The dihydropyridine dexniguldipine hydrochloride inhibits cleavage and religation reactions of eukaryotic DNA topoisomerase I

Dexniguldipine hydrochloride (B859-35, a dihydropyridine with antitumor and multidrug resistance-reverting activity) inhibits both the DNA cleavage and religation reactions of purified human DNA topoisomerase I at concentrations >1 microM, whereas at concentrations <1 microM it inhibits selectively the religation step and stabilizes the covalent topoisomerase I-DNA intermediate in a similar fashion as camptothecin. Inhibition of religation by camptothecin can be overcome by increasing the concentration of the DNA substrate in the religation reaction, indicating a competitive type of inhibition. In contrast, dexniguldipine hydrochloride decreases rate constants of topoisomerase I-mediated DNA religation independently of the concentration of the DNA substrate, suggesting a noncompetitive mechanism of inhibition, which is different from that of camptothecin.