Reduced Folate Transport System Research Articles

CARRIER-MEDIATED MEMBRANE TRANSPORT OF FOLATES IN MAMMALIAN CELLS

Mediated internalization of folates is required for cellular macromolecular biosynthesis. Multiple carrier-mediated mechanisms have been identified that can fulfill this role in a variety of mammalian cell types, including neoplastic cells, with and without proliferative potential. The absorption of dietary folates also relies on the function of a carrier-mediated system in mature luminal epithelium of small intestine. The various carrier-mediated systems can be distinguished by their preferences for various folate compounds as permeants as well as by differences in temperature and pH dependence. The widely studied one-carbon, reduced-folate transport system is mediated by a transporter encoded by the newly discovered RFC-1 (reduced-folate carrier) gene. The characteristics of this gene in rodent and human cells are similar, consistent with the close similarity between these species of folate transport mediated by this transporter. However, differences occur in the form of tissue-specific expression, alternate splicing, and 5' end mRNA heterogeneity, as well as in promoter utilization regulating transcription. RFC-1 gene expression also appears to regulate luminal epithelial cell folate absorption in small intestine. However, the properties of RFC-1-mediated folate transport in these cells is anomalous when compared with that seen in nonabsorptive cell types. Detailed mechanisms as to the regulation of RFC-1 transcription are now emerging along with other information on structure and function of the transporter and its alteration following mutation.

Selective Treatment of SCID Mice Bearing Methotrexate-Transport-Resistant Human Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Tumors With Trimetrexate and Leucovorin Protection

Impaired transport of methotrexate (MTX) is a common resistance mechanism of tumor cells to this drug. Trimetrexate (TMTX), a second-generation folate antagonist, is still active against MTX-transport-resistant cells because it enters cells by passive diffusion and does not use the reduced folate transport system for cell entry. Therefore, although leucovorin (LV) protects MTX-sensitive cells from TMTX toxicity, MTX-transport defective cells are poorly rescued by LV. Severe combined immunodeficiency mice bearing MTX-transport-resistant CCRF-CEM acute lymphoblastic leukemia tumors were treated with TMTX alone or with the combination of TMTX and LV, with tumor regressions in both groups (P < .001) and without significant toxicity. These results indicate that TMTX with LV protection may be a useful therapeutic regimen for patients with MTX-transport-defective acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Furthermore, resistance to TMTX plus LV may result in reversion to MTX sensitivity.

Benzo[f]quinazoline inhibitors of thymidylate synthase: methyleneamino-linked aroylglutamate derivatives.

Syntheses of several new inhibitors of thymidylate synthase (TS) structurally related to folic acid are described in which the pterin portion of the folate molecule is replaced by a benzo[f]quinazoline moiety, but which retain the natural methyleneamino link to the benzoylglutamate side chain. The effect on enzyme activity and cytotoxicity of various changes in the structure of the (p-aminobenzoyl)glutamate side chain are reported. Replacement of the benzamide portion of the (p-aminobenzoyl)glutamate moiety with 2-fluorobenzamido, 2-isoindolinyl, 1,2-benzisothiazol-2-yl, and 2-thenamido moieties varied in effect from a 9-fold diminution of TS activity to a 5-fold enhancement, while cytotoxic potency on SW-480 and MCF-7 tumor lines showed increases ranging from 3.6- to 450-fold. The detrimental effect on enzyme activity and cytotoxicity of alkyl substitution on the PABA nitrogen is confirmed for these compounds, in contrast with several series of previously reported quinazoline antifolates (2). Substitution of a C3-methyl substituent for 3-amino had little effect on TS activity but was beneficial in terms of solubility and cytotoxicity. The excellent combination of TS inhibitory activity, FPGS substrate activity, and affinity for the reduced folate transport system in the most potent of these derivatives, 3e, resulted in IC50 values of 0.2-0.8 nM against these tumor lines.

Benzoquinazoline inhibitors of thymidylate synthase: enzyme inhibitory activity and cytotoxicity of some sulfonamidobenzoylglutamate and related derivatives.

Several folate-like thymidylate synthase inhibitors are described in which the pteridine nucleus of the folic acid molecule is replaced by a benzoquinazoline moiety, which in turn is attached to the benzoylglutamate side chain by a sulfonamide link. The most potent compounds had Ki values as low as 2.5 nM against the human enzyme, were good substrates for the cellular reduced folate transport system and for folylpolyglutamate synthetase, and had IC50 values for growth inhibition of tumor cell lines as low as 70 nM.

5,10-Dideazatetrahydrofolic acid (DDATHF) transport in CCRF-CEM and MA104 cell lines.

5,10-Dideazatetrahydrolic acid (DDATHF) is representative of a new class of antifolates acting through inhibition of de novo purine synthesis. We report here the transport characteristics of the diastereomers of DDATHF, which differ in configuration at C6, and comparison studies with other folate and antifolate analogs. (6R)-DDATHF showed high affinity for the influx system of CCRF-CEM cells with a Km of 1.07 microM and an influx Vmax of 4.04 pmol/min/10(7) cells. Comparative studies with methotrexate yielded an influx Km of 4.98 microM and a Vmax of 6.64 pmol/min/10(7) cells, and with 5-formyltetrahydrofolate an influx Km of 2.18 microM and a Vmax of 6.84 pmol/min/10(7) cells. Uptake of (6R)-DDATHF was competitively inhibited by (6S)-DDATHF, methotrexate (MTX), and 5-formyltetrahydrofolate, all with Ki values similar to their influx Km. The (6S)-DDATHF diastereomer had an influx Km of 1.04 microM, similar to that of (6R)-DDATHF; however, the Vmax of 1.72 pmol/min/10(7) cells was 2.3-fold lower than for (6R)-DDATHF. The transport properties of DDATHF were also studied in a mutant cell line (CEM/MTX), resistant to MTX based on impaired drug transport. In this system (6R)-DDATHF showed an influx Km of 1.49 microM and a decreased influx Vmax of 0.60 pmol/min/10(7) cells. A similar effect was shown for MTX (Km of 7.48 microM, Vmax of 1.02 pmol/min/10(7) cells). The number of binding sites in CCRF-CEM cells was similar for (6R)-DDATHF, (6S)-DDATHF, and MTX, 0.74, 0.71, and 0.76 pmol/10(7) cells, respectively. These values were slightly higher in the CEM/MTX cell line (1.07 and 1.09 pmol/10(7) cells for (6R)-DDATHF and MTX, respectively). Treatment of CCRF-CEM cells with either the N-hydroxysuccinimide ester of MTX or the corresponding N-hydroxysuccinimide ester of (6R)-DDATHF caused substantial inhibition (> 90%) of the influx of (6R)-[3H]DDATHF and [3H]MTX, respectively. These results suggest strongly that DDATHF and MTX share a common influx mechanism through the reduced folate transport system. The internalization of DDATHF by monkey kidney epithelial MA104 cells, which express a high affinity folate receptor, was also studied. Competitive binding studies using purified folate receptor and radiolabeled 5-methyltetrahydrofolate showed that (6S)- and (6R)-DDATHF both had I50 values lower than 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (12 nM). Further studies indicate that both DDATHF isomers are actively intracellularly concentrated through this route and are also rapidly converted to high chain length polyglutamates. Transport via this system was inhibited in folate-depleted cells by 10 nM folic acid.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Synthesis and biological activity of open-chain analogues of 5,6,7,8-tetrahydrofolic acid--potential antitumor agents.

This study describes the synthesis and in vitro antitumor activity of inhibitors of purine de novo biosynthesis that are analogues of N-[4-[[3-(2,4-diamino-1,6-dihydro-6-oxo-5-pyrimidinyl) propyl]amino]benzoyl-L-glutamic acid (5-DACTHF). Benzene ring substituted analogues were synthesized from a protected pyrimidinyl propionaldehyde and a substituted benzoyl glutamate moiety by a key reductive amination step. Pyrimidine and linking chain substituted analogues were built up stepwise from p-aminobenzoic acid or analogues. The compounds were tested as inhibitors of methotrexate uptake as a measure of binding to the reduced folate transport system, as inhibitors of glycinamide ribonucleotide transformylase, as substrates for folylpolyglutamate synthetase, and as inhibitors of tumor cell growth in cell culture. With the exception of 2'-F substituent, the ring-substituted analogues are less active than the parent compound. Replacement of the 10-nitrogen by carbon, sulfur, or oxygen produced less than 2-fold changes to biological activity in vitro. A four-atom linking chain and an amino group at the 2-position on the pyrimidine ring are important for good activity.

Growth inhibition by homofolate in tumor cells utilizing a high-affinity folate binding protein as a means for folate internalization

A subline (JT-1) of L1210 mouse leukemia cells that contains elevated levels of a high-affinity folate binding protein is sensitive to growth inhibition by homofolate. Inhibition was observed at nanomolar concentrations of folate or 5-fonnyltetrahydrofolate where the high-affinity binding protein is the predominant uptake route for folate compounds. At 1.0 nM folate, inhibition of growth by 50% occurred at 0.7 nM homofolate, and maximal inhibition exceeded 90% at homofolate concentrations above 10 nM. Homofolate also inhibited the uptake of 1.0 nM [ 3H]folate by L1210/JT-1 cells in 72-hr cultures, and the extent of uptake inhibition by 1.0 and 20 nM homofolate was comparable to the inhibition of cell growth by the same concentrations of homofolate. At a growth-limiting concentration of 5-formyltetrahydrofolate (0.5 nM), half-maximal inhibition of L1210/JT-1 cell growth occurred at 1.0 nM homofolate. When excess concentrations of folate (5 μM) or 5-formyltetrahydrofolate (0.5 μM) were added to the medium, no growth inhibition was observed for homofolate at concentrations up to 100 μM. Parental cells lacking the folate binding protein did not respond to homofolate either at growth-limiting (0.5 μM) or excess (5.0 μM) levels of folate. Binding measurements showed that homofolate has a high affinity for the folate-binding protein ( K i = 0.03 nM) but interacts poorly with the reduced-folate transport system ( K i = 203 μM). These results indicate that homofolate inhibits the growth of L1210 cells when intracellular folates are acquired via the high-affinity folate binding protein. The basis for this inhibition appears to be competition by homofolate for substrate binding and internalization.

Mediated uptake of folate by a high-affinity binding protein in sublines of L1210 cells adapted to nanomolar concentrations of folate.

An L1210 cell line (JT-1), which can grow in medium supplemented with 1 nM folate, has been isolated. These cells exhibit a slower growth rate than folate-replete parental cells and have a lower ability to transport folate or methotrexate via the reduced folate transport system. Measurements at nanomolar concentrations of folate revealed that the adapted cells have acquired a high-affinity folate-binding protein. Binding to this component at 37 degrees C was rapid and reached a maximum value after 30 min which corresponded in amount to 0.23 +/- 0.3 pmol/mg protein, and excess unlabeled folate added 30 min subsequent to the [3H]folate led to a rapid release of the bound substrate. Radioactivity bound to or released from the cells after 30 min at 37 degrees C remained as unmetabolized folic acid. Binding was also rapid at 0 degrees C but uptake at the plateau was only one-half the value obtained at 37 degrees C. Half-maximal saturation of the binding component (KD) occurred at a folate concentration of 0.065 nM at pH 7.4, while the affinity for folate decreased 30-fold when the pH was reduced to 6.2 (KD = 2.0 nM). 5-Methyltetrahydrofolate was also bound by this component (Ki = 13 nM at pH 7.4) but with a much lower affinity than for folate, while progressively weaker interactions were observed with 5-formyltetrahydrofolate (Ki = 45 nM) and methotrexate (Ki = 325 nM). When the same adaptation procedure was performed with limiting amounts of 5-formyltetrahydrofolate, two additional cell lines, JT-2 and JT-3, were isolated which expressed elevated levels of the folate-binding protein. The binding activity of the latter cells was 0.46 and 1.4 pmol/mg protein, respectively. When the level of binding protein was compared in cells grown at different concentrations of folate, an increase in medium folate from 1 to 500 nM caused a sevenfold reduction in binding activity in the JT-3 cell line, while these same growth conditions had no effect on binding by the other cells. These results indicate that L1210 cells adapted to low concentrations of folate or 5-formyltetrahydrofolate contain elevated levels of a high-affinity binding protein and that this protein is able to mediate the intracellular accumulation of folate compounds. L1210 cells thus appear to have two potential uptake routes for folate compounds, the previously characterized anion-exchange system and a second route mediated by a high-affinity binding protein.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Further studies on a novel class of genetic variants of the L1210 cell with increased folate analogue transport inward. Transport properties of a new variant, evidence for increased levels of a specific transport protein, and its partial characterization following affinity labeling.

Studies are reported on the characterization of a new isolate within a novel class of variants of the L1210 cell exhibiting markedly increased transport inward of folate analogues. This variant (L1210/R83), which was selected in the presence of the antifolate metoprine, exhibited a 40-fold increase in [3H]aminopterin influx compared to parental cells and a modest (4-5-fold) increase in [3H]aminopterin efflux. The increase in influx was associated with a comparable increase in influx Vmax for the one-carbon, reduced folate transport system and the same increase in the amount of specific binding of [3H]aminopterin on the cell surface. Values for influx Km for [3H]aminopterin and specificity for various folate structures were unchanged. The alteration in influx Vmax and more rapid efflux accounted for the different level of intracellular exchangeable level of drug at steady state in this variant compared with parental L1210 cells. Otherwise, membrane potential was unchanged. The N-hydroxysuccinimide ester of [3H]aminopterin was used to covalently label the specific binding protein for folate compounds in the plasma membrane of variant and parental L1210 cells. Incorporation of label into this protein was stable under a variety of conditions and accounted for 97 and 52% of total cellular labeling, respectively, for membrane derived from R83 and parental L1210 cells at a reagent concentration of 20 nM. Specific affinity labeling on the surface of parental and variant cells was decreased in the presence of aminopterin, methotrexate, or 5-formyltetrahydrofolate, but not in the presence of folic acid. Also, [3H]aminopterin influx in these cells was inhibited by the N-hydroxysuccinimide ester of aminopterin or methotrexate, but not the N-hydroxysuccinimide ester of folic acid. These findings, in addition to the increased affinity labeling of this variant, which corresponds to the increase in influx of [3H] aminopterin also seen, appears to identify the affinity labeled protein as a component of the "classical" one-carbon, reduced folate transport system in these cells. The affinity labeled protein from each cell type was solubilized in sodium dodecyl sulfate or extracted in detergent in the presence of proteinase inhibitors and was found to elute from Sephacryl S-300 and migrate during sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis as a single peak of Mr = 45,000-48,000. Recovery of labeled binding protein in these fractions from R83 variant cells was approximately 40 times greater than that from parental cells.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)