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D S Duch

Publications and source records attributed to D S Duch.

83 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMed1983

Biosynthesis of tetrahydrobiopterin in the presence of dihydrofolate reductase inhibitors.

Since there is no nutritional requirement for the biopterin cofactor, we attempted to create a drug-induced deficiency in rats in order to study the role of tetrahydrobiopterin in regulating the biosynthesis of dopamine and serotonin. The hypothesis that dihydrofolate reductase (EC 1.5.1.3) mediates the final step in the de novo synthesis of tetrahydrobiopterin was tested by treating rats with methotrexate along with leucovorin as a protective agent; there was no reduction in total biopterin or in the fraction present as tetrahydrobiopterin in adrenal medulla, adrenal cortex, pituitary, brain, or pineal glands. Similar results were obtained with metoprine, a lipid-soluble inhibitor of dihydrofolate reductase which readily enters the central nervous system. Treatment with loading doses of phenylalanine along with methotrexate reduced the level of tetrahydrobiopterin in liver. Neuroblastoma N115 cells growing in medium supplemented with thymidine and hypoxanthine continued to form normal amounts of tetrahydrobiopterin in the presence of concentrations of methotrexate which completely inhibited dihydrofolate reductase; higher concentrations of methotrexate increased the tetrahydrobiopterin content of the cells 2-fold and the total biopterin in the medium 3-fold. Although attempts to create a drug-induced deficiency were unsuccessful, the evidence indicates that the de novo synthesis of tetrahydrobiopterin proceeds by a pathway independent of dihydrofolate reductase and that folate antagonists, such as methotrexate are unlikely to impair the hydroxylation of tyrosine and tryptophan, which is dependent upon the availability of the biopterin cofactor.

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PubMed1982

Biochemical and chemotherapeutic studies on 2,4-diamino-6-(2,5-dimethoxybenzyl)-5-methylpyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine (BW 301U), a novel lipid-soluble inhibitor of dihydrofolate reductase.

The lipophilic diaminopyridopyrimidine BW 301U (2,4-diamino-6-(2,5-dimethoxybenzyl)-5-methylpyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine) is as active as methotrexate as an inhibitor of dihydrofolate reductase and mammalian cell growth. This compound was selected from among related pyridopyrimidines and other lipid-soluble diaminoheterocyclic compounds as having the most favorable combination of properties as a potent inhibitor of dihydrofolate reductase with minimal effects on histamine metabolism. In contrast to methotrexate, entry of BW 301U into cells is rapid and is not temperature dependent, indicating passage across cell membranes by diffusion. There is no competition between BW 301U and leucovorin (folinic acid) for uptake into Sarcoma 180 cells in culture. When BW 301U is added to culture medium, deoxyuridine incorporation ceases within the first few min, and this inhibition persists when cells are transferred to drug-free medium. Both leucovorin and thymidine are required to protect cells in culture from the cytotoxicity of BW 301U. The effect on thymidine biosynthesis appears to be indirect since BW 301U is inactive as an inhibitor of thymidylate synthetase. Hypoxanthine and thymidine restore growth by only 50% in cultures containing BW 301U, and complete restoration of growth requires the further addition of adenosine and either uridine or cytidine to the medium. In vivo, BW 301U is active against Walker 256, L1210, P388, Sarcoma 180, and Ehrlich ascites tumors.

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PubMed1980

Synthesis and antitumor activity of 2,4-diamino-6-(2,5-dimethoxybenzyl)-5-methylpyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine.

The synthesis of 2,4-diamino-6-(2,5-dimethoxybenzyl)-5-methylpyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine (BW301U, 7) by a route that has general applicability to the preparation of many 6-(substituted benzyl)-5-methylpyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidines is described. The key intermediate, 2,4-diamino-7,8-dihydro-6-(2,5-dimethoxybenzyl)-5-methyl-7-oxopyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine (4), is converted to the 7-chloro compound 5 by treatment with a 1:1 complex of N,N-dimethylformamide--thionyl chloride, and 5 is hydrogenolyzed with palladium on charcoal in the presence of potassium hydroxide to yield 7. BW301U is a potent lipid-soluble inhibitor of mammalian dihydrofolate reductase and has significant activity against the Walker 256 carcinosarcoma in rats.

Animals↗
PubMed1979

Dihydrofolate reductase in primary brain tumors, cell cultures of central nervous system origin, and normal brain during fetal and neonatal growth.

Dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) was measured during the development in rats of brain tumors induced following inoculation with avian sarcoma virus. Increasing activity of this enzyme in brain was correlated with the course of primary brain tumor growth. The specific activities of DHFR in primary human brain tumor tissues were comparable to those found in avian sarcoma virus-induced brain tumors in rats. Specific activities of DHFR in cell cultures derived from human and rat primary intracranial gliomas and sarcomas were up to 6 times those found in adult rat liver. The presence of DHFR in neoplasms of central nervous system origin is relevant to the development of folate antagonists which, unlike methotrexate, can readily cross the blood-brain barrier. In normal developing rat brain, DHFR specific activity was high in embryos at 19 days of gestation and declined thereafter, until at 20 days after birth the activity was very low. The methotrexate titration assay was used to measure enzyme levels in the brains of fetal and newborn rats, and good correlation with the spectrophotometric assay was observed. The pattern was different in liver, showing maximum activity 11 days after birth and retaining high activity in adult liver. Both the cofactor requirement and the sensitivity to methotrexate indicate that the enzyme in the brain is DHFR.

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