T. Bando et al., CYTOTOXICITY OF A NOVEL INDOLOQUINONE EO9 IN HYPOXIC NON-SMALL-CELL LUNG-CANCER CELL-LINES, International journal of oncology, 7(4), 1995, pp. 789-793
methyl-[1H-indole-4,7-dione]-prop-beta-en-alpha-ol (EO9) is a bioreduc
tive anticancer agent active for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) an
d structurally related to mitomycin C (MMC). DT-diaphorase (DTD) is re
garded as a two electron reductase that plays an important role in the
biotransformation of MMC to antitumor metabolites. To evaluate the ro
le of DTD as a bioactivator of EO9 in NSCLC cell lines under oxic and
hypoxic conditions, we examined the inhibitory effect of dicumarol whi
ch was regarded as a selective inhibitor of DTD on the sensitivity to
EO9 in vitro. In this study, we used an MMC-resistant NSCLC cell line
(PC-9/MC4) which was established from a PC-9 cell line as a parent cel
l line by continuous exposure to MMC in our laboratory. We reported pr
eviously that the subline PC-9/MC4 was 6.7-fold more resistant to MMC
than PC-9 with decreased DTD activity. The IC50 value of PC-9 against
EO9 was significantly increased by co-incubation with dicumarol under
oxic conditions. EO9 was more cytotoxic against PC-9/MC4 than against
PC-9 cells and the enhancement was impaired by tempol under hypoxic co
nditions. These findings suggest a suppressive role of DTD against one
-electron reduction pathway in the bioactivation of EO9 under hypoxic
conditions and EO9 may be more active against oxygen-deficient solid t
umors especially in MMC-resistant NSCLC cells with low levels of DTD a
ctivity.