Effects of mixing metal ions on oxidative DNA damage mediated by a Fenton-type reduction.

The formation of 8-hydroxy-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and strand breaks in DNA by Fenton-type reactions by mixtures of two of five metal ions, iron (II), cadmium (II), nickel (II), chromium (III) or copper (II), has been investigated and compared to their formation by each single metal ion. Salmon sperm DNA and pBluescript K+ plasmid were each incubated with hydrogen peroxide and metal ions. The formation of 8-OHdG declined in the Fe (II) or Cu (II) Fenton reaction upon addition of Cd (II) or Ni (II) ion. In contrast, the Fe (II) reaction upon addition of Cr (III) ion showed an additive influence on the formation of 8-OHdG. Furthermore, the Cu (II) plus Cr (III) reaction showed a synergistic effect. These influences relate to the interaction of metal ions with DNA, the potentials of the metal ions to generate activated oxygen and electron transfer between metal ions. The formation of DNA strand breaks was investigated in plasmid DNA by agarose gel electrophoresis and subsequent densitometry. The formation of DNA strand breaks in the Fe (II) or Cu (II) Fenton reaction decreased upon the addition of Ni (II) ion, as with the formation of 8-OHdG mediated by these metal ions. On the other hand, the formation of DNA strand breaks in the Fe (II) reaction decreased upon addition of Cr (III) ion, and the Cu (II) plus Cr (III) reaction did not show the synergistic influence on DNA strand breaks. These results suggest that interactions between two metal ions can influence the generation of 8-OHdG and the formation of DNA strand breaks and demonstrate that these lesions can arise by different mechanisms.

Identification of three major DNA adducts formed by the carcinogenic air pollutant 3-nitrobenzanthrone in rat lung at the C8 and N2 position of guanine and at the N6 position of adenine.

3-Nitrobenzanthrone (3-NBA) is a potent mutagen and potential human carcinogen identified in diesel exhaust and ambient air particulate matter. Previously, we detected the formation of 3-NBA-derived DNA adducts in rodent tissues by 32P-postlabeling, all of which are derived from reductive metabolites of 3-NBA bound to purine bases, but structural identification of these adducts has not yet been reported. We have now prepared 3-NBA-derived DNA adduct standards for 32P-postlabeling by reacting N-acetoxy-3-aminobenzanthrone (N-Aco-ABA) with purine nucleotides. Three deoxyguanosine (dG) adducts have been characterised as N-(2'-deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-3-aminobenzanthrone-3'-phosphate (dG3'p-C8-N-ABA), 2-(2'-deoxyguanosin-N2-yl)-3-aminobenzanthrone-3'-phosphate (dG3'p-N2-ABA) and 2-(2'-deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-3-aminobenzanthrone-3'-phosphate (dG3'p-C8-C2-ABA), and a deoxyadenosine (dA) adduct was characterised as 2-(2'-deoxyadenosin-N6-yl)-3-aminobenzanthrone-3'-phosphate (dA3'p-N6-ABA). 3-NBA-derived DNA adducts formed experimentally in vivo and in vitro were compared with the chemically synthesised adducts. The major 3-NBA-derived DNA adduct formed in rat lung cochromatographed with dG3'p-N2-ABA in two independent systems (thin layer and high-performance liquid chromatography). This is also the major adduct formed in tissue of rats or mice treated with 3-aminobenzanthrone (3-ABA), the major human metabolite of 3-NBA. Similarly, dG3'p-C8-N-ABA and dA3'p-N6-ABA cochromatographed with two other adducts formed in various organs of rats or mice treated either with 3-NBA or 3-ABA, whereas dG3'p-C8-C2-ABA did not cochromatograph with any of the adducts found in vivo. Utilizing different enzymatic systems in vitro, including human hepatic microsomes and cytosols, and purified and recombinant enzymes, we found that a variety of enzymes [NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase, xanthine oxidase, NADPH:cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase, cytochrome P450s 1A1 and 1A2, N,O-acetyltransferases 1 and 2, sulfotransferases 1A1 and 1A2, and myeloperoxidase] are able to catalyse the formation of 2-(2'-deoxyguanosin-N2-yl)-3-aminobenzanthrone, N-(2'-deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-3-aminobenzanthrone and 2-(2'-deoxyadenosin-N6-yl)-3-aminobenzanthrone in DNA, after incubation with 3-NBA and/or 3-ABA.

Organ specificity of DNA adduct formation by tamoxifen and alpha-hydroxytamoxifen in the rat: implications for understanding the mechanism(s) of tamoxifen carcinogenicity and for human risk assessment.

Tamoxifen is an anti-oestrogen widely used in the adjuvant therapy of breast cancer and is also used as a prophylactic to prevent the disease in high-risk women. An increased risk of endometrial cancer has been observed in both settings. In rats, tamoxifen potently induces liver carcinomas and also induces uterine tumours when given neonatally. It forms DNA adducts in rat liver via the formation of alpha-hydroxytamoxifen, the ultimately reactive form being generated by sulfotransferase. In order to investigate the formation of tamoxifen-derived DNA adducts in other rat tissues, female Fischer F344 or Sprague-Dawley rats were treated with tamoxifen or alpha-hydroxytamoxifen by gavage or by intraperitoneal injection, daily for 1, 4 or 7 days, and DNA adducts were detected by (32)P-postlabelling analysis. Tamoxifen formed DNA adducts in the liver but not in other tissues (uterus, stomach, kidney, spleen and colon). alpha-Hydroxytamoxifen also formed adducts at high levels in liver, but with the exception of single animals (1/8) in which a low level of adducts was detected in the stomach in one case, and in the kidney in the other; it also did not give rise to adducts in other tissues. The results suggest that tamoxifen is a genotoxic carcinogen in rat liver, but a non-genotoxic carcinogen in rat uterus, making it, uniquely, a carcinogen with more than one mechanism of action. Mutagenicity experiments conducted in Salmonella typhimurium strains expressing bacterial or human N,O-acetyltransferase did not provide evidence that either alpha-hydroxytamoxifen or alpha-hydroxy-N-desmethyltamoxifen undergoes metabolic activation by acetylation. The confinement of ST2A2, the isozyme of hydroxysteroid sulfotransferase that can activate the compounds, mainly to rat liver is the possible reason for the formation of ducts in the liver but not in other organs of the rat.

Synthesis, characterization, and 32p-postlabeling analysis of DNA adducts derived from the environmental contaminant 3-nitrobenzanthrone.

3-Nitrobenzanthrone (3-NBA) is a potent mutagen and potential human carcinogen identified in diesel exhaust and ambient air particulate matter. 3-NBA forms DNA adducts in rodent tissues that arise principally through reduction to N-hydroxy-3-aminobenzanthrone (N-OH-ABA), esterification to its acetate or sulfate ester, and reaction of this activated ester with DNA. We detected 3-NBA-derived DNA adducts in rodent tissues by (32)P-postlabeling and generated them chemically by acid-catalyzed reaction of N-OH-ABA with DNA, but their structural identification has not yet been reported. We have now prepared 3-NBA-derived adducts by reaction of a possible reactive metabolite, N-acetoxy-N-acetyl-3-aminobenzanthrone (N-Aco-N-Ac-ABA), with purine nucleosides and nucleotides, characterized them, and have shown that they are present in DNA treated with this 3-NBA derivative. Three of these adducts have been characterized as the C-C adduct N-acetyl-3-amino-2-(2'-deoxyguanosin-8-yl)benzanthrone, the C-N adduct N-acetyl-N-(2'-deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-3-aminobenzanthrone, and an unusual 3-acetylaminobenzanthrone adduct of deoxyadenosine, which involves a double linkage between adenine and benzanthrone (N1 to C1, N(6) to C11b), creating a five-membered imidazo type ring system. According to IUPAC fused ring conventions, we propose the following systematic name for this adduct: (9'-(2' '-deoxyribofuranosyl))purino[6',1':2,3]imidazo[5,4-p](1,11b-dihydro-(N-acetyl-3-amino))benzanthrone. The 3'-phosphates of these novel adducts could be 5'-postlabeled using [gamma-(32)P]ATP, although the efficiency of labeling was found to be low (less than 20%). However, none of these adducts could be detected in DNA from 3-NBA-treated rats by (32)P-postlabeling. Two of these synthetic adducts were treated with alkali to generate nonacetylated adducts, and these were also shown by HPLC to differ from those adducts found in rat DNA. Therefore, a different approach to the synthesis of authentic standards is needed for the structural characterization of 3-NBA-derived DNA adducts formed in vivo.

Environmental pollutant and potent mutagen 3-nitrobenzanthrone forms DNA adducts after reduction by NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase and conjugation by acetyltransferases and sulfotransferases in human hepatic cytosols.

3-Nitrobenzanthrone (3-nitro-7H-benz[de]anthracen-7-one, 3-NBA) is a potent mutagen and suspected human carcinogen identified in diesel exhaust and air pollution. We compared the ability of human hepatic cytosolic samples to catalyze DNA adduct formation by 3-NBA. Using the (32)P-postlabeling method, we found that 12/12 hepatic cytosols activated 3-NBA to form multiple DNA adducts similar to those formed in vivo in rodents. By comparing 3-NBA-DNA adduct formation in the presence of cofactors of NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1) and xanthine oxidase, most of the reductive activation of 3-NBA in human hepatic cytosols was attributed to NQO1. Inhibition of adduct formation by dicoumarol, an NQO1 inhibitor, supported this finding and was confirmed with human recombinant NQO1. When cofactors of N,O-acetyltransferases (NAT) and sulfotransferases (SULT) were added to cytosolic samples, 3-NBA-DNA adduct formation increased 10- to 35-fold. Using human recombinant NQO1 and NATs or SULTs, we found that mainly NAT2, followed by SULT1A2, NAT1, and, to a lesser extent, SULT1A1 activate 3-NBA. We also evaluated the role of hepatic NADPH:cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase (POR) in the activation of 3-NBA in vivo by treating hepatic POR-null mice and wild-type littermates i.p. with 0.2 or 2 mg/kg body weight of 3-NBA. No difference in DNA binding was found in any tissue examined (liver, lung, kidney, bladder, and colon) between null and wild-type mice, indicating that 3-NBA is predominantly activated by cytosolic nitroreductases rather than microsomal POR. Collectively, these results show the role of human hepatic NQO1 to reduce 3-NBA to species being further activated by NATs and SULTs.

Hepatic DNA adduct dosimetry in rats fed tamoxifen: a comparison of methods.

Liver homogenates from rats fed tamoxifen (TAM) in the diet were shared among four different laboratories. TAM-DNA adducts were assayed by high pressure liquid chromatography-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-ES-MS/MS), TAM-DNA chemiluminescence immunoassay (TAM-DNA CIA), and (32)P-postlabeling with either thin layer ((32)P-P-TLC) or liquid chromatography ((32)P-P-HPLC) separation. In the first study, rats were fed a diet containing 500 p.p.m. TAM for 2 months, and the values for measurements of the (E)-alpha-(deoxyguanosin-N(2)-yl)-tamoxifen (dG-N(2)-TAM) adduct in replicate rat livers varied by 3.5-fold when quantified using 'in house' TAM-DNA standards, or other approaches where appropriate. In the second study, rats were fed 0, 50, 250 or 500 p.p.m. TAM for 2 months, and TAM-DNA values were quantified using both 'in house' approaches as well as a newly synthesized [N-methyl-(3)H]TAM-DNA standard that was shared among all the participating groups. In the second study, the total TAM-DNA adduct values varied by 2-fold, while values for the dG-N(2)-TAM varied by 2.5-fold. Ratios of dG-N(2)-TAM:(E)-alpha-(deoxyguanosin-N(2)-yl)-N-desmethyltamoxifen (dG-N(2)-N-desmethyl-TAM) in the second study were approximately 1:1 over the range of doses examined. The study demonstrated a remarkably good agreement for TAM-DNA adduct measurements among the diverse methods employed.

Stereoselective metabolic activation of alpha-hydroxy-N-desmethyltamoxifen: the R-isomer forms more DNA adducts in rat liver cells.

The antiestrogenic drug tamoxifen forms DNA adducts in rat liver through two genotoxic metabolites, alpha-hydroxytamoxifen and alpha-hydroxy-N-desmethyltamoxifen. These have now each been resolved into R- and S-enantiomers. The work with alpha-hydroxytamoxifen was published earlier [Osborne, et al. (2001) Chem. Res. Toxicol. 14, 888-893]. Here, we publish results with alpha-hydroxy-N-desmethyltamoxifen. We prepared the derivative N-ethoxycarbonyl-N-desmethyltamoxifen-alpha-S-camphanate, separated it into two diastereoisomers, and hydrolyzed them to give (+)- and (-)-alpha-hydroxy-N-desmethyltamoxifen. The configuration of the (-)-isomer was shown to be S- by degradation of the above ester to a derivative of (-)-2-hydroxy-1-phenyl-1-propanone, which has already been shown to have S-configuration. The two enantiomers have the same chemical properties and were equally reactive toward DNA in vitro at pH 6. However, on treatment of rat hepatocytes in culture, R-(+)-alpha-hydroxy-N-desmethyltamoxifen gave 10 times as many DNA adducts as the S-(-)-isomer. This suggests that the R-isomer more readily undergoes sulfate conjugation to generate a reactive carbocation that attacks DNA.

Modulation of N-methyl-N-nitrosourea-induced crypt restricted metallothionein immunopositivity in mouse colon by a non-genotoxic diet-related chemical.

Red meat consumption is associated with endogenous metabolic generation of mutagenic N-nitroso compounds (NOC) and may be implicated in causation of colorectal cancer. Assessment of a biologically relevant dose of NOCs is hampered by imperfect understanding of NOC interactions with other dietary components. This study tests the hypothesis that NOC effects upon mutational biomarkers in mouse colon may be modulated by a non-genotoxic diet-related compound. N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) and undegraded lambda carrageenan (lambdaCgN) were selected as test chemicals, representing a NOC and a non-genotoxic agent, respectively. Study end-points included (i) DNA adduct formation and (ii) metallothionein (MT) crypt restricted immunopositivity indices (MTCRII) which are considered representative of crypt stem cell mutations. Frequency and size of MT immunopositive foci as well as total number of MT immunopositive crypts were assessed. Biologically effective doses of MNU and lambdaCgN were determined in model validation studies and the agents were then tested alone and in combination. Continuous lambdaCgN treatment for 10 weeks induced significantly greater colonic mucosal injury than a drinking water control. In combined treatment regimens, lambdaCgN treatment did not significantly affect MNU-induced DNA adduct formation. However, combinations of lambdaCgN with MNU significantly increased MTCRII in excess of those induced by MNU alone. Recurrent or continuous lambdaCgN regimens had greater interactive effects with MNU upon MTCRII than short-term lambdaCgN treatment. This study has shown that exposure to a non-genotoxic diet-related compound (lambdaCgN) modulates the effective NOC dosimetry for induction of MT crypt restricted immunopositivity.

Mutagenic fingerprint of ozone in human cells.

Ozone is an important factor in urban pollution and represents a major concern for human health. The chemical reactivity of ozone toward biological targets and particularly its genotoxicity supports a possible link between exposure and cancer risk, but no molecular data exist on its mutagenic potential in human cells. Using a shuttle vector, we showed that ozone is indeed a potent mutagen and we characterized the mutation spectrum it produced in human cells. Almost all mutations are base substitutions, essentially located at G:Cs (75%), typical of reactive oxygen species (ROS), but occurring in a specific pattern, i.e. a similar extent of GC:TA (28%), GC:CG (23%) and GC:AT (23%). The targeted distribution of mutations and identification of hotspot sequences define the first molecular fingerprint of mutations induced by ozone in human cells. Possible applications derived from our results with respect to ozone genotoxicity should help determining quantifiable biomarkers of ozone exposure in human health, especially for carcinogenesis.