TY - GEN A1 - Steinbrecht, Susanne A1 - Kiebist, Jan A1 - König, Rosalie A1 - Thiessen, Markus A1 - Schmidtke, Kai-Uwe A1 - Kammerer, Sarah A1 - Küpper, Jan-Heiner A1 - Scheibner, Katrin T1 - Synthesis of cyclophosphamide metabolites by a peroxygenase from Marasmius rotula for toxicological studies on human cancer cells T2 - AMB Express N2 - Cyclophosphamide (CPA) represents a widely used anti-cancer prodrug that is converted by liver cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes into the primary metabolite 4-hydroxycyclophosphamide (4-OH-CPA), followed by non-enzymatic generation of the bioactive metabolites phosphoramide mustard and acrolein. The use of human drug metabolites as authentic standards to evaluate their toxicity is essential for drug development. However, the chemical synthesis of 4-OH-CPA is complex and leads to only low yields and undesired side products. In past years, fungal unspecific peroxygenases (UPOs) have raised to powerful biocatalysts. They can exert the identical selective oxyfunctionalization of organic compounds and drugs as known for CYP enzymes with hydrogen peroxide being used as sole cosubstrate. Herein, we report the efficient enzymatic hydroxylation of CPA using the unspecific peroxygenase from Marasmius rotula (MroUPO) in a simple reaction design. Depending on the conditions used the primary liver metabolite 4-OH-CPA, its tautomer aldophosphamide (APA) and the overoxidized product 4-ketocyclophosphamide (4-keto-CPA) could be obtained. Using a kinetically controlled approach 4-OH-CPA was isolated with a yield of 32% (purity > 97.6%). Two human cancer cell lines (HepG2 and MCF-7) were treated with purified 4-OH-CPA produced by MroUPO (4-OH-CPAUPO). 4-OH-CPAUPO–induced cytotoxicity as measured by a luminescent cell viability assay and its genotoxicity as measured by γH2AX foci formation was not significantly different to the commercially available standard. The high yield of 4-OH-CPAUPO and its biological activity demonstrate that UPOs can be efficiently used to produce CYP-specific drug metabolites for pharmacological assessment. KW - Biocatalysis KW - Cyclophosphamide KW - Human drug metabolites KW - Peroxygenase KW - Toxicity Y1 - 2020 UR - https://amb-express.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s13568-020-01064-w U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13568-020-01064-w SN - 2191-0855 VL - 10 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Steinbrecht, Susanne A1 - König, Rosalie A1 - Schmidtke, Kai-Uwe A1 - Herzog, Natalie A1 - Scheibner, Katrin A1 - Krüger-Genge, Anne A1 - Jung, Friedrich A1 - Kammerer, Sarah A1 - Küpper, Jan-Heiner T1 - Metabolic activity testing can underestimate acute drug cytotoxicity as revealed by HepG2 cell clones overexpressing cytochrome P450 2C19 and 3A4 T2 - Toxicology Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tox.2018.11.008 SN - 0300-483X VL - 412 SP - 37 EP - 47 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Krüger-Genge, Anne A1 - Köhler, Susanne A1 - Laube, Markus A1 - Haileka, Vanessa A1 - Lemm, Sandy A1 - Majchrzak, Karolina A1 - Kammerer, Sarah A1 - Schulz, Christian A1 - Storsberg, Joachim A1 - Pietzsch, Jens A1 - Küpper, Jan-Heiner A1 - Jung, Friedrich T1 - Anti-Cancer Prodrug Cyclophosphamide Exerts Thrombogenic Effects on Human Venous Endothelial Cells Independent of CYP450 Activation—Relevance to Thrombosis T2 - Cells N2 - Cancer patients are at a very high risk of serious thrombotic events, often fatal. The causes discussed include the detachment of thrombogenic particles from tumor cells or the adverse effects of chemotherapeutic agents. Cytostatic agents can either act directly on their targets or, in the case of a prodrug approach, require metabolization for their action. Cyclophosphamide (CPA) is a widely used cytostatic drug that requires prodrug activation by cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYP) in the liver. We hypothesize that CPA could induce thrombosis in one of the following ways: (1) damage to endothelial cells (EC) after intra-endothelial metabolization; or (2) direct damage to EC without prior metabolization. In order to investigate this hypothesis, endothelial cells (HUVEC) were treated with CPA in clinically relevant concentrations for up to 8 days. HUVECs were chosen as a model representing the first place of action after intravenous CPA administration. No expression of CYP2B6, CYP3A4, CYP2C9 and CYP2C19 was found in HUVEC, but a weak expression of CYP2C18 was observed. CPA treatment of HUVEC induced DNA damage and a reduced formation of an EC monolayer and caused an increased release of prostacyclin (PGI2) and thromboxane (TXA) associated with a shift of the PGI2/TXA balance to a prothrombotic state. In an in vivo scenario, such processes would promote the risk of thrombus formation. KW - cancer KW - cyclophosphamide KW - human umbilical vein endothelial cells KW - HUVEC KW - liver KW - cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYP) KW - thrombosis Y1 - 2023 UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/12/15/1965 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/cells12151965 SN - 2073-4409 VL - 12 IS - 15 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Steinbrecht, Susanne A1 - Kammerer, Sarah A1 - Küpper, Jan-Heiner T1 - HepG2 cells with recombinant cytochrome P450 enzyme overexpression: Their use and limitation as in vitro liver model T2 - Journal of Cellular Biotechnology Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3233/JCB-189013 SN - 2352-3697 SN - 2352-3689 VL - 5 IS - 1 SP - 55 EP - 64 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Steinbrecht, Susanne A1 - Pfeifer, Nadine A1 - Herzog, Natalie A1 - Katzenberger, Nadine A1 - Schulz, Christian A1 - Kammerer, Sarah A1 - Küpper, Jan-Heiner T1 - HepG2-1A2 C2 and C7: Lentivirus vector-mediated stable and functional overexpression of cytochrome P450 1A2 in human hepatoblastoma cells T2 - Toxicology Letters N2 - Novel HepG2 cell clones 1A2 C2 and 1A2 C7 were independently generated by lentiviral transduction to functionally overexpress cytochrome P450 1A2 (CYP1A2). We found similar and stable CYP1A2 transcript and protein levels in both cell clones leading to specific enzyme activities of about 370 pmol paracetamol x min-1 x mg-1 protein analyzed by phenacetin conversion. Both clones showed dramatically increased sensitivity to the hepatotoxic compound aflatoxin B1 (EC50<100 nM) when compared to parental HepG2 cells (EC50 ∼5 μM). Thus, newly established cell lines are an appropriate tool to study metabolism and toxicity of substances depending on conversion by CYP1A2. KW - HepG2 KW - CYP1A2 KW - Cytochrome P450 KW - Liver metabolism Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.toxlet.2019.11.006 SN - 0378-4274 VL - 319 SP - 155 EP - 159 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Künzel, Stephan R. A1 - Hoffmann, Maximilian A1 - Weber, Silvio A1 - Künzel, Karolina A1 - Kämmerer, Susanne A1 - Günscht, Mario A1 - Klapproth, Erik A1 - Rausch, Johanna S. E. A1 - Sadek, Mirna S. A1 - Kolanowski, Tomasz A1 - Meyer-Roxlau, Stefanie A1 - Piorkowski, Christopher A1 - Tugtekin, Sems M. A1 - Rose-John, Stefan A1 - Yin, Xiaoke A1 - Mayr, Manuel A1 - Kuhlmann, Jan Dominik A1 - Wimberger, Pauline A1 - Grützmann, Konrad A1 - Herzog, Natalie A1 - Küpper, Jan-Heiner A1 - O’Reilly, Molly A1 - Kabir, S. Nashitha A1 - Sommerfeld, Laura C. A1 - Guan, Kaomei A1 - Wielockx, Ben A1 - Fabritz, Larissa A1 - Nattel, Stanley A1 - Ravens, Ursula A1 - Dobrev, Dobromir A1 - Wagner, Michael A1 - El-Armouche, Ali T1 - Diminished PLK2 Induces Cardiac Fibrosis and Promotes Atrial Fibrillation T2 - Circulation Research N2 - Rationale: Fibrosis promotes the maintenance of atrial fibrillation (AF), making it resistant to therapy. Improved understanding of the molecular mechanisms leading to atrial fibrosis will open new pathways toward effective antifibrotic therapies. Objective: This study aims to decipher the mechanistic interplay between PLK2 (polo-like kinase 2) and the profibrotic cytokine OPN (osteopontin) in the pathogenesis of atrial fibrosis and AF. Methods and Results: Atrial PLK2 mRNA expression was 10-fold higher in human fibroblasts than in cardiomyocytes. Compared with sinus rhythm, right atrial appendages and isolated right atrial fibroblasts from patients with AF showed downregulation of PLK2 mRNA and protein, along with increased PLK2 promotor methylation. Genetic deletion as well as pharmacological inhibition of PLK2 induced profibrotic phenotype conversion in cardiac fibroblasts and led to a striking de novo secretion of OPN. Accordingly, PLK2-deficient (PLK2 knockout) mice showed cardiac fibrosis and were prone to experimentally induced AF. In line with these findings, OPN plasma levels were significantly higher only in patients with AF with atrial low-voltage zones (surrogates of fibrosis) compared with sinus rhythm controls. Mechanistically, we identified ERK1/2 as the relevant downstream mediator of PLK2 leading to increased OPN expression. Finally, oral treatment with the clinically available drug mesalazine, known to inhibit ERK1/2, prevented cardiac OPN overexpression and reversed the pathological PLK2 knockout phenotype in PLK2 knockout mice. Conclusions: Abnormal PLK2/ERK1/2/OPN axis function critically contributes to AF-related atrial fibrosis, suggesting reinforcing PLK2 activity and/or OPN inhibition as innovative targets to prevent fibrosis progression in AF. Mesalazine derivatives may be used as lead compounds for the development of novel anti-AF agents targeting fibrosis. KW - atrial fibrillation KW - fibroblasts KW - fibrosis KW - mesalamine KW - osteopontin Y1 - 2021 UR - https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/full/10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.121.319425 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.121.319425 SN - 1524-4571 SN - 0009-7330 VL - 129 IS - 8 SP - 804 EP - 820 ER -