Mutagenicity of rat-liver S9 to L5178Y mouse lymphoma cells

Rat-liver S9 preparations became highly mutagenic to cultured L5178Y mouse lymphoma cells when the exposure period was increased to 18-24 h or when S9 mix was preincubated in Fischer's medium at 37 degrees C for 19 h and then used to treat the cells for 4 h. Five different S9 preparations (from untreated and Aroclor 1254-treated Fischer 344 or Sprague-Dawley male rats) behaved similarly. S9 mix, which contained 1 mM NADP and 5 mM isocitrate as cofactors, was more mutagenic than S9 alone. Heat treatment of S9 did not destroy its mutagenic activity, but the addition of cofactors no longer stimulated an increase in mutagenicity, as observed with native S9. Treatment with cofactors was not mutagenic. These results implied the involvement of both energy-independent and NADPH-dependent enzymatic changes in S9 mix in producing mutagenic substances. The mutagenic treatments with S9 or S9 mix induced predominantly small TFT-resistant mutant colonies, which suggested that these treatments should be clastogenic to cultured mammalian cells. A warning was given that test chemicals evaluated as mutagenic only in the presence of S9 mix may instead be accelerating the decomposition of S9 mix into mutagens, and it may become necessary to experimentally distinguish between these two mechanisms before a chemical can be regarded as mutagenic.     

Hamster hepatocyte-mediated activation of procarcinogens to mutagens in the L5178Y/TK mutation assay

Eight procarcinogens including three nitrosamines, three polycyclic hydrocarbons, and two aromatic amines were tested for mutagenic potential at the thymidine kinase (TK) locus in L5178Y mouse lymphoma cells co-cultivated with viable hamster hepatocytes. All eight chemicals produced substantial mutagenic activity as indicated by increased trifluorothymidine resistance in L5178Y cells treated in the presence of hepatocytes. Mutagenic responses to benzo[a]pyrene, 3-methyl-cholanthrene, N-nitrosodiethylamine, and N-nitrosodipropylamine first increased, then plateaued within the range of mutagen concentrations tested, while consistent dose-dependent increases in mutant frequencies were observed following 2-aminoanthracene, 2-aminofluorene, or N-nitrosodimethylamine treatments. The relatively flat portions of the mutant frequency curves for benzo[a]pyrene and 3-methylcholanthrene coincided with maximum chemical solubility as obvious from visible or microscopically detectable precipitate. These hamster cells readily facilitated the metabolism of 1,2-benzanthracene to a detectable mutagen and were especially competent in the activation of the two aromatic amines. Thus, cultured hamster hepatocytes can activate a variety of chemical carcinogens including polycyclic hydrocarbons to mutagens in a whole cell-mediated in vitro assay using L5178Y/TK^+/? cells as the target organism.     

Metabolic activation capabilities of S9 and hepatocytes from uninduced rats to convert carcinogenic N-nitrosamines to mutagens

6 carcinogenic nitrosamines were studied in Salmonella typhimurium TA1535 after activation by S9 and by hepatocytes. All nitrosamines were activated by S9 from induced rats, regardless of their organotropy. The hepatocarcinogenic nitrosamines (N-nitrosodimethylamine, NDMA; N-nitrosodiethylamine, NDEA; N-nitrosomorpholine, NM and N-nitrosodibutylamine, NDBA) were activated to mutagens by S9 and by hepatocytes both derived from noninduced rat livers, NDMA and NM inducing more his+ revertants in the presence of hepatocytes. The oesophageal carcinogenic nitrosamine N-nitrosomethylbenzylamine (NMBeA) and bladder organotrophic N-nitroso(4-hydroxybutyl)butylamine(NBBOH) were neither converted by liver preparations of uninduced rats into mutagenic intermediates nor by hepatocytes. This study indicates that isolated cells derived from untreated animals may be better suited to study liver specific activation in vitro than disrupted subcellular metabolizing systems from induced animals.     

Mathematical model of L5178Y mouse lymphoma forward mutation assay

A mathematical model of the biological protocol for the Mouse Lymphoma L5178Y Forward Mutation Bioassay is presented. The model relates the mutant progenitor frequency (MPF), the number of cells per million surviving cells with DNA damage after exposure to the chemical, to the mutant frequency (MF), the number of TFT-resistant cells per million survivors. For a given expression time, the deterministic relationship is linear and the proportionality constant depends on the relative suspension growth factor (rg) and relative cloning efficiencies (rc) of mutants to those of wild type cells: MF = (rg X rc) X MPF. Experimental noise leads to variations in the values of rg and rc and lack of reproducibility in the system. If mutant progenitors and their progeny grow as well as wild-type cells and if all of the parental mutant progenitors express the mutant phenotype, then rg = 1/2 and rc = 1. Biological mechanisms, such as differential growth characteristics of mutant and wild-type cells or DNA repair, can make the mutant frequency an inaccurate estimate of the MPF. For the assay to be useful as a screen for the mutagenic activity of chemicals, rg X rc has to be reasonably constant from chemical to chemical.     

The activation of procarcinogens to mutagens by cultured rat hepatocytes in the L5178Y/TK mutation assay

Whole cell preparations derived from collagenase-treated rat liver were cocultivated overnight with stationary (non-shaking) cultures of L5178Y/TK+/- cells in the presence of 8 different chemicals selected as representative aromatic amine, polycyclic hydrocarbon, or nitrosamine procarcinogens. When tested in the presence of hepatocytes, 2-aminoanthracene, 2-aminofluorene, N-nitrosodimethylamine, N-nitrosodiethylamine, N-nitrosodipropylamine, 3-methylcholanthrene, and benzo[a]pyrene all produced substantial dose-dependent increases in trifluorothymidine-resistant variants compared to solvent controls after 20 h total exposure time. Only N-nitrosodipropylamine (DPrN) and N-nitrosodiethylamine (DEN) produced any dose-related mutagenic activity in similar experiments where hepatocytes were omitted; however, the response for the DPrN was quite variable at high doses in the absence of hepatocytes and the mutagenic response for the DEN was consistently enhanced at all dose levels by the presence of hepatocytes. Benzanthracene was not active in the presence of whole hepatocytes, even when tested with cells from a rat pretreated 24 h earlier with 20 mg/kg benzanthracene. Excepting benzanthracene, these data suggest that rat hepatocytes can be used to active 3 types of procarcinogens to mutagens in the L5178Y/TK gene mutation assay.     

Mutagenicity of 2-amino-N6-hydroxyadenine at the tk locus in L5178Y strains differing in repair capabilities and karyotype

The cytotoxicity and mutagenicity of 2-amino-N6-hydroxyadenine (AHA) were measured in strains of L5178Y differing in repair capabilities and karyotype. Strain LY-R83 is monosomic for chromosome 11 and is therefore hemizygous for the tk gene, while strains LY-R16 and LY-S1 are TK+/- heterozygotes. Both strain LY-R83 and LY-R16 are sensitive to UV light and are presumed to be deficient in the excision of pyrimidine dimers as shown for the parental strain, LY-R (Hagen et al., 1988; Szumiel et al., 1988). Strain LY-S1 is sensitive to the cytotoxic effects of ionizing radiation and is presumed to be defective in the repair of radiation-induced DNA double-strand breaks, as shown for the parental strain, LY-S (Evans et al., 1987a; Wlodek and Hittelman, 1987). The sensitivities of the three strains to the cytotoxic effects of AHA were similar. After a 4-hour treatment with AHA at 37 degrees C, the D37 for all three strains was approximately 35 ng/ml. The AHA-induced mutant frequency was similar for the hemizygous TK+ strain LY-R83 and the heterozygous TK +/- strain LY-R16, but was slightly higher for strain LY-S1 than for either LY-R strain at an AHA concentration of 100 ng/ml. The proportion of AHA-induced LY-S1 TK -/- mutants forming colonies with diameters less than 0.3 mm was much lower than following treatment with X radiation (24% vs. 61% for AHA and X radiation, respectively). These results indicate that the vast majority of AHA-induced TK -/- mutants harbor single gene mutations. AHA did not result in cyanide-insensitive oxygen uptake, and treatment with this compound did not induce a significant number of DNA single-strand breaks, DNA alkali labile lesions, or DNA degradation in either strain. However, two hours after AHA removal, DNA single-strand breaks and/or alkali-labile lesions, possibly due to the occurrence of DNA repair, were apparent in the DNA of both strain LY-R16 and strain LY-S1.     

Genotoxicity of gamma-irradiation in L5178Y mouse lymphoma cells

The ability of gamma-irradiation to induce gene mutation at the thymidine kinase locus and gross chromosome aberrations in L5178Y TK+/- 3.7.2C mouse lymphoma cells was evaluated. Positive results were obtained for both end-points. The majority of mutants were found to be small-colony mutants which correlated with the induction of gross chromosome aberrations.     

Isolation of temperature-sensitive mutants from murine leukemic cells (L5178Y)

Two temperature-sensitive mutants (ts1 and ts3) have been isolated from murine leukemic cells, L5178Y, after mutagenesis and cytosine arabinoside selection. Both ts1 and ts3 grew normally at the permissive temperature (33 °C) but not at the non-permissive temperature (39 °C). Consistent results were obtained with the growth patterns in suspension culture as well as the plating efficiencies in soft agar. Temperature shift experiments showed that the mutant cells remained viable after extended exposure to the non-permissive temperature. Labeling studies with radioactive precursors indicated that the synthesis of DNA, but not of RNA or protein, was affected in these mutants at 39 °C. The defective function of ts3 cells was substantially corrected by supplementing alanine, hypoxanthine, and pyruvate.     

Protein synthesis during the cell cycle of L5178Y cells

There are two peaks of ³H-leucine incorporation in the cell cycle of L5178Y cells. The first, during S stage, corresponds to a peak of ³H-leucine incorporation into the nuclear fraction. The second, during S or early G2, corresponds to a peak of ³H-leucine incorporation into the mitochondrial fraction. The rate of protein synthesis is unique for the proteins from each of the four fractions, nuclear, mitochondrial, microsomal, and soluble.The SDS polyacrylamide-gel electrophoretic patterns of ³H-leucine incorporation were different among three subcellular fractions: nuclear, mitochondrial, and microsomal + soluble. However, the incorporation pattern for each fraction remains qualitatively the same throughout the cell cycle.     

Ultrastructural localization of actin in nuclear matrices from mouse leukemia L5178Y cells

We examined the distribution of actin in isolated nuclear matrices from mouse leukemia L5178Y cells using an anti-actin antibody and protein A-conjugated colloidal gold particles. Before immunogold staining, we partially digested the surface lamina of the nuclear matrix with trypsin (Nakayasu and Ueda, Exp. Cell Res. 143, 55-62, 1983) to allow penetration of the gold particles into the nuclear matrix. Trypsin digestion slightly modified the internal structure of the nuclear matrix, but did not affect the actin content in the nuclear matrix nor the reactivity of actin with the antibody. Many colloidal gold particles were present along fibrogranular structures in the nuclear matrix. The results reported here confirm the existence of actin in the interior of the nuclear matrices of L5178Y cells.     

Studies on three mutagen-sensitive mutants of mouse L5178Y cells. I. Characterization of the hybrids between L5178Y and mutagen-sensitive mutants

Three mutagen-sensitive mutants, MS-1, M10 and Q31, have been isolated from mouse L5178Y cells. MS-1 cells are sensitive to methyl methanesulfonate (MMS), M10 cells are cross-sensitive to X-rays, MMS and 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide (4NQO), and Q31 cells are cross-sensitive to UV and 4NQO. Lines resistant to 6-thioguanine (TGr) and 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BUr) were isolated from L5178Y and these three mutagen -sensitive mutants. All the TGr lines were sensitive to 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine and HAT medium and all the BUr lines were sensitive to 6-thioguanine and HAT medium. The hybrids homozygous for the mutagen-sensitive markers showed nearly the same sensitivity to UV, 4NQO, X-rays and MMS as their parental TGr and BUr lines. The hybrids constructed by fusing L5178Y BUr and TGr lines from each of MS-1, M10 and Q31 displayed the normal UV, X-ray and MMS resistancy of L5178Y cells. Thus the UV-, X-ray- and MMS-sensitive markers in MS-1, M10 and Q31 were recessive in somatic cell hybrids. The 4NQO-sensitive phenotype, however, behaved codominantly in somatic cell hybrids.     

Responses of synchronous L5178Y S/S cells to heavy ions and their significance for radiobiological theory

Synchronous suspensions of the radiosensitive S/S variant of the L5178Y murine leukaemic lymphoblast at different positions in the cell cycle were exposed aerobically to segments of heavy-ion beams (20Ne, 28Si, 40Ar, 56Fe and 93Nb) in the Bragg plateau regions of energy deposition. The incident energies of the ion beams were in the range of 460 +/- 95 MeV u-1, and the calculated values of linear energy transfer (LET infinity) for the primary nuclei in the irradiated samples were 33 +/- 3, 60 +/- 3, 95 +/- 5, 213 +/- 21 and 478 +/- 36 keV microns-1, respectively; 280 kVp X-rays were used as the baseline radiation. Generally, the maxima or inflections in relations between relative biological effectiveness (RBE) and LET infinity were dependent upon the cycle position at which the cells were irradiated. Certain of those relations were influenced by post-irradiation hypothermia. Irradiation in the cell cycle at mid-G1 to mid-G1 + 3 h, henceforth called G1 to G1 + 3 h, resulted in survival curves that were close approximations to simple exponential functions. As the LET infinity was increased, the RBE did not exceed 1.0, and by 478 keV microns-1 it had fallen to 0.39. Although similar behaviour has been reported for inactivation of proteins and certain viruses by ionizing radiations, so far the response of the S/S variant is unique for mammalian cells. The slope of the survival curve for X-photons (D0: 0.27 Gy) is reduced in G1 to G1 + 3 h by post-irradiation incubation at hypothermic temperatures and reaches a minimum (Do: 0.51 Gy) at 25 degrees C. As the LET infinity was increased, however, the extent of hypothermic recovery was reduced progressively and essentially was eliminated at 478 keV microns-1. At the cycle position where the peak of radioresistance to X-photons occurs for S/S cells, G1 + 8 h, increases in LET infinity elicited only small increases in RBE (at 10% survival), until a maximum was reached around 200 keV microns-1. At 478 keV microns-1, what little remained of the variation in response through the cell cycle could be attributed to secondary radiations (delta rays) and smaller nuclei produced by fragmentation of the primary ions.