Apoptosis in human papillomavirus16 E7-, but not E6-immortalized human uroepithelial cells.

We compared the ability of E6-, versus E7-, immortalized human uroepithelial cells (HUC) to undergo apoptosis in response to gamma radiation. Two independent HPV16 E6-immortalized cell lines, alphaE6#1 and alphaE6#2, that showed low or undetectable p53 levels, failed to undergo apoptosis in response to 18 Gray (Gy) gamma radiation as determined by DNA fragmentation. In contrast, two independent HPV16 E7-immortalized cell lines, alphaE7#1 and alphaE7#2, both of which showed stabilized wildtype p53, underwent apoptosis in the same experiment. Interestingly, both alphaE7#1 and alphaE7#2 showed constitutively elevated BAX and lowered BCL-2 levels, compared to either alphaE6#1 or alphaE6#2. However, elevated BAX and reduced BCL-2 per se were insufficient to trigger apoptosis, as apoptosis occurred only after exposure to gamma radiation. These results support a model in which HPV16 E7-immortalized cells are primed to undergo apoptosis, given an appropriate trigger. This apoptotic response was not observed in alphaE6/E7#1 cells which, like alphaE6-HUCs, showed low p53 levels, nor in late passage alphaE7#1 with spontaneously mutated TP53. These results suggest that E7 immortalization primes HUC for apoptosis in response to gamma radiation, and that this enhanced apoptotic response is p53 dependent.

Neoplastic transformation and DNA-binding of 4,4'-methylenebis(2-chloroaniline) in SV40-immortalized human uroepithelial cell lines.

The tumorigenic transformation of certain occupationally significant chemicals, such as N-hydroxy-4-4'-methylenebis[2-chloroaniline] (N-OH-MOCA), N-hydroxy-ortho-toluidine (N-OH-OT), 2-phenyl-1,4-benzoquinone (PBQ) and N-hydroxy-4-aminobiphenyl (N-OH-ABP) were tested in vitro using the well established SV40-immortalized human uroepithelial cell line SV-HUC.PC. SV-HUC cells were exposed in vitro to varying concentrations of N-OH-MOCA, N-OH-OT, N-OH-ABP and PBQ that caused approximately 25% and 75% cytotoxicity. The carcinogen treated cells were propagated in culture for about six weeks and subsequently injected subcutaneously into athymic nude mice. Two of the fourteen different groups of SV-HUC.PC treated with different concentrations of N-OH-MOCA, and one of the three groups exposed to N-OH-ABP, formed carcinomas in athymic nude mice. 32P-postlabeling analyses of DNA isolated from SV-HUC.PC after exposure to N-OH-MOCA revealed one major and one minor adduct. The major adduct has been identified as the N-(deoxyadenosin-3',5'-bisphospho-8-yl)-4-amino-3-chlorob enz yl alcohol (pdAp-ACBA) and the minor adduct as N-(deoxyadenosin-3',5'-bisphospho-8-yl)-4-amino-3-chlorot oluene (pdApACT). Furthermore, SV-HUC.PC cytosols catalyzed the binding of N-OH-MOCA to DNA, in the presence of acetyl-CoA, to yield similar adducts. The same adducts were also formed by chemical interaction of N-OH-MOCA with calf thymus DNA, suggesting that the aryl nitrenium ion may be the ultimate reactive species responsible for DNA binding. The tumorigenic activity of N-OH-MOCA in this highly relevant in vitro transformation model, coupled with the findings that SV-HUC.PC cells formed DNA-adducts in vitro and contained enzyme systems that activated N-OH-MOCA to reactive electrophilic species that bound to DNA, strongly suggest that MOCA could be a human bladder carcinogen. These findings are consistent with the International Agency for Research on Cancer's classification of MOCA as a probable human carcinogen.

Metabolic activation of N-hydroxy-4-acetylaminobiphenyl by cultured human breast epithelial cell line MCF 10A.

Metabolism and nucleic acid binding of the mammary gland carcinogen N-hydroxy-4-acetylaminobiphenyl (N-OH-AABP) was investigated using the human mammary epithelial cell line MCF 10A. Chromatographic analysis of the ethyl acetate extract of the media from cultured MCF 10A after 24 h exposure to N-OH-AABP revealed the formation of two metabolites, 4-aminobiphenyl (ABP) and 4-acetylaminobiphenyl (AABP). Incubation of [3H]N-OH-AABP with calf thymus DNA in the presence of the cytosols or microsomes revealed a binding of 0.21 and 2.36 nmol/mg DNA/mg protein respectively. In contrast to cytosol-mediated binding, the microsome-mediated binding of [3H]N-OH-AABP to DNA was inhibited by paraoxon. Furthermore, exogenous addition of non-labelled N-hydroxy-4-aminobiphenyl (N-OH-ABP) to the incubation mixture blocked the binding of [3H]N-OH-AABP to DNA, suggesting that the metabolic activation process involves inter-molecular transacetylation. Cytosols from MCF 10A also catalyzed acetyl coenzyme A (AcCoA)-dependent binding of [3H]N-OH-ABP to DNA; the amount of binding was 0.51 nmol/mg DNA/mg protein. HPLC of the DNA hydrolysate obtained after incubation of [3H]N-OH-AABP and [3H]N-OH-ABP with the MCF 10A microsomes and cytosols showed N-(deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-4-aminobiphenyl (dG-ABP) as the primary adduct, based on the mobility of the radioactive peak in comparison with the synthetic standard. 32P-postlabeling of adducted DNA obtained on incubation with N-OH-ABP or N-OH-AABP showed similar adduct profiles, with the major adduct corresponding with the bisphospho derivative of dG-ABP and a minor adduct corresponding with N-(deoxyadenosin-8-yl)-4-aminobiphenyl (dA-ABP). Additionally, the cellular DNA isolated from MCF 10A following exposure to N-OH-AABP also revealed a major spot corresponding with the dG-ABP derivative. These results suggest that the mammary gland carcinogen N-OH-AABP is activated to reactive electrophilic species in the target human mammary tissues by acetyl transferase(s) enzyme systems.

Relationship between in vivo acetylator phenotypes and cytosolic N-acetyltransferase and O-acetyltransferase activities in human uroepithelial cells.

The in vivo acetylator phenotype as well as N-acetyltransferase (NAT) and O-acetyltransferase (OAT) activities in cytosols from cultured uroepithelia were determined in 25 urological patients. In vivo acetylator phenotypes were categorized by determining the amounts of 5-acetylamino-6-formylamino-3-methyluracil (AFMU) and 1-methylxanthine in urine after the administration of a 200 mg dose of caffeine. Subjects were grouped according to the AFMU/AFMU + 1-methylxanthine ratio as "slow" (< 0.41) or "rapid" (> or = 0.41) acetylators. The uroepithelia were obtained from these subjects, cultured in vitro, and the cytosols were prepared. NAT and OAT activities were determined using 4-aminobiphenyl (ABP) and [3H]N-hydroxy-4-aminobiphenyl (N-OH-ABP) as substrates, respectively. In vivo phenotyping resulted in 18 patients being slow acetylators and seven rapid. The mean NAT and OAT activities for these different subsets were: 3.58 nmol/mg protein/min and 409 pmol/mg tRNA/mg protein for the slow; and 3.38 nmol/mg protein/min and 428 pmol/mg tRNA/mg protein for the rapid, respectively. Furthermore, in individual samples, NAT and OAT activities tended to parallel each other, implying that the same enzyme might catalyze both NAT and OAT activities in uroepithelia. The N-acetylation of ABP was inhibited by N-OH-ABP and also by p-aminobenzoic acid, a substrate which is preferred by the monomorphic NAT enzyme. Similarly, OAT-mediated binding of [3H]N-OH-ABP to tRNA was inhibited in a dose-dependent manner by ABP and p-aminobenzoic acid.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Acetyl transferase-mediated metabolic activation of N-hydroxy-4-aminobiphenyl by human uroepithelial cells.

Metabolism and nucleic acid binding of N-hydroxy-4-aminobiphenyl (N-OH-ABP), a proximate carcinogenic metabolite of the human bladder carcinogen 4-aminobiphenyl (ABP), was investigated using cultured normal human uroepithelial cells (HUC). HPLC and TLC of the ethyl acetate extract of the media from cultured HUC after 4 h exposure to N-OH-ABP revealed the formation of two major metabolites, ABP and 4-acetylaminobiphenyl (AABP), suggesting the presence of N-acetyl transferase(s) in HUC. This was further confirmed by the formation of AABP, during the incubation of ABP with acetyl coenzyme A (AcCoA) and HUC cytosol. To test whether these enzymes also catalyze the AcCoA-dependent O-acetylation, we examined the metabolic activation of N-OH-ABP using cytosolic preparations. Cytosol from HUC catalyzed AcCoA-dependent binding of [3H]N-OH-ABP to RNA; the amount of binding was 757 pmol/mg RNA/mg protein. Binding with DNA was quantitatively similar to RNA. HPLC and TLC analyses of the enzymatic hydrolysate of [3H]N-OH-ABP-bound DNA revealed the major adduct to be N-(deoxyguanosine-8-yl)-4-aminobiphenyl, based on mobility of the radioactivity in comparison with the authentic synthetic standard. 32P-Post-labeling analysis of the DNA from the cytosol-mediated binding of N-OH-ABP revealed four radioactive spots. In contrast, post-labeling analysis of the DNA from intact HUC exposed to N-OH-ABP showed five adducts, including two of the adducts observed with HUC cytosols, suggesting the possible involvement of additional activation pathway(s) in intact HUC. These results suggest that bioactivation of N-OH-ABP could occur within the HUC, the target organ for ABP, and that cytosolic acetyl transferase(s) may play a critical role in susceptibility to arylamine-induced bladder carcinogenesis.