Project description:Topoisomerase II (TOP2) unlinks chromosomes during vertebrate DNA replication. TOP2 "poisons" are widely used chemotherapeutics that stabilize TOP2 complexes on DNA, leading to cytotoxic DNA breaks. However, it is unclear how these drugs affect DNA replication, which is a major target of TOP2 poisons. Using Xenopus egg extracts, we show that the TOP2 poisons etoposide and doxorubicin both inhibit DNA replication through different mechanisms. Etoposide induces TOP2-dependent DNA breaks and TOP2-dependent fork stalling by trapping TOP2 behind replication forks. In contrast, doxorubicin does not lead to appreciable break formation and instead intercalates into parental DNA to stall replication forks independently of TOP2. In human cells, etoposide stalls forks in a TOP2-dependent manner, while doxorubicin stalls forks independently of TOP2. However, both drugs exhibit TOP2-dependent cytotoxicity. Thus, etoposide and doxorubicin inhibit DNA replication through distinct mechanisms despite shared genetic requirements for cytotoxicity.
Project description:The extensive length, compaction, and interwound nature of DNA, together with its controlled and restricted movement in eukaryotic cells, create a number of topological issues that profoundly affect all of the functions of the genetic material. Topoisomerases are essential enzymes that modulate the topological structure of the double helix, including the regulation of DNA under- and overwinding and the removal of tangles and knots from the genome. Type II topoisomerases alter DNA topology by generating a transient double-stranded break in one DNA segment and allowing another segment to pass through the DNA gate. These enzymes are involved in a number of critical nuclear processes in eukaryotic cells, such as DNA replication, transcription, and recombination, and are required for proper chromosome structure and segregation. However, because type II topoisomerases generate double-stranded breaks in the genetic material, they also are intrinsically dangerous enzymes that have the capacity to fragment the genome. As a result of this dualistic nature, type II topoisomerases are the targets for a number of widely prescribed anticancer drugs. This article will describe the structure and catalytic mechanism of eukaryotic type II topoisomerases and will go on to discuss the actions of topoisomerase II poisons, which are compounds that stabilize DNA breaks generated by the type II enzyme and convert these essential enzymes into "molecular scissors." Topoisomerase II poisons represent a broad range of structural classes and include anticancer drugs, dietary components, and environmental chemicals.
Project description:Topoisomerase II modulates DNA topology by generating double-stranded breaks in DNA. Results of the current study indicate that the presence of a nick at one scissile bond dramatically increases the rate of cleavage by human topoisomerase IIalpha at the scissile bond on the opposite strand. We propose that this enhanced activity at the second strand coordinates the two protomer subunits of topoisomerase II and allows the enzyme to create double-stranded breaks. Finally, the presence of a nick on one strand induces cleavage on the opposite strand. Thus, nicks are topoisomerase II poisons that generate novel sites of DNA cleavage.
Project description:Despite advances in surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, glioblastoma (GBM) remains a malignancy with poor prognosis. The molecular profile of GBM is diverse across patients, and individual responses to therapy are highly variable. Yet, patients diagnosed with GBM are treated with a rather uniform paradigm. Exploiting these molecular differences and inter-individual responses to therapy may present an opportunity to improve the otherwise bleak prognosis of patients with GBM. This review aims to examine one group of chemotherapeutics: Topoisomerase 2 (TOP2) poisons, a class of drugs that enables TOP2 to induce DNA damage, but interferes with its ability to repair it. These potent chemotherapeutic agents are currently used for a number of malignancies and have shown promise in the treatment of GBM. Despite their robust efficacy in vitro, some of these agents have fallen short of achieving similar results in clinical trials for this tumor. In this review, we explore reasons for this discrepancy, focusing on drug delivery and individual susceptibility differences as challenges for effective TOP2-targeting for GBM. We critically review the evidence implicating genes in susceptibility to TOP2 poisons and categorize this evidence as experimental, correlative or both. This is important as mere experimental evidence does not necessarily lead to identification of genes that serve as good biomarkers of susceptibility for personalizing the use of these drugs.
Project description:BackgroundTopoisomerase II is critical for DNA replication, transcription and chromosome segregation and is a well validated target of anti-neoplastic drugs including the anthracyclines and epipodophyllotoxins. However, these drugs are limited by common tumor resistance mechanisms and side-effect profiles. Novel topoisomerase II-targeting agents may benefit patients who prove resistant to currently available topoisomerase II-targeting drugs or encounter unacceptable toxicities. Voreloxin is an anticancer quinolone derivative, a chemical scaffold not used previously for cancer treatment. Voreloxin is completing Phase 2 clinical trials in acute myeloid leukemia and platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. This study defined voreloxin's anticancer mechanism of action as a critical component of rational clinical development informed by translational research.Methods/principal findingsBiochemical and cell-based studies established that voreloxin intercalates DNA and poisons topoisomerase II, causing DNA double-strand breaks, G2 arrest, and apoptosis. Voreloxin is differentiated both structurally and mechanistically from other topoisomerase II poisons currently in use as chemotherapeutics. In cell-based studies, voreloxin poisoned topoisomerase II and caused dose-dependent, site-selective DNA fragmentation analogous to that of quinolone antibacterials in prokaryotes; in contrast etoposide, the nonintercalating epipodophyllotoxin topoisomerase II poison, caused extensive DNA fragmentation. Etoposide's activity was highly dependent on topoisomerase II while voreloxin and the intercalating anthracycline topoisomerase II poison, doxorubicin, had comparable dependence on this enzyme for inducing G2 arrest. Mechanistic interrogation with voreloxin analogs revealed that intercalation is required for voreloxin's activity; a nonintercalating analog did not inhibit proliferation or induce G2 arrest, while an analog with enhanced intercalation was 9.5-fold more potent.Conclusions/significanceAs a first-in-class anticancer quinolone derivative, voreloxin is a toposiomerase II-targeting agent with a unique mechanistic signature. A detailed understanding of voreloxin's molecular mechanism, in combination with its evolving clinical profile, may advance our understanding of structure-activity relationships to develop safer and more effective topoisomerase II-targeted therapies for the treatment of cancer.
Project description:To investigate the potency of the topoisomerase II (topo II) poisons doxorubicin and etoposide to stimulate the DNA damage response (DDR), S139 phosphorylation of histone H2AX (γH2AX) was analyzed using rat cardiomyoblast cells (H9c2). Etoposide caused a dose-dependent increase in the γH2AX level as shown by Western blotting. By contrast, the doxorubicin response was bell-shaped with high doses failing to increase H2AX phosphorylation. Identical results were obtained by immunohistochemical analysis of γH2AX focus formation, comet assay-based DNA strand break analysis, and measuring the formation of the topo II-DNA cleavable complex. At low dose, doxorubicin activated ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) but not ATM and Rad3-related (ATR). Both the lipid-lowering drug lovastatin and the Rac1-specific inhibitor NSC23766 attenuated doxorubicin- and etoposide-stimulated H2AX phosphorylation, induction of DNA strand breaks, and topo II-DNA complex formation. Lovastatin and NSC23766 acted in an additive manner. They did not attenuate doxorubicin-induced increase in p-ATM and p-Chk2 levels. DDR stimulated by topo II poisons was partially blocked by inhibition of type I p21-associated kinases. DDR evoked by the topoisomerase I poison topotecan remained unaffected by lovastatin. The data show that the mechanisms involved in DDR stimulated by topo II poisons are agent-specific with anthracyclines lacking DDR-stimulating activity at high doses. Pharmacological inhibition of Rac1 signaling counteracts doxorubicin- and etoposide-stimulated DDR by disabling the formation of the topo II-DNA cleavable complex. Based on the data we suggest that Rac1-regulated mechanisms are required for DNA damage induction and subsequent activation of the DDR following treatment with topo II but not topo I poisons.
Project description:Many chemotherapeutic drugs are differentially effective from one patient to the next. Understanding the causes of this variability is a critical step towards the development of personalized treatments and improvements to existing medications. Here, we investigate sensitivity to a group of anti-neoplastic drugs that target topoisomerase II using the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans. We show that wild strains of C. elegans vary in their sensitivity to these drugs, and we use an unbiased genetic approach to demonstrate that this natural variation is explained by a methionine-to-glutamine substitution in topoisomerase II (TOP-2). The presence of a non-polar methionine at this residue increases hydrophobic interactions between TOP-2 and its poison etoposide, as compared to a polar glutamine. We hypothesize that this stabilizing interaction results in increased genomic instability in strains that contain a methionine residue. The residue affected by this substitution is conserved from yeast to humans and is one of the few differences between the two human topoisomerase II isoforms (methionine in hTOPIIα and glutamine in hTOPIIβ). We go on to show that this amino acid difference between the two human topoisomerase isoforms influences cytotoxicity of topoisomerase II poisons in human cell lines. These results explain why hTOPIIα and hTOPIIβ are differentially affected by various poisons and demonstrate the utility of C. elegans in understanding the genetics of drug responses.
Project description:The seeds of Nigella sativa (often referred to as black seed) have long been utilized as a medicinal herb in Middle Eastern, Northern African, and Indian cultures. Historically, black seed has been used to treat a variety of illnesses associated with inflammation. More recent studies have found that it induces apoptosis and displays anticancer activity in animal and cellular models. The major bioactive compound of black seed is thymoquinone, which shares structural features with 1,4-benzoquinone and other covalent topoisomerase II poisons. Because a number of anticancer drugs target type II topoisomerases, we determined the effects of thymoquinone and a series of related quinones on human topoisomerase IIα. Thymoquinone enhanced enzyme-mediated DNA cleavage ~5-fold, which is similar to the increase seen with the anticancer drug etoposide. In order to enhance cleavage, compounds had to have at least two positions available for acylation. Furthermore, activity was decreased by the inclusion of electron-donating groups or bulky substituents. As predicted for a covalent topoisomerase II poison, the activity of thymoquinone (and related compounds) was abrogated by the addition of a reducing agent. Also, thymoquinone inhibited topoisomerase IIα activity when incubated with the enzyme prior to the addition of DNA. Cleavage complexes formed in the presence of the compound were stable for at least 8 h. Lastly, black seed extract and black seed oil both increased levels of enzyme-mediated DNA cleavage, suggesting that thymoquinone is active even in more complex herbal formulations. These findings indicate that thymoquinone can be added to the growing list of dietary and medicinal natural products with activity against human type II topoisomerases.
Project description:We designed and carried out a high-throughput screen for compounds that trap topoisomerase III beta (TOP3B poisons) by developing a Comparative Cellular Cytotoxicity Screen. We found a bisacridine compound NSC690634 and a thiacyanine compound NSC96932 that preferentially sensitize cell lines expressing TOP3B, indicating that they target TOP3B. These compounds trap TOP3B cleavage complex (TOP3Bcc) in cells and in vitro and predominately act on RNA, leading to high levels of RNA-TOP3Bccs. NSC690634 also leads to enhanced R-loops in a TOP3B-dependent manner. Preliminary structural activity studies show that the lengths of linkers between the two aromatic moieties in each compound are critical; altering the linker length completely abolishes the trapping of TOP3Bccs. Both of our lead compounds share a similar structural motif, which can serve as a base for further modification. They may also serve in anticancer, antiviral, and/or basic research applications.
Project description:The DNA damage response (DDR) gene cell cycle checkpoint kinase 2 (Chk2) triggers programmed cell death and lethal radiation-induced toxicity in mice in vivo. However, it is not well established to what extent targeting of Chk2 may protect from dose-limiting toxicities (DLT) inflicted by mainstay cancer chemotherapy. We screened different classes of chemotherapy in wild type and Chk2-deficient cells. Here we show that loss of Chk2 protect from cell death in vitro and lethal toxicity in vivo following treatment with topoisomerase II (TOP2)-inhibitors whereas no such protection was observed following treatment with topoisomerase I (TOP1) inhibitors. Furthermore, through combined in silico and functional screens of the Diversity Set II (NCI/NTP) chemical library we identified the carbanilide-derivative NSC105171, also known as ptu-23, as a novel Chk2 inhibitor (Chk2i). Indeed, NSC105171 can be administered safely to mice to countermeasure etoposide-induced toxicity. Incorporation of Chk2i into chemotherapy protocols employing TOP2-inhibitors may be an effective strategy to prevent DLT's without interfering with treatment.