Effect of cobalamin inactivation on folate metabolism of leukemic cells

Exposure to nitrous oxide inactivates the cobalamin coenzyme of methionine synthetase, an essential enzyme in folate metabolism. Hemopoietic cells are especially dependent on the function of cobalamin for the folate-dependent synthesis of thymidylate (dTMP). Inhibition of methionine synthetase may therefore be of potential value in the treatment of hematological malignancies. In the present study we investigated the effect of nitrous oxide induced cobalamin inactivation on folate metabolism of fresh leukemic cells and the human myelomonocytic cell line U937. Cells were exposed to nitrous oxide for 20 h. Subsequently they were subjected to the deoxyuridine suppression test (dU test), which measures the disturbance of folate-dependent dTMP synthesis. In all bone marrow samples, cobalamin inactivation resulted in a 200% increase of the dU test value, implicating a decreased de-novo synthesis of dTMP. Incubation of leukemic cells with methotrexate, 5-fluorouracil or cycloleucine induced similar increases of the dU test values which could be further raised to 400% with the addition of N2O exposure. Prolonged experiments with U937 cells revealed that the disturbance of folate metabolism aggravated up to 48 h of nitrous oxide exposure. It can be concluded that cobalamin inactivation in human leukemic cells results in disturbed folate-dependent dTMP synthesis. Moreover, effects of several drugs interfering with folate metabolism can be enhanced.