Carboxyamidotriazole Research Articles

In vitro and in vivo myelotoxicity of CAI to human and murine hematopoietic progenitor cells.

Carboxyamido-triazole (CAI), an agent that targets calcium-sensitive signal transduction pathways, has both antiproliferative and antimetastatic properties. The objective of this study was to evaluate the myelotoxicity of CAI to normal human and murine hematopoietic cells. In vitro toxicity of CAI was determined by inhibition of myeloid [colony-forming unit-granulocyte/macrophage (CFU-gm)] and erythroid [burst-forming unit-erythroid (BFU-e)] colony formation in clonal assays. The effects of oral CAI on CD2F1 mouse marrow and splenic cellularity, marrow progenitor content, and peripheral blood cell counts were assessed in relation to plasma CAI levels. In vitro, CAI caused a concentration-dependent inhibition of CFU-gm and BFU-e colonies following continuous drug exposure. Murine CFU-gm and BFU-e were inhibited > 90% by 10 and 15 micrograms/mL CAI, respectively. However, suppression of human CFU-gm and BFU-e did not exceed 65% at the same concentrations. In vivo, CAI reduced the number of CFU-gm and BFU-e per femur after the initial dose and through day 4. Variations in colony inhibition paralleled changes in CAI plasma concentrations. While colony inhibition increased in vitro with escalating drug concentrations, this was not observed in vivo with additional CAI doses. The low toxicity of CAI in vivo combined with the significant difference between toxicity for human and mouse progenitors in vitro suggests a relatively low adverse potential to the bone marrow for this new signal transduction inhibitory agent.

Angiogenesis: role of calcium-mediated signal transduction.

During angiogenesis, endothelial cells react to stimulation with finely tuned signaling responses. The role of calcium-regulated signaling in angiogenesis has not been defined. This study investigated the calcium dependency of endothelial cell proliferation and invasion by using an inhibitor of ligand-stimulated calcium influx, CAI (carboxy-amidotriazole). Incubation with CAI significantly inhibited proliferation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) in response to serum (IC50 = 1 microM) or basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF2; P2 < 0.005 at 10 microM). Statistically significant inhibition of HUVEC adhesion and motility to basement membrane proteins laminin, fibronectin, and type IV collagen was demonstrated (adhesion, P2 < 0.004-0.01; motility, P2 < 0.009-0.018). Marked inhibition of native and FGF2-induced gelatinase activity was shown by zymogram analysis and was confirmed by Northern blot analysis. CAI inhibited HUVEC tube formation on Matrigel and inhibited in vivo angiogenesis in the chicken chorioallantoic membrane assay, 67% at 20 microM and 56% at 10 microM compared with 16% for an inactive CAI analog or 9% for 0.1% dimethyl sulfoxide control. Incubation of HUVECs with CAI and/or FGF2 followed by immunoprecipitation with anti-phosphotyrosine antibody showed inhibition of FGF2-induced tyrosine phosphorylation of proteins in the range 110-150 kDa. These results suggest that calcium-regulated events are important in native and FGF2-stimulated HUVEC proliferation and invasion, perhaps through regulation of FGF2-induced phosphorylation events, and indicate a role for calcium in the regulation of angiogenesis in vivo.

Calcium influx modulates expression of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (72-kDa type IV collagenase, gelatinase A).

Altered regulation of metalloproteinases may play a role in a variety of pathologic conditions including cancer. Previous studies have demonstrated transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1)-mediated stimulation of expression and activation, and phorbol ester-mediated inhibition of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 (72-kDa type IV collagenase/gelatinase A), indicating a role for transmembrane signal transduction in MMP-2 regulation. We now describe a role for calcium mobilization in the regulation of MMP-2 expression. Receptor-operated calcium influx has been shown to be inhibited by a novel synthetic inhibitor, carboxy amido-triazole (CAI). Incubation of A2058 human melanoma, HT-1080 human fibrosarcoma, and OVCAR3 human ovarian cancer cells with CAI (0-10 microM) resulted in a dose-dependent reduction in MMP-2 latent and activated species activity by zymogram analysis of conditioned medium. This reduction is not due to direct inhibition of the enzyme by CAI or CAI-induced MMP-2 degradation. Decreased quantity of secreted MMP-2 protein in CAI-treated cells was shown by immunoblot and pulse-chase analysis of newly synthesized MMP-2. Cell coincubation with CAI (2 microM) and TGF-beta 1 (5 ng/ml) caused a decrease in the overall amount of latent and activated MMP-2 by zymogram and immunoblot analysis and showed that CAI inhibited TGF-beta 1 stimulation of MMP-2 production at the level of RNA expression. This was confirmed by Northern analysis of A2058 cells treated with CAI (2 microM) for 24 and 48 h and demonstrated a 55% reduction in message for MMP-2 and a 61% reduction in message for MMP-1, 54-kDa interstitial collagenase. Specificity for CAI action was demonstrated by equivalent MMP-2 inhibitory activity from analogs of CAI that retained the ability to inhibit calcium influx and by lack of inhibition by exposure to inactive CAI analogs that could not inhibit calcium influx. As an independent verification of specificity, a marked reduction in MMP-2 gelatinase activity by zymogram was shown after treatment of A2058 cells with SK&F 96365, an unrelated inhibitor of receptor-operated calcium influx. These results suggest a role for calcium-mediated signal transduction in the expression of metalloproteinases.

Quantitation of human plasma levels of the anticancer agent carboxyamidotriazole by high-performance liquid chromatography

The predominant cause of death of cancer patients is growth and metastasis of their tumors. By targeting signal transduction pathways as sites of therapeutic intervention, we have identified a novel anticancer drug carboxyamidotriazole (CAI). A straightforward and reliable method of detection and quantitation of human CAI plasma levels using solid-phase organic extraction followed by isocratic reversed-phase chromatography is now reported. This assay detected CAI over the concentration range 0.04–10.0 μg/ml, which brackets the range shown to be physiologically and biochemically effective. Linearity was demonstrated by linear regression analysis of calibration curves ( r 2 = 0.999). Equivalence of recovery of extracted versus non-extracted CAI over a broad concentration range was demonstrated ( r 2 = 0.998, coefficients of variability < 10%). The method was applied to quantitate CAI plasma levels from patients now entered on the Phase I clinical trial underway at the National Cancer Institute.