Intracellular pharmacodynamic studies of the synergistic combination of 6-mercaptopurine and cytosine arabinoside in human leukemia cell lines.

Selective combinations of purine and pyrimidine analogs increase remission rates in pediatric patients with relapsed leukemias. The combination of 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP) and cytosine arabinoside (ara-C) may exhibit synergism similar to that observed for fludarabine and ara-C and may diminish the potential for development of resistance since the two drugs are activated by separate enzymatic pathways. To determine the efficacy of the combination against human leukemia cells, we investigated the time-concentration relationships of the drugs given alone or in combination to the resultant cytotoxicity. To determine whether the combination leads to enhanced activity of deoxycytidine kinase (dCk), the rate-limiting enzyme in ara-C activation, we characterized the cellular dCk in CCRF/CEM/0, CCRF/CEM/ara-C/7A, and CCRF/CEM/ara-C/3A monoclonal cells before and after treatment with 6-MP. CCRF/CEM/0 (wild type), CCRF/CEM/ara-C/7A (approximately 50% ara-C-resistant as determined by ara-C sensitivity assay and dCk characterization), and CCRF/CEM/ara-C/3A (approximately 90% resistant to ara-C) human leukemia cells were incubated with various concentrations of 6-MP and ara-C given alone or in combination. Cell survival, inhibition of DNA synthetic capacity (DSC), ara-CTP anabolism, and dCk enzymatic characteristics were studied. Incubation of CEM/0 cells with 6-MP for 24 h, followed by ara-C for 48 h, increased cell-growth inhibition by approximately 0.5-1 log10, corresponding to 5- to 10-fold synergism, as compared with ara-C alone after identical drug incubation in all cell lines. Simultaneous administration showed no synergism, whereas reversal of the sequence produced an antagonistic effect. The ara-CTP levels were 2- to 3.5-fold and 3- to 5-fold higher in CEM/0 and CEM/ara-C/7A cells, respectively, in cells exposed to 6-MP followed by ara-C than in those exposed to ara-C alone at the same concentrations. Furthermore, a progressive increase in ara-CTP levels was noted in CEM/0 cells exposed to increasing concentrations of 6-MP followed by 10 or 20 microM ara-C. A significant decrease in DSC was observed upon treatment of wild-type and ara-C-resistant cells with 6-MP and ara-C. The combination of 6-MP and ara-C exhibits significant sequence-specific synergism in both wild-type and partially ara-C-resistant leukemia cell lines. The combination also exerts collateral sensitivity in the ara-C-resistant cell lines. 6-MP pretreatment may play a role in enhancing ara-C activation, thus producing drug synergism in sensitive and resistant leukemia cell lines.