Vacuum Ultraviolet Photoionization and Dissociative Photoionization of Capecitabine, 5＇-Deoxy-5-fluorocytidine, and 5＇-Deoxy-5-fluorouridine

Vacuum ultraviolet （VUV） photoionization and dissociative photoionization of capecitabine and its metabolites, 51-deoxy-5-fiuorocytidine （5＇-DFCR） and 51-deoxy-5- fiuorouridine （5＇- DFUR）, were investigated with infrared laser desorption/tunable synchrotron VUV photoionization mass spectrometry. Molecular ions （M＋） with small amounts of fragments can be found for these compounds at relatively low photon energies, while more fragment ions would be produced by increasing the photon energies. （M-H2O）＋, （base＋H）＋, （base＋2H）＋, （base＋30）＋, （base＋60）＋, and sugar moiety were proposed for these nucleoside drugs with similar backbones. Decomposition channels for the major fragments were discussed in detail. Moreover, ab initio calculations were introduced to study the dehydration pathways of three fluoro-nucleosides. Corresponding appearance energies for the （M-H2O）＋ ions were computed.

5-Fluorouracil concentration in blood, liver and tumor tissues and apoptosis of tumor cells after preoperative oral 5'-deoxy-5-fluorouridine in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

AIM: To study the levels of 5-fluorouracail (5-FU) in plasma, liver and tumor in patients with hepatoceilular carcinoma after oral administration of 5'-deoxy-5-fluorouridine (5'-DFUR). METHODS: Thirty-nine patients with hepatoceilular carcinoma were treated with oral 5'-DFUR for more than 4 d before operation. The contents of 5-FU in plasma, liver and tumor were measured by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and apoptosis of tumor cells was evaluated by in-situ TUNEL after resection of tumor. RESULTS: The concentrations of 5-FU were 1.1 μg/mL, 5.6, 5.9, and 10.5 μg/g in plasma, the liver tissue, the center of tumor and the periphery of tumor, respectively. 5-FU concentration was significantly higher in the periphery of tumor than that in the liver tissue and the center of tumor (10.5±1.6 μg/g vs 5.6±0.8 μg/g, t = 21.38, P<0.05; 10.5±1.6 μg/g vs 5.9±0.9 μg/g, t = 20.07, P<0.05). 5-FU level was significantly lower in plasma than that in the liver and the tumor (1.1±0.3 μg/mL vs 5.6±0.8 μg/g, t = 19.63, P<0.05; 1.1±0.3 μg/mL vs 10.5±1.6 μg/g, t= 41.01, P<0.05). Apoptosis of tumor cells was significantly increased after oral 5'-DFUR compared to the control group without 5-DFUR treatment. CONCLUSION: There is a higher concentration of 5-FU distributed in the tumor compared with liver tissue and apoptosis of tumor cells is increased following oral 5'-DFUR compared with the control group. The results indicate that 5'-DFUR is hopeful as neo-adjuvant chemotherapy to prevent recurrence after resection of hepatoceilular carcinoma.

Research development of the relationship between thymidine phosphorylase expression and colorectal carcinoma

Thymidine phosphorylase (TP) is a key enzyme that contributes to the composition and decomposition of pyrimidine nucleotides. TP seems homologous to platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor, and its effects on inducing vascularization and anti-apoptosis are closely related to growth and metastasis of colorectal carcinoma. In addition, TP is a key enzyme that catalyzes the transformation from 5-fluorouracil (FU) prodrugs of 5′-deoxy-5-fluorouridine (5′- DFUR) to 5-FU. The activity of TP is closely related to the sensitivity of colorectal carcinoma cells to fluorouracil drugs and targeted therapy. Given the important functions of TP in growth, metastasis, tumor treatment, and prognosis, determining its expression mechanism is significant. This article summarizes the research development of TP expression in colorectal carcinoma, tumor neovascularization, cytotoxicity activation of 5′-DFUR, and colorectal carcinoma therapy.

Induction of Recombinant Uridine Phosphorylase and Its Application in Biosynthesis of Pyrimidine Nucleosides

Recombinant Escherichia coli pUDP,which overexpressed uridine phosphorylase（UPase）,was constructed.0.5 mmol·L 1lactose had a similar induction effect as the commonly used inducer IPTG during 2.5-5.5 h of cell growth.The lactose-induced UPase was stable at 50°C.Wet cells of pUDP was used as catalyst to biosynthesize 5-fluorouridine from 30 mmol·L 1uridine and 5-fluorouracil in phosphate buffer（pH 7.0）catalyzed at 50°C for 1.5 h and the yield of 5-fluorouridine was higher than 68%.Under the optimum reaction conditions for production of 5-fluorouridine,5-methyluridine and azauridine were synthesized from uridine by pUDP,the yield was 61.7%and 47.2%respectively.Deoxynucleosides were also synthesized by pUDP,but the yield was only about 20%.