Some factors determining the concentration of liver proteins for optimal mutagenicity of chemicals in the Salmonella/microsome assay.

In plate assays in the presence of S. typhimurium TA100 and various amounts of liver 9000 X g supernatant (S9) from either untreated, phenobarbitone- (PB) or Aroclor-treated rats, the S9 concentration required for optimal mutagenicity of aflatoxin B1 (AFB) depended both on the source of S9 and on the concentration of the test compound. In these assays, the water-soluble procarcinogen, dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) was mutagenic in S. typhimurium TA1530 only in the presence of a 35-fold higher concentration of liver S9 from PB-treated rats than that required for AFB, a lipophilic compound. In liquid assays, a biphasic relationship was observed in the mutagenicities in S. typhimurium TA100 of benzo[a]pyrene (BP) and AFB and the concentration of liver S9. For optimal mutagenesis of BP, the concentration of liver S9 from rats treated with methylcholanthrene (MC) was 4.4% (v/v); for AFB it was 2.2% (v/v) liver S9 from either Aroclor-treated or untreated rats. At higher concentrations of S9 the mutagenicity of BP and of AFB was related inversely to the amount of S9 per assay. The effect of Aroclor treatment on the microsomemediated mutagenicity of AFB was assay-dependent: in the liquid assay, AFB mutagenicity was decreased, whereas in the plate assay it did not change or was increased. As virtually no bacteria-bound microsomes were detected by electron microscopy, after the bacteria had been incubated in a medium containing 1-34% (v/v) MC-treated rat-liver S9, it is concluded that, in mutagenicity assays, mutagenic metabolites generated by microsomal enzymes from certain pro-carcinogens have to diffuse through the assay medium before reaching the bacteria. Thus the mutagenicity of BP was dependent on both the concentration of rat-liver microsomes and that of total cytosolic proteins and other soluble nucleophiles such as glutathione. At a concentration of 4.4% (v/v) liver S9, the mutagenicity of BP was about 3.6 times higher than in assays containing a 4-fold higher concentration of cytosolic fraction. Studies on the glutathione-dependent reduction of BP mutagenicity in plate assays has shown that, in the presence of liver S9 concentrations greater than that required for optimal mutagenicity, the reduction in mutagenicity was related directly to the concentration of liver S9. Thus, in the Salmonella/microsome assay, when the concentration of rat-liver S9 was increased over and above the amount required for the optimal mutagenicity of BP, the mutagenic metabolites of BP were inactivated (by being trapped with cytosolic nucleophiles and/or by enzymic conjugation with glutathione); this effect increased more rapidly than their rate of formation. The concentration of liver S9 for optimal mutagenicity of test compounds requiring activation catalyzed by mono-oxygenases seems, therefore, to be related to the departure from linearity of the relationship between the rate of formation of mutagenic metabolites and the concentration of liver S9.     

Effect of glutathione and uridine 5'-diphosphoglucuronic acid on mutagenesis by benzo[a]pyrene and aflatoxin B1 in the Salmonella/microsome assay

In the Salmonella/microsome plate or liquid assay, the addition of glutathione (GSH) and uridine 5'-diphosphoglucuronic acid (UDPGA), both cofactors for GSH-S-transferases or UDPGA-transferases, altered the rat-liver microsome-mediated mutagenesis of benzo[a]pyrene (BP) and aflatoxin B1 (AFB). With either BP or AFB, an increased, unchanged or decreased number of revertant colonies of S. typhimurium was observed, depending on the substrate concentration, the source of rat-liver 9000 X g supernatant (S9), the time of incubation and the type of mutagenicity test (liquid or plate assay). Several factors responsible for quantitative changes in the pattern of BP and AFB metabolites under various assay conditions in vitro, which alter the overall mutagenic activity of the parent compound, are discussed.     

Factors for efficiency of the Salmonella/microsome mutagenicity assay.

Factors were studied which modify the enzymatic capacity of mouse liver microsomal mixed-function oxidase to convert vinylidene chloride (1.1-dichloroethylene) (VDC) into mutagens in the Salmonella/microsome mutagenicity test. A microsomal fraction incorporated in soft agar layer converted VDC into mutagens during 7 h at a constant rate; these were detected with S. typhimurium TA100. In absence of VDC the enzymatic activity declined gradually to nil after 14 h of incubation at 37 degrees C. The presence of EDTA greatly enhanced the microsome-mediated mutagenicity of VDC and led to prolonged enzymatic viability, but only when liver fractions from phenobarbitone (PB) pretreated mice were used. The efficiency of the plate incorporation assay for the detection of mutagens is discussed in comparison with assays in liquid suspension.     

Binding of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to DNA of cells in culture: a rapid method for its analysis using hydroxylapatite column chromatography.

A rapid procedure to study the interaction of carcinogens with DNA in cultured cells has been developed. The cells, which are labeled with 7,12-[3H]dimethylbenz[a] anthracene ([3H]DMBA), are lysed with 0.24 M phosphate buffer (pH 6.8), 1% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), 8 M urea and 0.01 M ethylenediamine-tetraacetate (EDTA) and sonicated. The cell lysates are fractionated on columns of hydroxylapatite. Proteins and RNA are removed with 8 M urea in 0.24 M phosphate buffer (pH 6.8). DMBA-bound DNA is eluted with 0.4 M phosphate buffer (pH 6.8). DMBA-DNA isolated by this procedure is virtually free from proteins and RNA. Thermal stability, ultraviolet spectra and the density of DNA is not altered by DMBA binding. The uptake of DMBA by mouse epidermal cells is rapid and the binding of DMBA to DNA is linear for the first 8 h of exposure. DMBA binds to DNA in all phases of the cell cycle. However, the highest binding occurs immediately following maximum DNA synthesis.     

Interrelationships in mice of antipyrine half-life, hepatic monooxygenase activities and liver S9-mediated mutagenicity of aflatoxin B1, benzo[alpha]pyrene 7,8-dihydrodiol, 2-acetylaminofluorene and N-nitrosomorpholine

To evaluate the predictive value of serum antipyrine half-life AP(T1/2) as an index of hepatic carcinogen metabolism, groups of C57BL/6 and DBA/2 mice were treated with various inducers and inhibitors of cytochrome P-450-dependent monooxygenases (pregnenolone-16 alpha-carbonitrile (PCN), phenobarbital (PB), 5,6-benzoflavone (5,6-BF), 3-methylcholanthrene (MC), disulfiram (DIS), 7,8-BF). Groups of mice were also given ethanol (3% in drinking water) for 12 days. Within each group, mean serum AP-(T1/2) was compared with (i) the in vitro activity of hepatic microsomal benzo[alpha]pyrene (BP) 3-hydroxylase, 2-acetylaminofluorene (AAF)-N-hydroxylase and aldrin monooxygenase, and (ii) the liver S9-mediated mutagenicity of aflatoxin B1 (AFB), trans-7,8-dihydro-7,8-dihydroxybenzo[alpha]pyrene (BP 7,8-diol), 2-acetylaminofluorene and N-nitrosomorpholine (NMOR) in Salmonella typhimurium strains. Serum AP(T1/2) was only correlated negatively with the activity of BP 3-hydroxylase (P less than 0.001) and aldrin monooxygenase (P less than 0.001). No statistically significant correlation was found between serum AP(T1/2) and liver S9-mediated mutagenicity for any of the four carcinogens. On the basis of these results, we conclude that serum AP(T1/2) may not be a reliable index of the capacity of liver to convert carcinogens into reactive intermediates.