Diethylaminobenzaldehyde Research Articles

A Simple and Quantitative Method for Analysis of Methoxyamine by Capillary Zone Electrophoresis

Methoxyamine (MX) is a potential new chemotherapeutic agent. In structure, MX lacks a chromophore for spectrophotometric detection. Derivatization of MX with chromophoric 4‐(diethylamino)benzaldehyde (DEAB) was performed and the resultant MX derivative (DBMOH+) can be analyzed by capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) with ultraviolet (UV) detection at 200 nm. The limit of detection (SD/S=3.3) of the method for MX was 2.50 µM with a 2 s injection at the pressure of 3.45 kPa. The linear calibration range for MX was 5.00–500 µM using N,N‐dimethyl‐p‐toluidine (DMPT) as the internal standard. The intra‐ and inter‐assay precision and accuracy of the method were ≤4% and within 98.4–104%, respectively. This method may be used for the quantitative determination of MX in pharmaceutical preparations.

Development and validation of an HPLC–UV method for the analysis of methoxyamine using 4-(diethylamino)benzaldehyde as a derivatizing agent

Methoxyamine (MX) is a potential new anti-cancer drug. In this paper, a quantitative HPLC–UV method for MX using 4-(diethylamino)benzaldehyde (DEAB) as a derivatizing agent has been developed and validated. The studies showed that MX reacts with DEAB under acidic conditions to form protonated 4-(diethylamino)benzaldehyde o-methyloxime (DBMOH +). The equilibrium between DBMOH + and its conjugate base 4-(diethylamino)benzaldehyde o-methyloxime (DBMO) is affected by both buffer concentration and organic solvent content in the solution. The method developed uses a reversed phase C18 column for the separation of MX derivatives, an internal standard benzil for method calibration, and a UV detector at a wavelength of 310 nm for analyte detection. The MX derivatives can be resolved in ca. 20 min. The method has a linear calibration range from 0.100 to 10.0 μM with a correlation coefficient of 0.999 for MX and a detection limit of 5 pmol with a 50 μl sample size. The intra-assay and inter-assay precision expressed in terms of percent relative standard deviation were ≤5 and 8%; and the intra-assay and inter-assay accuracy defined as the measured value divided by the accepted value multiplied by 100% were 94.2–100 and 92.6–111%, respectively. This method may be used for the analysis of MX in pharmaceutical preparations.

Retinoic Acid-Mediated Gene Expression in Transgenic Reporter Zebrafish

Retinoic acid-mediated gene activation is important for normal vertebrate development. The size and nature of retinoic acid make it difficult to identify the precise cellular location of this signaling molecule throughout an embryo. Additionally, retinoic acid (RA) signaling is regulated by a complex combination of receptors, coactivators, and antagonizing proteins. Thus, in order to integrate these signals and identify regions within a whole developing embryo where cells can respond transcriptionally to retinoic acid, we have used a reporter transgenic approach. We have generated several stable lines of transgenic zebrafish which use retinoic acid response elements to drive fluorescent protein expression. In these zebrafish lines, transgene expression is localized to regions of the neural tube, retina, notochord, somites, heart, pronephric ducts, branchial arches, and jaw muscles in embryos and larvae. Transgene expression can be induced in additional regions of the neural tube and retina as well as the immature notochord, hatching gland, enveloping cell layer, and fin by exposing embryos to retinoic acid. Treatment with retinoic acid synthase inhibitors, citral and diethylaminobenzaldehyde (DEAB), during neurulation, greatly reduces transgene expression. DEAB treatment of embryos at gastrulation phenocopies the embryonic effects of vitamin A deprivation or targeted disruption of the RA synthase retinaldehyde dehydrogenase-2 in other vertebrates. Together these data suggest that the reporter expression we see in zebrafish is dependent upon conserved vertebrate pathways of RA synthesis.

Tumor cell heterogeneity: Impact on mechanisms of therapeutic drug resistance

The aim of these studies was to determine whether chemotherapy-resistant tumor cell sublines derived from a single starting cell population with identical treatment protocols, have the same mechanism of resistance. Twelve cyclophosphamide-resistant sublines were derived from KHT-iv murine sarcoma cells by repeated exposures to 2, 4, or 8 microg/ml doses of 4-hydroperoxycyclophosphamide (4-OOHCP). To investigate possible mechanisms of resistance, glutathione (GSH) levels, glutathione S-transferase (GST) activity, and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity were determined. In addition, studies with the GSH depletor buthionine sulfoximine (BSO) and the ALDH inhibitor diethylamino-benzaldehyde (DEAB) were undertaken. Resistant factors to 4-OOHCP, assessed at 10% clonogenic cell survival, ranged from 1.5-7.0 for the various cell lines. Crossresistance to melphalan and adriamycin also were commonly observed. Increased GSH levels, GST activity and ALDH activity were detected in the sublines but not all exhibited the same pattern of biochemical alterations. The response to GSH and ALDH inhibitors also varied among the sublines; the resistance being reversible in some cell lines but not others. The present results indicate that when resistant sublines are derived simultaneously from the same starting cell population, the observed mechanisms of resistance may not be the same in each of the variants. These findings support the hypothesis that preexisting cellular heterogeneity may affect mechanisms of acquired resistance.

Comparative Evaluation of Cytotoxicity and Metabolism of Four Aldehydes in Two Hepatoma Cell Lines

ABSTRACTThe metabolism of acetaldehyde (ACA), benzaldehyde (BA), propionaldehyde (PA) and valeraldehyde (VA) has been studied in two hepatoma cell lines, the rat HTC and mouse Hepa 1c1c7 cells. The cytotoxicity of the four aldehydes to these two cell lines has been compared. The end-points for evaluating cytotoxicity were 1) total macromolecular content (TMC) of confluent cultures, and 2) colony forming ability of dividing cells. These two assay systems had different sensitivities for the toxicity of aldehydes, probably due to different numbers of target cells.The activities of aldehyde dehydrogenases (NAD- and NADP-dependent, ALDH), alcohol dehydrogenase and aldehyde reductase were markedly greater in the HTC cell line compared to the Hepa 1c1c7 cell line, especially with BA as substrate.The cytotoxicities of aldehydes were generally stronger in the HTC cell line than in the Hepa 1c1c7 cell line, with the CF test. Particularly, BA was highly toxic to the HTC cells, which possessed the highest ALDH levels. Moreover, the treatment with (diethylamino)benzaldehyde, an ALDH inhibitor, completely abolished the toxicity of BA.Taken together, all these findings suggest that several cell lines expressing different aldehyde metabolizing activities could be used especially in the prescreening phase to distinguish the metabolism-dependent cytotoxic effects from the metabolism independent effects.

Interleukin-1 and tumor necrosis factor alpha induce class 1 aldehyde dehydrogenase mRNA and protein in bone marrow cells.

Interleukin-1 (IL-1) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) protect normal human hematopoietic progenitors from the toxicity of 4-hydroperoxycyclophosphamide (4-HC). Aldehyde dehydrogenase Class 1 (ALDH-1) is the enzyme that inactivates 4-HC. Diethylaminobenzaldehyde (DEAB), a competitive inhibitor of ALDH-1, was shown to prevent the protective effects of IL-1 and TNF alpha. In this study, we examined the effect of IL-1 and TNF alpha on the expression of ALDH-1 in normal bone marrow as well as malignant cells. ALDH-1 mRNA and protein were quantified using Northern and Western blotting, respectively. In addition, the ALDH-1 enzyme activity in untreated as well as IL-1 and TNF alpha treated bone marrow cells was determined spectrophotometrically. The role of glutathione (GSH) in the protection against 4-HC toxicity was also studied. The results show that pretreatment with IL-1 and TNF alpha for 6 h or 20 h increase the expression of ALDH-1 mRNA and protein, respectively, in human bone marrow cells. In contrast, IL-1 and TNF alpha treatment did not affect the ALDH-1 expression in several leukemic and solid tumor cell lines, regardless of whether or not ALDH-1 is expressed constitutively. Furthermore, the ALDH-1 enzyme activity was significantly induced in bone marrow cells after 20 h pre-treatment with IL-1 and TNF alpha. Finally, the depletion of or inactivation of GSH did not affect the protection against 4-HC toxicity. In conclusion, inhibition of the protection from 4-HC toxicity by DEAB, together with the increase in ALDH-1 expression and activity, provide strong evidence that IL-1 and TNF alpha mediate their protective action, at least partially, through ALDH-1.

Effect of 4-(diethylamino)benzaldehyde on ethanol metabolism in mice.

The compound 4-(diethylamino)benzaldehyde (DEAB) is a potent inhibitor of cytosolic (class 1) aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) in vitro and can overcome cyclophosphamide resistance in murine leukemia cells characterized by their high content of ALDH. In this study, we examined the in vivo effect of DEAB in mice on ethanol metabolism and on antipyrine clearance as a measure of the microsomal mixed function oxidase activity. DEAB administered in doses of 50 and 100 mg/kg increased the blood acetaldehyde concentration and decreased the plasma acetate concentration in mice treated with ethanol. A pharmacokinetic approach demonstrated that DEAB in doses of 50 and 100 mg/kg inhibited the fraction of ethanol converted to acetate by 32.5 and 67.5%, respectively. This inhibition was comparable with that produced by disulfiram. DEAB produced optimal inhibition of ALDH 10-15 min after administration. DEAB did not change the half-life or the total clearance of antipyrine. We conclude that DEAB is a potent inhibitor of ALDH in vivo and has no effect on the mixed function oxidase activity as determined by antipyrine clearance.

Role of aldehyde dehydrogenase in the biological activity of spermine dialdehyde, a novel immunosuppressive/purging agent

The antitumour and immunosuppressive activities of spermine dialdehyde (SDA), a synthetic, oxidized form of spermine, were examined using L1210 cell lines and murine bone marrow cells. SDA acted as a high affinity substrate for aldehyde dehydrogenase (ADH) derived from different sources, with kinetic profiles similar to other aldehyde substrates. The murine leukaemic, cyclophosphamide-resistant L1210/CPA cells, having high levels of intracellular ADH activity, were less sensitive to SDA compared to ADH deficient L1210/O cells as measured by [ 3H]-thymidine incorporation in proliferation studies. Furthermore, pretreatment of L1210/CPA cells with the ADH inhibitor, diethyl aminobenzaldehyde (DEAB), resulted in potentiation of the SDA response. Murine bone marrow cells were more resistant to SDA than splenic T cells. However, addition of DEAB to bone marrow cultures potentiated the sensitivity of progenitor cells to SDA, as measured by colony formation. The results indicate that levels of ADH in the target tissues would determine the potency of SDA and subsequently offer selectivity and specificity to the therapeutic potentials of this putative purging agent.