Sensitization to heat by the polyamines and their analogs

The polyamines putrescine, spermidine, and spermine have been shown to sensitize Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells to the cytotoxic effects of elevated temperatures. This sensitization occurs in the order spermine greater than spermidine greater than putrescine. A series of homologs of the diamine putrescine demonstrated little variance in the degree of potentiation until a chain length equivalent to that of spermidine was employed (1,8-diaminooctane). Two compounds bearing structural similarities to spermidine gave rather different results when combined with heat. Methylglyoxal bis(guanylhydrazone) (MGBG), an antiproliferative drug, sensitized cells to heat, while S-2-(3-aminopropylamino)-ethyl phosphoric acid (WR-2721), a radioprotector, had no measureable effect on 43 degrees C-induced cytotoxicity. Together, these results point out the primary importance of two terminal amino groups separated by either carbon, or carbon and nitrogen, atoms in an aliphatic chain in the observed sensitization of heat-induced cytotoxicity by polyamines. These data suggest specific dimensional characteristics of the presumed negatively charged structure(s) with which the polyamines are interacting to elicit this effect.