• 1 January 1979
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 39  (8) , 3018-3023
Abstract
The greater in vivo antitumor activity of 4-amino-3-carboxamido-1-(.beta.-D-ribofuranosyl)pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine (APPCR) in comparison to the parent compound 4-amino-1-(.beta.-D-ribofuranosyl)pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine (APPR) may involve intrinsic differences in the effects of these 2 compounds on cells, as well as in their metabolisms. In studies with L1210 cells in vitro, growth inhibition by APPCR for 36 h or more was found to be cytocidal, while growth inhibition by APPR was cytostatic in that a substantial fraction of the cells survived 36 or 72 h of exposure to growth-inhibiting concentrations of APPR. It appears that this difference in the cellular effects of APPCR and APPR is not related to differences in the requirement for activation by phosphorylation or in susceptibility to inactivation by deamination. However, deamination may limit the effectiveness of APPR in vivo since it is a substrate for adenosine deaminase, while deamination of APPCR is not detectable.