Abstract 2159:In vitrocharacterization of PTAU and FU interactions in colon cancer cells

Background: Fluorouracil (FU) remains a main anticancer therapy for colorectal cancer (CRC) and other solid tumors. The mechanism of action of FU is associated with inhibition of thymidylate synthase (TS) and incorporation of its metabolites into RNA and DNA. High toxicity and wide-spread chemoresistance, however, have limited the utilization of FU-based therapies. Five intracellular enzymes, thymidylate synthase (TS), dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD), methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), thymidine phosphorylase (TP), and uridine phosphorylase (UP) are key determinants of FU sensitivity or resistance. Combination therapies aimed at improving the bioavailability of FU and reducing host toxicity has been evaluated. Recently, our group developed a new uridine phosphorylase inhibitor, 5-phenylthio-acyclouridine (PTAU) that has shown promise in reducing host toxicity and increasing FU efficacy in vivo. The current studies were to characterize interactions of PTAU and FU in vitro and to assess its effects on key metabolic enzymes in human colon cancer cells. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that inhibition of uridine phosphorylase by PTAU would ameliorate the toxic effects of FU and enhance its efficacy by permitting increased doses of FU. Methods: Three colon cancer cell lines with differing p53 status, HCT116-p53 wt (wild-type), HCT116-p53 null , and HT-29 (p53-mutant); and a normal colonic epithelial cell line, CRL-1790, were used. Doubling times were determined, and IC50 values for FU were derived from kill curves using MTT assay. Cells were treated for 72 hours with IC50 doses of FU, PTAU (100 μM) or uridine (25 μM), alone or in combination, or with the solvent, DMSO. mRNA levels for DPD, TS, TP, and UP were quantitated by qRT-PCR; for intracellular protein expression, cells were fixed and stained with monoclonal antibodies and analyzed by flow cytometry. Results: FU sensitivity correlated with cell doubling times. Basal expression of FU metabolic enzymes differed between CRC and normal cells. mRNAs for DPD and UP were higher in normal relative to cancer cells, but TS mRNA was higher in cancer cells. FU treatment upregulated mRNA expression of DPD, UP, and TS in cancer cells but not in normal cells. Only in cancer cells, DPD induction by FU was potentiated by PTAU. In contrast, treatment with FU decreased protein levels of DPD, TP, and TS in cancer cells. PTAU induced TS protein expression in cancer cells, an effect that was reduced by co-treatment with FU. Conclusions: FU induces mRNA levels of DPD, UP, and TS in cancer cell lines, but protein levels are reduced; the discrepancy between mRNA and protein levels following FU treatment underscores the need for evaluation of colon cancer samples to assess response to FU therapy. This work was supported by a Supplement of the MSM/TU/UABCCC U54 Partnership grant (3U54-CA118948-09S1) from NIH. Citation Format: Esther A. Suswam, Gaurav Kumar, Hyung-Gyoon Kim, Mohamed Osmar, Mahmoud H. el Kouni, Upender Manne. In vitro characterization of PTAU and FU interactions in colon cancer cells. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 2159.