Translesion Synthesis of the N(2)-2'-Deoxyguanosine Adduct of the Dietary Mutagen IQ in Human Cells: Error-Free Replication by DNA Polymerase κ and Mutagenic Bypass by DNA Polymerases η, ζ, and Rev1.

Translesion synthesis (TLS) of the N(2)-2'-deoxyguanosine (dG-N(2)-IQ) adduct of the carcinogen 2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline (IQ) was investigated in human embryonic kidney 293T cells by replicating plasmid constructs in which the adduct was individually placed at each guanine (G1, G2, or G3) of the NarI sequence (5'-CG1G2CG3CC-3'). TLS efficiency was 38%, 29%, and 25% for the dG-N(2)-IQ located at G1, G2, and G3, respectively, which suggests that dG-N(2)-IQ is bypassed more efficiently by one or more DNA polymerases at G1 than at either G2 or G3. TLS efficiency was decreased 8-35% in cells with knockdown of pol η, pol κ, pol ι, pol ζ, or Rev1. Up to 75% reduction in TLS occurred when pol η, pol ζ, and Rev1 were simultaneously knocked down, suggesting that these three polymerases play important roles in dG-N(2)-IQ bypass. Mutation frequencies (MFs) of dG-N(2)-IQ at G1, G2, and G3 were 23%, 17%, and 11%, respectively, exhibiting a completely reverse trend of the previously reported MF of the C8-dG adduct of IQ (dG-C8-IQ), which is most mutagenic at G3 ( ( 2015 ) Nucleic Acids Res. 43 , 8340 - 8351 ). The major type of mutation induced by dG-N(2)-IQ was targeted G → T, as was reported for dG-C8-IQ. In each site, knockdown of pol κ resulted in an increase in MF, whereas MF was reduced when pol η, pol ι, pol ζ, or Rev1 was knocked down. The reduction in MF was most pronounced when pol η, pol ζ, and Rev1 were simultaneously knocked down and especially when the adduct was located at G3, where MF was reduced by 90%. We conclude that pol κ predominantly performs error-free TLS of the dG-N(2)-IQ adduct, whereas pols η, pol ζ, and Rev1 cooperatively carry out the error-prone TLS. However, in vitro experiments using yeast pol ζ and κ showed that the former was inefficient in full-length primer extension on dG-N(2)-IQ templates, whereas the latter was efficient in both error-free and error-prone extensions. We believe that the observed differences between the in vitro experiments using purified DNA polymerases, and the cellular results may arise from several factors including the crucial roles played by the accessory proteins in TLS.

Synthesis of novel lipoamino acid conjugates of sapienic acid and evaluation of their cytotoxicity activities.

Novel lipoamino acids were prepared with the coupling of sapienic acid [(Z)-6-hexadecenoic acid] with α - amino group of amino acids and the resulting N-sapienoyl amino acids were tested for their cytotoxicity activities against four cancer based cell lines. Initially, sapienic acid was synthesized by the Wittig coupling of triphenylphosphonium bromide salt of 6-bromohexanoic acid and decanal with a Z specific reagent. The prepared sapienic acid was subsequently converted to its acid chloride which was further coupled with amino acids by the Schotten-Baumann reaction to form N-sapienoyl amino acid conjugates. Structural characterization of the prepared N-sapienoyl amino acid derivatives was done by spectral data (IR, mass spectra and NMR). These lipoamino acid derivatives were screened for in vitro cytotoxicity evaluation. Cytotoxicity evaluation against four cancer cell lines showed that N-sapienoyl isoleucine was active against three cell lines whereas other derivatives either showed activity against only one or two cell lines with very moderate activity and two derivatives were observed to be inactive against the tested cell lines.

Lack of carcinogenicity of L-isoleucine in F344/DuCrj rats.

The carcinogenic potential of L-isoleucine, used as a food fortifier, was examined in both sexes of F344 rats. Groups of 50 female and 50 male animals were given diet containing L-isoleucine at concentrations of 0%, 2.5% or 5.0%. No treatment-related changes in the survival rate, general condition, body weight, food consumption, urinalysis, hematology or clinical chemistry data and organ weights were noted. Detailed histopathological examination revealed no treatment-related increase in the incidences of any non-neoplastic or neoplastic lesions. The results indicate that L-isoleucine is not carcinogenic in F344 rats of either sex.

Dipeptidyl peptidase IV inhibition for the treatment of type 2 diabetes: potential importance of selectivity over dipeptidyl peptidases 8 and 9.

Dipeptidyl peptidase (DPP)-IV inhibitors are a new approach to the treatment of type 2 diabetes. DPP-IV is a member of a family of serine peptidases that includes quiescent cell proline dipeptidase (QPP), DPP8, and DPP9; DPP-IV is a key regulator of incretin hormones, but the functions of other family members are unknown. To determine the importance of selective DPP-IV inhibition for the treatment of diabetes, we tested selective inhibitors of DPP-IV, DPP8/DPP9, or QPP in 2-week rat toxicity studies and in acute dog tolerability studies. In rats, the DPP8/9 inhibitor produced alopecia, thrombocytopenia, reticulocytopenia, enlarged spleen, multiorgan histopathological changes, and mortality. In dogs, the DPP8/9 inhibitor produced gastrointestinal toxicity. The QPP inhibitor produced reticulocytopenia in rats only, and no toxicities were noted in either species for the selective DPP-IV inhibitor. The DPP8/9 inhibitor was also shown to attenuate T-cell activation in human in vitro models; a selective DPP-IV inhibitor was inactive in these assays. Moreover, we found DPP-IV inhibitors that were previously reported to be active in models of immune function to be more potent inhibitors of DPP8/9. These results suggest that assessment of selectivity of potential clinical candidates may be important to an optimal safety profile for this new class of antihyperglycemic agents.

Increased cytotoxicity of soluble Fas ligand by fusing isoleucine zipper motif.

Fas (CD95) ligand (FasL) has the ability to induce apoptosis in Fas-expressing glioma cells by binding to Fas. Several molecular species have been designed to be soluble Fas ligands for therapeutic purposes. We successfully constructed a chimeric soluble FasL by fusing an isoleucine zipper motif for self-oligomerization and a FLAG sequence to the extracellular domain of the human Fas ligand (FIZ-shFasL). The cytotoxic effect of FIZ-shFasL on Jurkat cells was equivalent to that of membrane-bound FasL and approximately 10-fold stronger than that of agonistic anti-Fas antibody (CH-11). Flow cytometric analysis demonstrated that the differential Fas expression of human brain tumor cell lines partially correlated with levels of apoptosis through FIZ-shFasL. The upper limit of FIZ-shFasL for safe systemic administration to rat is estimated as below 2 microg/ml in plasma concentration. FIZ-shFasL could be applicable as a therapeutic agent for cancer.

Subchronic toxicity study of L-isoleucine in F344 rats.

A subchronic toxicity study with L-isoleucine was conducted using F344 rats. Groups of 10 rats of each sex were given diet containing 0, 1.25, 2.5, 5.0, or 8.0% L-isoleucine for 13 wk. No treatment-related effects were observed in terms of body weight change, food consumption or hematology. In both sexes given 8.0% L-isoleucine, increased or a tendency for increased urine volume and relative kidney weights were observed. Furthermore, the high-dose L-isoleucine treatment brought about an elevation of urinary pH and variations in serum electrolytes. However, histopathological alterations related to these changes were not observed in any organs of either sex. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that L-isoleucine possessed minimal toxicity at dietary levels of 5.0% and 8.0%, while it did not exert any adverse affects at a dietary level of 2.5% or less.

Toxicology of cupric salts in honeybees. I. Hormesis effects of organic derivatives on lethality parameters.

Feeding bees with organic cupric salts provides long-term control of the parasite Varroa jacobsoni. A set of new algebraic parameters (M. Bounias C.R. Acad. Sci. 310(3), 65-70, 1990) completely describing the population lethality function has been calculated following chronic administration of cupric gluconate, aspartate, and isoleucinate, with or without dietary pollen. Mortality curves allowed the calculation of LT50 (time for 50% lethality) as well as Hill coefficients (h) of the curves and the LD50 as a function of time. The tangent at the inflexion point of the sigmoidal time/mortality curves (delta i) gave the maximum mortality acceleration as an additional parameter. No toxicity (i.e., no decrease of TL50 vs doses and no LD50 values) was found for cupric gluconate and isoleucinate with pollen, whereas increases in LT50 and decreases in delta indicated hormesis effects. Doses decreasing by half-time LT50, h, or delta were used as objective lethality indexes for comparisons of toxicity in the other cases. Routine acute toxicity at high dosage was also compared with phosalone and lindane effects 24 hr after treatment.

L-Isoleucine and L-leucine are promoters of bladder cancer in rats.

We developed a short term assay for screening promoters of bladder cancer. This assay, in which maintenance of concanavalin A-agglutination of isolated rat bladder cells induced by subcarcinogenic treatment with bladder carcinogen is measured, suggested the possible promoting effects of L-isoleucine, L-leucine, D-tryptophan, and L-valin. Long term in vivo carcinogenesis experiments were carried out on L-isoleucine and L-leucine and it was shown that both were, in fact, promoters of bladder cancer in rats.