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PURPOSE: Anthracyclines, such as doxorubicin and daunorubicin, continue to be widely used in the treatment of cancer, although they share the adverse effect of chronic, cumulative dose-related cardiotoxicity. The only approved treatment in prevention of anthracycline cardiotoxicity is dexrazoxane, a putative iron chelator. Previous in vitro studies have shown that disorders of iron metabolism, including altered IRP1-IRE binding, may be an important mechanism of anthracycline cardiotoxicity. METHODS: This study examined the role of IRP1-IRE binding ex vivo in a chronic model of daunorubicin cardiotoxicity in the Fischer 344 rat and whether dexrazoxane could prevent any daunorubicin-induced changes in IRP1 binding. Young adult (5-6 months) Fischer 344 rats received daunorubicin (2.5 mg/kg iv once per week for 6 weeks) with and without pretreatment with dexrazoxane (50 mg/kg ip). Other groups received saline (controls) or dexrazoxane alone. Rats were killed either 4 h or 2 weeks after the last dose of daunorubicin to assess IRP1-IRE binding. RESULTS: Contractility (dF/dt) of atrial tissue, obtained from rats 2 weeks after the last dose of daunorubicin, was significantly reduced in daunorubicin-treated compared to control rats. Dexrazoxane pretreatment protected against the daunorubicin-induced decrease in atrial dF/dt. However, left ventricular IRP1/IRE binding was not affected by daunorubicin treatment either 4 h or 2 weeks after the last dose of daunorubicin. CONCLUSIONS: IRP1 binding may not be altered in the rat model of chronic anthracycline cardiotoxicity.

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Cardiac effects of anthracyclines or their metabolites may include both the stimulation and inhibition of Ca(2+) release from sarcoplasmic reticulum. In this study, the ability of daunorubicin and its primary metabolite, daunorubicinol, to stimulate and inhibit Ca(2+) release from canine sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) vesicles was investigated. It was observed that both daunorubicin and daunorubicinol were several fold more potent at inhibiting than they were at stimulating SR Ca(2+) release. Respective IC50 inhibition of daunorubicin and daunorubicinol for caffeine-induced calcium release was 1.2 and 0.6 microM, and for spontaneous Ca(2+) release was 3 and 1 microM. EC50's for daunorubicin- and daunorubicinol-induced calcium release were 30 and 15 microM, respectively. Inhibition of either spontaneous or caffeine-induced SR Ca(2+) release was inversely related to the amount of Ca(2+) loaded into the SR before exposure to daunorubicin or daunorubicinol. The free-radical scavenger dithiothreitol did not attenuate the ability of anthracyclines to inhibit SR Ca(2+) release. A nonquinone daunorubicin derivative, 5-iminodaunorubicin, was less potent than daunorubicin at inhibiting caffeine-induced Ca(2+) release. These data suggest anthracyclines and their metabolites may produce cardiotoxicity through free-radical independent, concentration-dependent effects on SR Ca(2+) release. These effects involve either inhibition or stimulation of SR Ca(2+) release and are partly dependent upon the presence of the quinone moiety.

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Anthracyclines can cause cumulative dose-related cardiotoxicity characterized by changes in Ca(2+) metabolism, including dysfunction of the sacroplasmic reticulum (SR) and decreased expression of Ca(2+)-handling proteins, such as the ryanodine receptor (RyR2). In this study, we examined the effect of dexrazoxane (ICRF-187), an iron chelator which prevents anthracycline cardiotoxicity, on RyR2 gene expression in rats treated chronically with daunorubicin. Daunorubicin (2.5 mg kg(-1) i.v. weekly for 6 weeks) produced cardiotoxicity as demonstrated by histopathologic changes. The ryanodine receptor/glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) mRNA ratio was decreased by 38+/-3% (P<0.02) compared to values in control rats. Dexrazoxane pre-treatment (50 mg kg(-1); 1 h prior to each daunorubicin injection) prevented the decrease in RyR2/GAPDH mRNA ratio and histopathologic lesions in daunorubicin-treated rats. This is the first report that a protective agent such as dexrazoxane can ameliorate the decreased expression of a specific gene involved in anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity.

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Plasmalemmal caveolae are a membrane specialization that mediates transcytosis across endothelial cells and the uptake of small molecules and ions by both epithelial and connective tissue cells. Recent findings suggest that caveolae may, in addition, be involved in signal transduction. To better understand the molecular composition of this membrane specialization, we have developed a biochemical method for purifying caveolae from chicken smooth muscle cells. Biochemical and morphological markers indicate that we can obtain approximately 1.5 mg of protein in the caveolae fraction from approximately 100 g of chicken gizzard. Gel electrophoresis shows that there are more than 30 proteins enriched in caveolae relative to the plasma membrane. Among these proteins are: caveolin, a structural molecule of the caveolae coat; multiple, glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored membrane proteins; both G alpha and G beta subunits of heterotrimeric GTP-binding protein; and the Ras-related GTP-binding protein, Rap1A/B. The method we have developed will facilitate future studies on the structure and function of caveolae.

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A soluble enzyme preparation from immature sage (Salvia officinalis) leaves has been shown to catalyze the cation-dependent cyclization of geranyl pyrophosphate to the isomeric monoterpene olefins (+/-)-alpha-pinene and (-)-beta-pinene and to lesser amounts of camphene and limonene (Gambliel, H., and Croteau, R. (1982) J. Biol. Chem. 257, 2335-2342). This preparation was fractionated by gel filtration on Sephadex G-150 to afford two regions of enzymic activity termed geranyl pyrophosphate:pinene cyclase I (Mr approximately equal to 96,000), which catalyzed the conversion of geranyl pyrophosphate to the bicyclic olefin (+)-alpha-pinene, and to smaller quantities of the rearranged olefin (+)-camphene and the monocyclic olefin (+)-limonene, and geranyl pyrophosphate:pinene cyclase II (Mr approximately equal to 55,000), which transformed the acyclic precursor to (-)-alpha-pinene and (-)-beta-pinene, as well as to (-)-camphene, (-)-limonene, and the acyclic olefin myrcene. The multiple olefin biosynthetic activities co-purified with pinene cyclase I on four subsequent chromatographic and electrophoretic steps, and the ability to cyclize geranyl pyrophosphate and the related allylic pyrophosphates neryl pyrophosphate and linalyl pyrophosphate was likewise coincident throughout purification. Fractionation of pinene cyclase II by an identical sequence showed that the activities for the synthesis of the stereochemically related (-)-olefins co-purified, as did the ability to utilize the three acyclic precursors. The general properties of cyclase I and cyclase II were determined, and a scheme for the biosynthesis of the pinenes and related monoterpene olefins was proposed.

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