CRYPTIC SPECIES RELATED TO DALDINIA CONCENTRICA AND D. ESCHSCHOLZII, WITH NOTES ON D. BAKERI

Daldinia macaronesica (from the Canary Islands and Madeira), D. palmensis (from the Canary Islands), D. martinii and D. raimundi (from Sicily), and D. vanderguchtiae (from Jersey, Channel Islands) spp. nov., are described, based on new combinations of teleomorphic and anamorphic characters. They all resemble the pantropical D. eschscholzii and/or the European D. concentrica with regard to teleomorphic characters and secondary metabolite profiles generated by analytical HPLC. The status of the newly described taxa was established by SEM of ascospores and microscopic studies of their anamorphs in comparison with various materials of the aforementioned known species. HPLC and SEM studies on th…

Change in expression of MGMT during maturation of human monocytes into dendritic cells.

Dendritic cells (DCs) maturated from monocytes play an important role in the immune system, not only in defense against conventional infections but also in cancer rejection. Because of the central role of DCs in tumor host defense it is highly important that DCs as well as the progenitor cell population are protected during cancer therapy. Since most anticancer drugs target DNA, the DNA repair capacity is most importance for the response of DCs and their precursor cells. Here, we studied the expression of the DNA repair protein O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) in monocytes obtained from peripheral blood of healthy donors and DCs maturated from monocytes (moDCs). We show that MG…

Human Monocytes, but not Dendritic Cells Derived from Them, Are Defective in Base Excision Repair and Hypersensitive to Methylating Agents

Abstract Monocytes and dendritic cells are key players in the immune response. Because dendritic cells drive the tumor host defense, it is important that monocytes and dendritic cells survive cytotoxic tumor therapy. Although most of the anticancer drugs target DNA, the DNA repair capacity of monocytes and dendritic cells has not yet been investigated. We studied the sensitivity of monocytes and monocyte-derived dendritic cells against various genotoxic agents and found monocytes to be more sensitive to overall cell kill and apoptosis upon exposure to methylating agents (e.g., N-methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine, methyl methanesulfonate, and the anticancer drug temozolomide). On the other …

DNA repair in defence against genotoxin-induced apoptosis

Synthesis of 131I-labeled glucose-conjugated inhibitors of O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) and comparison with nonconjugated inhibitors as potential tools for in vivo MGMT imaging.

O 6 -Substituted guanine derivatives are powerful agents used for tumor cell sensitization by inhibition of the DNA repair enzyme O 6 -methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT). To provide targeted accumulation of MGMT inhibitors in tumor tissue as well as tools for in vivo imaging, we synthesized iodinated C 8 -alkyl-linked glucose conjugates of 2-amino-6-(5-iodothenyl)-9H-purine (O 6 -(5-iodothenyl) guanine, ITG) and 2-amino-6-(3-iodobenzyloxy)-9H-purine (O 6 -(5-iodobenzyl) guanine, IBG). These compounds have MGMT inhibitor constants (IC 5 0 values) of 0.8 and 0.45 μM for ITGG and IBGG, respectively, as determined in HeLa S3 cells after 2-h incubation with inhibitor. To substantiate tha…