In vitro metabolic activation of chemical mutagens. I. Development of an in vitro mutagenicity assay liver microsomal enzymes for the activation of dimethylnitrosamine to a mutagen

Qualitative and quantitative assay were developed to study the in vitro enzymatic activation of dimethylnitrosamine (DMNA) to its mutagenic form. Three different fractions from mouse liver homogenates, including purified microsomes, were employed for the activation, and several parameters of the assay were investigated. Qualitative tests were conducted to measure the ability of hepatic enzymes obtained from six mammalian specie to activate DMNA. A comparison between two inbred mouse strains using the in vitro activation assay demonstrated that this technique might be a useful tool in quantitatively measuring differences in genetically influenced levels of DMNA metabolism in individual animals and their tissues.