Effects of 8-azaadenosine and formycin on cell lethality and the synthesis and methylation of nucleic acids in human colon carcinoma cells in culture.

The cytocidal and biochemical effects of formycin and 8-azaadenosine in the presence and absence of the adenosine deaminase inhibitor, 2'-deoxycoformycin, were studied in human colon carcinoma (HT-29) cells in culture. Logarithmically growing cells were unaffected by 24-hr exposure to either 10(-6) M formycin or 8-azaadenosine, but 1 to 1.4 log reductions in colony formation were produced by 10(-5) M of each analog. In the presence of 10(-6) M 2'-deoxycoformycin, a 3- and 30-fold potentiation of the cytocidal activity of 8-azaadenosine and formycin, respectively, was produced. Inhibition of DNA synthesis but not RNA synthesis by 8-azaadenosine paralleled its cytocidal activity; however, neither variable correlated closely with the cytotoxic effects of formycin. In addition, the methylation of nuclear RNA was unaffected by both drugs while the methylation of 5-methyl-deoxy-cytidine in DNA was inhibited to a lesser extent than DNA synthesis. Measurements of the incorporation of [3H]formycin and [3H]8-azaadenosine into nuclear RNA and DNA in the presence and absence of 2'-deoxycorformycin indicated that formycin substitution in RNA and DNA was enhanced 10- and 20-fold, respectively, while [3H]8-azaadenosine incorporation into both nucleic acids was increased 6- to 7-fold. These results suggest that the incorporation of formycin into nucleic acids, particularly DNA, correlates closely with its lethal effect on cell viability. On the other hand, the cytocidal activity of 8-azaadenosine more clearly parallels its inhibitory effect on DNA synthesis rather than its substitution into nucleic acids.