Dissecting the Role of Multiple Reductases in Bioactivation and Cytotoxicity of the Antitumor Agent 2,5-Diaziridinyl-3-(hydroxymethyl)-6-methyl-1,4-benzoquinone (RH1)

2,5-Diaziridinyl-3-(hydroxymethyl)-6-methyl-1,4-benzoquinone (RH1) is a novel antitumor diaziridinyl benzoquinone derivative designed to be bioactivated by the two-electron reductase NAD(P) H: quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1) and is currently in clinical trials. NQO1 is expressed at high levels in many solid tumors. RH1 cytotoxicity has been shown previously to be NQO1-dependent. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether other reducing enzymes such as cytochrome b(5) reductase (b5R), cytochrome P450 reductase (P450R), dihydronicotinamide riboside: quinone oxidoreductase 2 (NQO2), and xanthine oxidase/xanthine dehydrogenase (XO/XDH) also contribute to the bioactivation and cytotoxicity of RH1 in human tumor cells. For these studies, we established a series of stable MDA468 breast cancer cell lines overexpressing various levels of NQO1, b5R, P450R, and NQO2 and compared RH1-induced growth inhibition [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2,5-diphenyl) tetrazolium and sulforhodamine B analysis] and interstrand DNA cross-linking (comet analysis) in both parental MDA468 cells and transfected clones. RH1 toxicity correlated with NQO1 and NQO2 but not with either b5R or P450R activity levels in the respective series of transfected MDA468 cell clones. Enzymatic assays showed that RH1 was an in vitro substrate for xanthine oxidase. However, XO/XDH protein and activity could not be detected in a variety of human tumor cell lines. These studies suggest that NQO1 and NQO2 are the principal enzymatic determinants of RH1 bioactivation in MDA468 tumor cells and that b5R, P450R, and XDH/XO are unlikely to play major roles. Our studies also suggest that NQO2 may be particularly relevant as a bioactivation system for RH1 in NQO1-deficient tumors such as leukemias and lymphomas.