentiation of dexrazoxane-induced apoptosis related to an earlier onset and more extensive cleavage of caspase-3. These results indicated that dexrazoxane-induced apoptosis is associated with a caspase-3 activation/cleavage pathway. In addition, these results were consistent with the antiapoptotic signaling function of Bcr-Abl to regulate expression of Bcl-xL. The ability of dexrazoxane to induce differentiation and apoptosis suggests that bisdioxopiperazines may be useful in treating some types of leukemia.
Two strains of reovirus (serotype 1 Lang/TIL and serotype 3 Dearing/T3D) were propagated in Vero cells grown in stationary or agitated cultures in a serum-free medium, M-VSFM. Solid microcarriers (Cytodex-1) were used to support cell growth in agitated cultures with a normal doubling time of 25 h. Cell yields of 1 x 10(6) cells/mL were obtained from an inoculum of 2 x 10(5) cells/mL in 4 days in microcarrier cultures. The growth profile and cell yield was not significantly different from serum-supplemented cultures. The virus titer increased by 3-4 orders of magnitude over a culture period of 150 h. The maximum virus titer in stationary cultures reached >1 x 10(9) pfu/mL for both strains of reovirus in M-VSFM. M-VSFM also supported high viral yields in microcarrier cultures. Both the specific productivity and final viral yield was higher in M-VSFM than serum-supplemented cultures. The high viral productivity suggests that this is a suitable system for the production of reovirus as an oncolytic agent for human therapeutic use.
The specific monoclonal antibody productivity (q(Mab)) of a murine hybridoma (CC9C10) increased with incubation temperature in the range 33 degrees C to 39 degrees C. q(Mab) was constant at each temperature and was independent of the phase of culture. The q(Mab) increased 97% at 39 degrees C and decreased by 21% at 33 degrees C compared with controls at 37 degrees C. Specific rates of substrate (glucose and glutamine) utilization and byproduct (lactate and ammonia) formation also increased with temperature but the yield coefficient, Y(Lac/Llc') was constant for 33 degrees C to 39 degrees C and Y(Amm/Gin) was constant for 37 degrees C to 39 degrees C. Y(Amm/Gin) at 33 degrees C was lower than the control. Changes in specific nucleotide concentrations and ratios were monitored by analysis of intracellular nucleotide pools. The NTP ratio, (ATP + GTP)/(UTP + CTP), increased and the U-ratio (UTP/UDP-GNac) decreased during the course of each culture, whereas the adenylate energy charge, (ATP + 0.5ADP)/(ATP + ADP + AMP), remained relatively constant at a value 0.8. The relative content of UDP-/N acetyl galactosamine, UDP-N acetyl glucosamine, and NAD increased with incubation temperature, whereas the relative ATP content, SA(ATP + ADP + AMP)/SU (UTP + UDP-sugars) ratio, purine/pyrimidine, ATP/GTP, and U-ratio decreased at higher incubation temperatures. It is possible that these nucleotide parameters may have a regulatory role in the changes of q(Mab) observed at the higher temperatures. (c) 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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