Investigations on the effect of O(6)-benzylguanine on the formation of dG-dC interstrand cross-links induced by chloroethylnitrosoureas in human glioma cells using stable isotope dilution high-performance liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry.

Abstract

Chloroethylnitrosoureas (CENUs) are bifunctional alkylating agents widely used for the clinical treatment of cancer. They exert anticancer activity by inducing DNA interstrand cross-links (ICLs) within GC base pairs to form dG-dC cross-links. This lesion inhibits DNA double strand separation during replication and transcription and results in the apoptosis of cancer cells. However, O(6)-alkylguanine DNA alkyltransferase (AGT) repairs the DNA ICLs by removing the alkyl group at the O(6) position of either O(6)-(2-chloroethyl)deoxyguanosine (O(6)-ClEtdGuo) or N1,O(6)-ethanodeoxyguanosine (N1,O(6)-EtdGuo), which are intermediates in the formation of dG-dC cross-links. The action of AGT leads to drug resistance against CENUs. O(6)-Benzylguanine (O(6)-BG) was identified as an effective AGT inhibitor that enhances the antitumor effects of CENUs. In this study, the effect of O(6)-BG on the formation of dG-dC cross-links was investigated by treating human brain glioma SF767 cells with 1-[(4-amino-2-methyl-5-pyrimidinyl)methyl]-3-(2-chloroethyl)-3-nitrosourea (ACNU). The levels of dG-dC cross-link were determined using stable isotope dilution high-performance liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-ESI-MS/MS). The results indicated that ACNU induced higher levels of dG-dC cross-link in SF767 cells pretreated with O(6)-BG compared to cells without O(6)-BG pretreatment. The highest dG-dC cross-linking levels were generally observed at 12 h for all drug concentration groups, a result which was consistent with cytotoxicity assay. These results provided direct evidence for the enhancement of dG-dC cross-linking levels caused by the inhibition of AGT by O(6)-BG. These data indicate that dG-dC cross-links may be developed as a biomarker for evaluating the activity of novel O(6)-BG analogues as AGT inhibitors for combination therapy with CENUs.