Modulation of sensitivity to mitomycin C and a dithiol analogue by tempol in non-small-cell lung cancer cell lines under hypoxia.

We examined the mechanisms involved in the bioactivation of mitomycin C (MMC) and a newly developed MMC analogue: 7-N-(2-([2-(gamma-L-glutamylamino)ethyl]dithio)ethyl)mitomycin C, KW-2149, in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines under aerobic and hypoxic conditions. To investigate these mechanisms, we used MMC-resistant non-small-cell lung cancer cell lines (PC-9/MC4) that had been established in our laboratory from the parent PC-9 cell line by continuous exposure to MMC. We previously reported that the MMC-resistant cell line (PC-9/MC4) was poor in NAD(P)H dehydrogenase (quinone) activity and approximately 6-fold more resistant than the parent cells (PC-9) to MMC on 2-h exposure under aerobic conditions. In this study, the subline PC-9/MC4 was 6.7-fold more resistant to MMC than PC-9, the parent cell line, under aerobic conditions, and 5.2-fold more resistant under hypoxic conditions after 2-h exposure to MMC. However, on co-incubation with tempol, an inhibitor of the one-electron reduction pathway, the sensitivity of PC-9/MC4 to MMC was impaired under hypoxic conditions, but the impairment was not evident under aerobic conditions. KW-2149, the newly developed MMC analogue, was cytotoxic for both PC-9/MC4 and PC-9 cells, and the sensitivity of both cell lines to KW-2149 was not changed by exposure to hypoxic conditions or by coincubation with tempol. There were no significant differences in the intracellular uptake of MMC and the activities of cytosolic detoxification enzymes between the PC-9 and PC-9/MC4 cell lines. These results support the hypothesis that the one-electron reduction pathway plays a partial role in the bioactivation of MMC, but not of KW-2149, and that KW-2149 is excellent at circumventing resistance to MMC in NSCLC.