Modulation by iron of hepatic microsomal and nuclear cytochrome P450, and cytosolic glutathione S-transferase and peroxidase in C57BL/10ScSn mice induced with polychlorinated biphenyls (Aroclor 1254).

Exposure of iron-loaded C57BL/10ScSn mice to the polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) mixture Aroclor 1254 in the diet (0.01%) for 5 weeks caused massive hepatic porphyria far greater than occurred with PCBs alone. This regime eventually causes hepatocellular carcinoma. Hepatic microsomal ethoxy-, pentoxy-, and benzyloxyresorufin dealkylase activities (respectively EROD, PROD, and BROD) catalyzed primarily by cytochrome P4501A1 and 2B isoenzymes were markedly induced after 2 weeks of diet (when no porphyria had developed) but showed little effect of iron. EROD activity in the nuclear membrane was also induced by the PCBs as was CYP1A1 protein when shown by immunoblotting. Nuclear dealkylase activities of PCBs-treated mice were considerably less than microsomal activities but were stimulated by iron pretreatment. The mechanism of the iron-enhanced toxicity may be due to oxidative damage associated with chronic induction of CYP1A1 isoforms. Lucigenin-enhanced chemiluminescence (CL) by microsomes and nuclear membranes was used as a method to estimate their potential to form reactive oxygen species. Despite CL being induced by PCBs it was less with microsomes from iron-treated mice. In a comparison of a variety of inducers of microsomal cytochrome P450 there was no correlation between inducer, uroporphyrogenic agent, and intensity of CL. On the other hand, cytosolic glutathione S-transferase (GST) activities with 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene and 1,2-dichloro-4-nitrobenzene (DCNB) as substrates, were also induced by the PCBs mixture, the induction with DCNB being synergistically potentiated by iron pretreatment. Complementary results were observed by immunocytochemistry using anti alpha-GST antibody. In contrast, total glutathione peroxidase activity and selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase activity were depressed by PCBs but particularly in mice also administered iron. The results illustrate that PCBs not only induce CYP1A1 in microsomes but also in the nuclear membrane, which may be of significance in the mechanism of the iron-enhanced carcinogenicity of these chemicals. The iron-enhanced induction of GST with accompanying depletion of glutathione peroxidase provides evidence for oxidative processes induced in vivo by the PCBs.

Characterization and accumulation of ferritin in hepatocyte nuclei of mice with iron overload.

After a single subcutaneous dose of iron-dextran (600 mg of iron/kg), iron overload developed in C57BL/10ScSn mice. At 4, 24 and 78 wk liver nonheme iron concentrations were 67-, 42- and 21-fold higher than controls, respectively. Much of the iron was in macrophages, but hepatocytes were also strongly positive for Perls' stainable iron. One feature was the development of iron-positive nuclear inclusions in hepatocytes. After a delay of at least 8 wk when no stainable iron was evident, a maximum of 37% of periportal hepatocytes contained inclusions by 24 wk. Although this proportion remained constant for the remainder of the study, the size of the inclusions (which were not membrane-limited) increased to greater than 3 microns in diameter, occupying greater than 25% of the nuclear volume. The presence of iron in the inclusions was confirmed by energy dispersive x-ray microanalysis. Immunocytochemical studies showed that the iron was present as aggregates of ferritin. Quantitation of nonaggregated ferritin molecules by image analyses after electron microscopy demonstrated that within 4 wk ferritin levels in cytoplasm and nucleoplasm had greatly increased but that there was a concentration gradient of approximately one order of magnitude across the nuclear envelope. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that in iron-loaded mouse hepatocytes there is a slow passage of ferritin-molecules through the nuclear pores; the gradient is maintained by the continual aggregation of ferritin within the nucleus. Intranuclear ferritin may provide a source of iron for catalyzing hydroxyl radical formation in nuclei during some toxic, carcinogenic and aging processes.