Action of troxacitabine on cells transduced with human cytidine deaminase cDNA

Troxacitabine (beta-L-Dioxolane-eytidine; Troxatyl(TM)) is a beta-L-nucleoside analog, which has shown preclinical antitumor activity in human xenograft tumor models and antileukemic response in patients with relapsed myeloid leukemia. Troxacitabine is activated by cellular kinases and incorporated into DNA, inhibiting its replication. In contrast to other cytosine nucleoside analogs, troxacitabine is resistant to inactivation by cytidine deaminase (CD). In this study we have investigated the effects of increased intracellular levels of CD on the antineoplastic action of troxacitabine and the related antileukemic drug, cytosine arabinoside (ARA-C). Retroviral transduction of the human CD gene in A549 lung carcinoma cells (A549-CD cells) markedly increased the expression of this gene. The A549-CD cells were more resistant to the cytotoxic action of ARA-C than the wild type A549 cells as determined by clonogenic assays. In contrast, the CD-transduced cells were as or more sensitive to the cytotoxic action of troxacitabine than the wild type cells. These results suggest that troxacitabine may be an effective antineoplastic agent against tumors with high levels of CD that show drug resistance to cytosine nucleoside analogs.