A two-drug model for etoposide action against human topoisomerase IIalpha.

The widely used anticancer drug etoposide kills cells by increasing levels of topoisomerase II-mediated DNA breaks. While it is known that the drug acts by inhibiting the ability of topoisomerase II to ligate cleaved DNA molecules, the precise mechanism by which it accomplishes this action is not well understood. Because there are two scissile bonds per enzyme-mediated double-stranded DNA break, it has been assumed that there are two sites for etoposide in every cleavage complex. However, it is not known whether the action of etoposide at only one scissile bond is sufficient to stabilize a double-stranded DNA break or whether both drug sites need to be occupied. An oligonucleotide system was utilized to address this important issue. Results of DNA cleavage and ligation assays support a two-drug model for the action of etoposide against human topoisomerase IIalpha. This model postulates that drug interactions at both scissile bonds are required in order to increase enzyme-mediated double-stranded DNA breaks. Etoposide actions at either of the two scissile bonds appear to be independent of one another, with each individual drug molecule stabilizing a strand-specific nick rather than a double-stranded DNA break. This finding suggests (at least in the presence of drug) that there is little or no communication between the two promoter active sites of topoisomerase II. The two-drug model has implications for cancer chemotherapy, the cellular processing of etoposide-stabilized enzyme-DNA cleavage complexes, and the catalytic mechanism of eukaryotic topoisomerase II.