Role of hypoxia-inducible factor-alpha in hepatitis-B-virus X protein-mediated MDR1 activation.

The transition from chemotherapy-responsive cancer cells to chemotherapy-resistant cancer cells is mainly accompanied by the increased expression of multi-drug resistance 1 (MDR1). We found that hepatitis-B-virus X protein (HBx) increases the transcriptional activity and protein level of MDR1 in a hepatoma cell line, H4IIE. In addition, HBx overexpression made H4IIE cells more resistant to verapamil-uptake. HBx stabilized hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha (HIF-1alpha) and induced the nuclear translocation of C/EBPbeta. Reporter gene analyses showed that HBx increased the reporter activity in the cells transfected with the reporter containing MDR1 gene promoter. Moreover, the luciferase reporter gene activity was significantly inhibited by HIF-1alpha siRNA but not by overexpression of C/EBP dominant negative mutant. These results imply that HBx increases the MDR1 transporter activity through the transcriptional activation of the MDR1 gene with HIF-1alpha activation, and suggest HIF-1alpha for the therapeutic target of HBV-mediated chemoresistance.

Pharmacokinetic characteristics of L-valyl-ara-C and its implication on the oral delivery of ara-C.

AIM: To evaluate the pharmacokinetic characteristics of L-valyl-ara-C, a peptidomimetic prodrug of ara-C. METHODS: After the synthesis of L-valyl-ara-C, the in vitro stability of L-valyl-ara-C was examined in various biological media. Plasma pharmacokinetic profiles of ara-C and L-valyl-ara-C were also evaluated in rats. RESULTS: The degradation of L-valyl-ara-C was negligible in fresh plasma and also in the presence of plasmin over a 2 h incubation period. Furthermore, L-valyl-ara-C appeared to be stable in the leukemia cell homogenates, and subsequently, it was far less cytotoxic than the parent, ara-C in AML2 and L1210 cells. The chemical hydrolysis of L-valyl-ara-C was rather accelerated in acidic pH. Following an oral administration of L-valyl-ara-C, the appearance of ara-C was observed in plasma although the systemic exposure of the prodrug was much higher than that of ara-C. The bioavailability of ara-C was about 4% via prodrug administration. CONCLUSION: The amide bond of L-valyl-ara-C was stable against the enzymatic hydrolysis, and the utility of L-valyl-ara-C as an oral delivery system of ara-C appeared to be limited by its low metabolic conversion to ara-C in rats.

Enhanced cellular uptake of Ara-C via a peptidomimetic prodrug, L-valyl-ara-C in Caco-2 cells.

This study aimed to investigate the gastrointestinal stability and the cellular uptake characteristics of L-valyl-ara-C, a peptidomimetic prodrug of ara-C (cytarabine). After the synthesis of L-valyl-ara-C via the incorporation of L-valine into the N4-amino group of the cytosine ring in araC, the gastrointestinal stability of L-valyl-ara-C was examined using artificial gastric juice and artificial intestinal fluids. The cellular uptake characteristics of L-valyl-ara-C were also examined in Caco-2 cells. The disappearance half-life of L-valyl-ara-C was 2.2 h in artificial gastric juice, while the degradation of L-valyl-ara-C was negligible in artificial intestinal fluid and also in the supernatant above the Caco-2 cell monolayer during the 2-h incubation. The cellular accumulation of L-valyl-ara-C was 5-fold higher than that of ara-C in Caco-2 cells. Furthermore, the cellular uptake of L-valyl-ara-C did not increase proportionally to the increase in drug concentration. The cellular accumulation of L-valyl-ara-C was significantly reduced in the presence of uridine, p-aminohippurate, tetraethylammonium and small dipeptides, while it was not changed in the presence of L-valine and benzoic acid, suggesting that L-valyl-ara-C could interact with multiple uptake transporters, including peptide transporters, organic anion and cation transporters and nucleoside transporters, but might not interact with amino acid transporters. In conclusion, L-valyl-ara-C could be effective to improve the oral absorption of ara-C via the carrier-mediated transport pathway.