Simple isoquinoline and benzylisoquinoline alkaloids as potential antimicrobial, antimalarial, cytotoxic, and anti-HIV agents.

Twenty-six simple isoquinolines and 21 benzylisoquinolines were tested for antimicrobial, antimalarial, cytotoxic, and anti-HIV activities. Some simple isoquinoline alkaloids were significantly active in each assay, and may be useful as lead compounds for developing potential chemotherapeutic agents. These compounds include 13 (antimicrobial), 25, 26, and 42 (antimalarial), 13 and 25 (cytotoxic), and 28 and 29 (anti-HIV). A quaternary nitrogen atom of isoquinolium or dihydroisoquinolinium type may contribute to enhanced potency in the first three types of activities. In contrast, anti-HIV activity was found with tetrahydroisoquinoline and 6,7-dihydroxyisoquinolium salts.

Apoptosis: a method for evaluating the cryopreservation of whole blood and peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

We sought to compare the effect of cryopreservation and storage at -30 degrees C, -70 degrees C and -150 degrees C of human whole blood versus matched peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) samples using apoptosis as an indicator of cell fitness. Following 10 weeks of storage the samples were thawed and assessed for viability (trypan blue exclusion), levels of apoptosis (using the nuclear stain bis-benzimide) and cell function (ability to be transformed by Epstein-Barr virus, EBV). When comparing storage temperatures, the levels of apoptosis in whole blood and PBMC samples stored at -30 degrees C were significantly higher than the values for samples stored at -70 degrees C or -150 degrees C (P<0.004). Whole blood samples stored at -150 degrees C had significantly less apoptosis than those stored at -70 degrees C (P<0.03). A comparison of the cell preparations showed that at all three storage temperatures there was significant sample deterioration (viability, apoptosis, and function) in whole blood relative to PBMC samples. This study indicates that careful consideration should be given to storage conditions and that apoptosis can be used as a sensitive measure of cell fitness following cryopreservation.

Major liver resection for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in an HIV-positive patient: report of a case.

A very unusual clinical presentation of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) of the liver is reported herein. The patient was a 35-year-old male who had been HIV-positive since 1987. Following an episode of acute pain in the right upper abdominal quadrant, ultrasonography (US) and computed tomography (CT) were performed, revealing a nodular lesion, 2.5 cm in diameter, localized in the eighth segment of the liver. Despite the fact that the lesion became significantly enlarged over a 6-month period, three repeated percutaneous biopsies proved negative. Finally, his increasing pain and the lack of a definitive diagnosis prompted us to perform a right hepatectomy. The patient had an uneventful postoperative course and is well 1 year after his operation. Establishing a diagnosis of extranodal lymphoma can be difficult, especially in HIV-positive or AIDS patients. Thus, performing a laparotomy is justified to confirm a diagnosis and decide upon the most appropriate treatment. However, in about 10% of these patients, only surgical resection allows for the diagnosis. In accordance with other reports, our experience confirms that, in contrast with AIDS patients, HIV-positive patients have a similar prognosis as non-HIV patients, and are suitable candidates for even major surgical procedures.

Antitumor agents. 166. Synthesis and biological evaluation of 5,6,7,8-substituted-2-phenylthiochromen-4-ones.

As a continuation of our structure--activity relationship study of substituted 2-phenyl-4-quinolones and flavonoids as antitumor and antiviral agents, a series of 5,6,7,8-substituted-2-phenylthiochromen-4-ones has been synthesized by condensation of substituted thiophenols and ethyl benzoylacetates. Target compounds were evaluated for biological activity. Among them, compounds 7, 10, 12, and 13 displayed significant growth inhibitory action against a panel of tumor cell lines including human ileocecal carcinoma (HCT-8), murine leukemia (P-388), human melanoma (RPMI), and human central nervous system tumor (TE671) cells. Compounds 10, 12, and 19 displayed DNA topoisomerase I inhibitory activity in vitro and compound 11 was an in vitro, inhibitor of DNA topoisomerase II. Compound 11 was most active (ED50 value, 0.65 microM) against HIV in acutely infected H9 lymphocytes and had a therapeutic index of about 5.

Anti-AIDS agents, 18. Sodium and potassium salts of caffeic acid tetramers from Arnebia euchroma as anti-HIV agents.

Monosodium and monopotassium salts [2-4] of isomeric caffeic acid tetramers were isolated from Arnebia euchroma as anti-HIV agents. Mixtures of dipotassium and disodium salts [1] of a caffeic acid tetramer and dipotassium and potassium-sodium salts [5] of a caffeic acid tetramer glucoside were also isolated from the active fraction. The structures of 1-5 were characterized by chemical and spectral evidence. Compounds 2-4 demonstrated potent anti-HIV activity with EC50 values of 2.8, 4.0, and 1.5 micrograms/ml, respectively. Treatment of 1-4 with dilute HCl yielded known caffeic acid tetramers [8 and 9], which were found to be less active, indicating the importance of the sodium and potassium salts to the enhanced anti-HIV activity.

Lack of correlation between the number of circulating B cells and the concentration of serum antibodies reactive with the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein.

Cells obtained from the peripheral blood of HIV-infected patients and volunteers immunized with HIV-1 vaccines are commonly used to study anti-viral responses, since lymphocytes from the central lymphoid organs are difficult to obtain. Analyses involving PBMC implicitly assume that circulating B cells provide an accurate reflection of the systemic humoral response induced by the HIV antigens. We examined this assumption by comparing the number of B cells secreting IgG anti-gp160/120 antibodies in the peripheral circulation with serum antibody titers. Results indicate that neither the magnitude nor duration of the serologic response detected in HIV-infected patients or gp160/gp120-immunized volunteers reproducibly correlates with the number of B cells secreting anti-envelope antibodies in the blood.

The HIV-1 gp120 envelope protein has the intrinsic capacity to stimulate monokine secretion.

Results and conclusions concerning the ability of HIV glycoprotein (gp) 120 to stimulate monokine secretion have been equivocal, based on observations using natural gp120 derived from infected human cells and a Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell-derived recombinant fusion protein. Current studies were designed to determine whether differences in recombinant gp120 proteins could result in failure to trigger monokine production. We found that natural gp120 could stimulate monocytes to release TNF-alpha, IL-1 beta, IL-6, and granulocyte-macrophage-CSF, and this effect could be blocked with soluble CD4. Full-length rgp120 either expressed from an adenovirus vector and purified from infected human cells, or derived from CHO cells, could function similarly. In contrast, full-length recombinant envelope protein expressed in a baculovirus system and a CHO cell-derived recombinant fusion protein tested previously, consistently failed to stimulate monokine production. The stimulatory capacity of both natural and full-length CHO cell-derived gp120 was eliminated by heating at 100 degrees C, and could be blocked with excess CHO cell-derived gp120 fusion protein. Inasmuch as the baculovirus-expressed gp120 and the CHO cell-derived recombinant fusion protein can bind to CD4, these results suggest that HIV gp120 binding to CD4 on the monocyte surface may of itself be insufficient for stimulation of monokine secretion. Therefore, primary protein structure, as well as posttranslational protein modifications, may determine this activity.

Generation of a lipid-like cytotoxin from human CD16+ natural killer cells.

Supernatants from unstimulated CD16+ natural killer (NK) cells or from CD16+ NK cells cocultured with K562 tumor cells (to generate NK cytotoxic factor) were both cytotoxic to target cells. Interleukin 2 stimulation of the CD16+ NK cells in the absence of tumor cell stimulation resulted in supernatants which mediated an increased cytotoxicity as compared to the unstimulated supernatants. The cytotoxic activity was recovered in the chloroform fraction of a Bligh-Dyer lipid extraction suggesting that the toxic moiety in the CD16+ NK cell-derived supernatants might be a lipid. Separation of the cytotoxic supernatants into Mr less than 10,000 and Mr greater than 10,000 fractions revealed that the Mr less than 10,000 fraction of both supernatants had no detectable protein but retained cytotoxicity equal to that of the matched unfractionated supernatant. For convenience, we refer to this lipid-like cytotoxin in the Mr less than 10,000 fraction of the supernatants from unstimulated CD16+ NK cells as lipotoxin (LTX) and the cytotoxin in the Mr less than 10,000 fraction of supernatant from interleukin 2 stimulated CD16+ NK cells as LTX*. Increasing concentrations of LTX and LTX* caused a dose related increase in cytotoxicity. Both LTX and LTX* mediated killing as early as 18 h and their cytotoxicity was not significantly affected by heating at 56 degrees for 2 h or by freezing and thawing. Heating at 63 degrees C resulted in a decrease in cytotoxic activity of 10 to 20%. The less than 10,000 dalton fraction of supernatants from both unstimulated and interleukin 2 stimulated CD3- cells (a crude NK cell population) mediated greater cytotoxicity than the CD3+ cell supernatants, and the majority of cytotoxicity from the CD3- cell supernatants was recovered in this fraction. Thus, NK cells were more efficient producers of the lipid-like cytotoxin than T-cells but whether LTX made by NK cells can also be made by T-cells remains to be determined. We propose that lipotoxin: (a) coexists with protein cytotoxins in NK cell supernatant preparations; (b) mediates significant cytotoxicity when separated from proteinaceous cytotoxins; (c) is responsible for the spontaneously secreted cytotoxic activity observed by others; (d) is distinct from previously reported proteinaceous cytotoxins, e.g., NK cytotoxic factor, tumor necrosis factor alpha, and cytolysin/perforin; (e) accounts for the lipophilic nature of cytotoxic factor activity in NK cell supernatants; and (f) causes the cytotoxic activity observed in a small molecular weight fraction of stimulated NK cell supernatants.

A multi-step isolation scheme for obtaining CD16+ human natural killer cells.

A multi-step isolation scheme capitalizing on negative selection protocols is described for obtaining an enriched population of CD16+ human natural killer (NK) cells. The isolation scheme consists of incubating peripheral blood mononuclear cells (MNC) on nylon wool, rosetting the nylon wool non-adherent cells with sheep red blood cells (SRBCs) for 1 h at 29 degrees C and then utilizing a 'panning' technique to remove CD3+, non-rosetting cells. The final working cell population contained 70-80% CD16+ cells, 15% CD2+ cells, 1-3% CD3+ cells, 5-7% SIg+ cells and no detectable MO2+ cells. In comparing the final NK cell population from the multi-step isolation protocol to NK cells obtained by the Percoll density gradient centrifugation technique, the multistep method: (1) yielded a higher percentage of CD16+ cells, (2) mediated a greater degree of cytotoxicity at a 25:1 E:T ratio, and (3) contained fewer contaminating monocytes/macrophages (none were detectable). In addition, the multi-step scheme allowed recovery of 30% of the total CD16+ cells present compared to only 7% recovered by the Percoll density gradient technique. Pretreatment of the enriched NK cells, obtained from the multi-step scheme, with interleukin-2 (3.5 and 7.0 U/ml of activity) resulted in an increase in NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity. In addition, these cells were as effective at synthesizing the cytotoxin, NKCF, at a 25:1 E:T ratio as at 50:1 and 100:1 E:T ratios. This multi-step isolation scheme consistently yields a high percentage of CD16+ NK cells and thus may greatly facilitate studies on the mechanism(s) involved in NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity and may further the study of the cytotoxins involved.