Link of a new type of apoptosis-inducing gene ASY/Nogo-B to human cancer.

Although apoptosis plays an essential role in the embryogenesis and homeostasis of multicellular organisms, this mechanism has not yet been fully clarified. We isolated a novel human apoptosis-inducing gene, ASY, which encodes an endoplasmic reticulum-targeting protein without any known apoptosis-related motifs. This gene is identical to the Nogo-B, a splice variant of the Nogo-A which has recently been shown to be an inhibitor of neuronal regeneration in the central nervous system. Ectopic expression of the ASY gene led to extensive apoptosis, particularly in cancer cells. Furthermore, transcription of the ASY gene was suppressed in small cell lung cancer. These results suggest that a new type of apoptosis-inducing gene, namely, ASY, may be involved in the development of certain types of cancer.

An improvement of the Ames test using a modified human liver S9 preparation.

INTRODUCTION: In preliminary studies on the Ames test using human liver S9 fractions, we found that the crude human S9 fractions, obtained following centrifugation of the tissue homogenate for 20 min at 9000 x g, were not always sterile. When this was the case, the S9 fractions were often accompanied by an increased number of colonies above the normal range on plates in the solvent control used in the Ames test. In addition, we also sometimes identified the incorporation of a small amount of fat in the crude human liver S9 fractions. We have therefore obtained a purified fat-free S9 fraction by a simple modification to the crude S9 preparation; fat was completely removed by centrifugation of the crude S9 fraction. METHODS: Using the purified and crude human S9 fractions (two lots each), both the sterility and the number of bacterial colonies produced on a plate with five bacterial tester strains by solvent controls (purified water and dimethyl sulfoxide) were examined. The findings were then compared to those observed with phosphate buffer or S9 fraction from rats pretreated with phenobarbital/5,6-benzoflavone. RESULTS: The data show that each of the crude human S9 fractions was not sterile and produced an increasing number of colonies with each solvent control, almost equal to the sum of the numbers of contaminating bacterial colonies and spontaneous revertant colonies observed with phosphate buffer or the rat S9 fraction. On the other hand, both the purified human S9 fractions were sterile, and the number of colonies that appeared in each solvent control was similar to that of spontaneous revertant colonies observed with phosphate buffer or the rat S9 fraction. DISCUSSION: These results indicate that this new procedure of S9 preparation, modified with an additional recentrifugation step, may provide a high quality of purified fat- and bacteria-free S9 fraction for use in the Ames test.

Assessment of potential mutagenic activities of a novel benzothiazole MAO-A inhibitor E2011 using Salmonella typhimurium YG1029.

The potential initiation activities of a novel monoamine oxidase type-A (MAO-A) inhibitor E2011, which induced preneoplastic foci in the rat liver, were investigated by comparing the mutagenic activity of E2011, 6-aminobenzothiazole (6-ABT, a structural scaffold of E2011) and its derivatives, which are suggested primary reactive metabolites for E2011-induced hepatotoxicity in the rats in vivo, in the Ames assay system employing two Salmonella tester strains, TA100 and YG1029, a bacterial O-acetyltransferase-overproducing strain of TA100. E2011, a tertiary amine, showed no mutagenic activity both in the Salmonella typhimurium TA100 and YG1029 with and without S9 mix. On the other hand, a secondary aromatic amine ER-174238-00, a typical decarbonated metabolite of E2011, showed weak but significant mutagenicity in YG1029 in the presence of S9 mix, and a primary aromatic amine ER-174237-00, an N-dealkylated derivative of ER-174238-00, exhibited S9-dependent potent mutagenicity in YG1029. Thus, it appears that primary and secondary amino moieties of benzothiazole derivatives at C(6)-position are the specific structures contributing to their mutagenic activity. In addition, the alkyl group at C(2)-position of E2011, ER-174237-00 and ER-174238-00 is suggested to intensify the mutagenic activity, since the mutagenicity of ER-174237-00 is approximately two-fold higher than that of 6-ABT, which has hydrogen at C(2)-position in the place of the alkyl group. These results strongly suggest that E2011 has potential initiation activities in the rat liver in vivo after undergoing decarbonation, one of the metabolic pathways, at the carbonyl moiety of oxazolidinone ring to form mutagenic amine(s).

A staining procedure for micronucleus test using new methylene blue and acridine orange: specimens that are supravitally stained with possible long-term storage.

The micronucleus test has been widely used as an in vivo cytogenetic test. It employs two different kinds of supravital staining methods which use either new methylene blue (N) and Giemsa (G) or acridine orange (AO). We have developed a new staining procedure for the preparation of specimens supravitally stained with possible long-term storage, using both N and AO. This N/AO-staining method involves three steps; (1) combination of the target tissue or target cells with an equivalent volume of 0.5% solution of new methylene blue (N-staining step), (2) immediate smear of the mixture, followed by treatment with methanol for 10 min for fixation and removal of N and drying (referred to as fixed-decolorized specimens), and (3) staining with 0.007% solution of AO for 3 min, followed by washing with Sörensen's buffer (pH 6.8) and covering of specimens before observation (AO-staining step). To examine whether the N/AO-staining method is useful for the micronucleus test, comparisons were made between N-, N/AO-, and AO-stained specimens prepared supravitally from peripheral blood of rats with and without treatment of cyclophosphamide. The results indicate that N/AO-stained specimens can be supravitally observed after long-term storage with the same coloration and comparable frequencies of micronucleated reticulocytes with a positive response as AO-stained specimens, if the staining process is temporarily stopped before AO-staining (as fixed-decolorized specimens), or if the AO-staining step is repeated. The results also showed that separated reticulocyte types are supravitally stained in a similar fashion to N-stained specimens but not to AO-stained specimens, indicative of the preservation of the supravital feature of N-staining. Taken together these results suggest that the N/AO-staining procedure could offer an additional useful staining tool for the micronucleus test.

Anti-mutagenic structural modification by fluorine-substitution in highly mutagenic 4-methylquinoline derivatives.

We have previously shown that fluorine-substitution at position 3 of quinoline deprived this molecule of mutagenicity, possibly due to interference with the yield of its metabolically activated form, the 1,4-hydrated 2,3-epoxide (enamine epoxide), which is directly responsible for the mutagenic modification of DNA. To further explore the possibility of a method for anti-mutagenic modification of mutagens by fluorine-substitution, 4-methylquinoline (4-MeQ), the most mutagenic form of all the quinoline derivatives examined so far, was used as a target in the present study. Five mono- and di-fluorinated derivatives of 4-MeQ, 2-fluoro-4-methylquinoline (2-F-4-MeQ), 6-F-4-MeQ, 7-F-4-MeQ, 2,6-difluoro-4-methylquinoline (2, 6-diF-4-MeQ), and 2,7-diF-4-MeQ, were subjected to analysis of their structure-mutagenicity relationships. The 2-fluorinated derivatives (2-F-4-MeQ, 2,6-diF-4-MeQ, and 2,7-diF-4-MeQ) were all non-mutagenic in the Ames test. 7-F-4-MeQ was as highly mutagenic as, and 6-F-4-MeQ was less mutagenic than non-fluorinated 4-MeQ. Metabolic studies were also conducted with 4-MeQ, 2-F-4-MeQ, 6-F-4-MeQ, and 7-F-4-MeQ, using a liver microsomal enzyme fraction prepared from the 3-methylcholanthrene-treated rat. The HPLC analytical data showed that, although the metabolic patterns (hydroxylation at 4-methyl group as a main metabolic pathway and 3-hydroxylation as a minor pathway) of these four F-MeQs were similar to one another, only the 3-hydroxy metabolite of 2-F-4-MeQ was not produced under the present experimental conditions employed. These results suggest that fluorine-substitution at position 2 of 4-MeQ inhibited the formation of the enamine epoxide in the pyridine moiety and deprived this molecule of mutagenicity as in the case of quinoline.

Isolation of transformation suppressor genes by cDNA subtraction: lumican suppresses transformation induced by v-src and v-K-ras.

We have reported that suppressive factors for transformation by viral oncogenes are expressed in primary rat embryo fibroblasts (REFs). To identify such transformation suppressor genes, we prepared a subtracted cDNA library by using REFs and a rat normal fibroblast cell line, F2408, and isolated 30 different cDNA clones whose mRNA expression was markedly reduced in F2408 cells relative to that in REFs. We referred to these as TRIF (transcript reduced in F2408) clones. Among these genes, we initially tested the suppressor activity for transformation on three TRIF genes, TRIF1 (neuronatin), TRIF2 (heparin-binding growth-associated molecule), and TRIF3 (lumican) by focus formation assay and found that lumican inhibited focus formation induced by activated H-ras in F2408 cells. Colony formation in soft agar induced by v-K-ras or v-src was also suppressed in F2408 clones stably expressing exogenous lumican without disturbing cell proliferation. Tumorigenicity in nude mice induced by these oncogenes was also suppressed in these lumican-expressing clones. These results indicate that lumican has the ability to suppress transformation by v-src and v-K-ras.

Comparison of the mutational spectra of the lacZ transgene in four organs of the MutaMouse treated with benzo[a]pyrene: target organ specificity.

We recently demonstrated that not all organs with a high rate of induction of mutation in the lacZ transgene develop tumors in the lambdalacZ transgenic mice (MutaMouse) used for a long-term carcinogenicity study with benzo[a]pyrene (BP). To better understand the role of chemical-induced in vivo mutations in carcinogenesis, we compared the mutational spectra of the lacZ transgene in four organs of the MutaMouse obtained 2 weeks after five daily consecutive oral treatments with 125 mg/kg/day BP. lacZ transgenes were analyzed in two target organs (forestomach and spleen) and two non-target organs (colon and glandular stomach) for BP-induced carcinogenesis in MutaMouse, and all of these organs were highly mutated in the lacZ transgene. The sequence data showed similar mutational spectra of the lacZ transgene between the two target organs; the predominant mutations were G:C-->T:A transversions (55% and 50% for forestomach and spleen, respectively), followed by deletions (20% and 21% for forestomach and spleen, respectively) mainly at G:C site. The frequent G:C-->T:A transversions are consistent with reports of the mutational spectra produced in the p53 gene in tumors generated in rats and mice exposed to BP. In contrast, the mutational spectra of the lacZ transgene in the two non-target organs are different from those in the target organs, and are also suggested to differ from one another. These findings suggest an organ/tissue-specific mechanism of mutagenesis.

Suppression of anchorage-independent growth of human cancer cell lines by the drs gene.

We have previously reported that the drs gene, whose mRNA expression is downregulated by retroviral oncogenes such as v-src and v-K-ras, has the ability to suppress transformation by v-src in a rat cell line F2408. We have now isolated a human homolog of this gene (h-drs) and found that the expression of h-drs mRNA is markedly downregulated in a variety of human cancer cell lines including those of the colon, bladder, and ovary. To investigate the function of the drs gene as a tumor suppressor in human cancer cells, we constructed recombinant amphotropic retrovirus containing the drs gene, introduced this virus into human cancer cell lines whose drs expression was downregulated and found that drs has the ability to suppress anchorage-independent growth of these cells without disturbing cell proliferation. Analyses with deletion mutants of the drs gene revealed that both the C-terminal region inside the transmembrane domain and three consensus repeats in the N-terminal region are essential for the suppression of anchorage-independent growth of the cells. We also found that the G1-S progression of the cell cycle and expression of cyclin A mRNA were significantly suppressed in T24 cells expressing the drs gene under non-adhesion culture conditions. In contrast, the expression of cyclin D and E and the phosphorylation of Rb protein were not affected by ectopic expression of the drs gene, suggesting that an Rb-independent downregulation of cyclin A is involved in the suppression of anchorage-independent growth by means of the drs gene.

Malignant transformation of human diploid fibroblasts and suppression of their anchorage independence by introduction of chromosome 13.

Isolation of cell lines that display various degrees of transformed phenotypes may be very useful to clarify multistep mechanisms of oncogenesis, but malignant transformation of human diploid fibroblasts in culture is a very rare event. We attempted to isolate variously transformed cell lines from human diploid fibroblasts (RB) of a patient with hereditary retinoblastoma. The RB cells exhibited normal karyotypes with the exception of one copy of chromosome 13, which contained a large deletion at the q14-22 region, where the RB1 gene is located. By transfection with SV40 early genes and repeated passage, we succeeded in obtaining SV40-transfected mortal, immortalized, anchorage-independent, and tumorigenic RB cell lines. DNA fingerprinting showed that these cell lines were not contaminants, but derivatives of the original RB cells. The remaining RB1 allele may be wild-type even in the malignant cell lines, because the expression and the LT-binding ability were normal. Furthermore, we did not find any homozygous loss in 16 polymorphic markers located in the 13q14-22 region in the transformed cell lines. However, introduction of a copy of a normal chromosome 13 into the anchorage-independent cell line suppressed its anchorage-independent growth ability. All these data, together with the fact that the RB cells containing the deletion progressed to a tumorigenic state spontaneously, but normal fibroblasts did not, raise the possibility that a new tumor suppressor gene, located at 13q14-22, may play a critical role in neoplastic transformation. We conclude that these RB cell lines provide an excellent system for identification of genes involved in malignant transformation of human cells. Genes Chromosomes Cancer 26:47-53, 1999.

Multiple organ mutation in the lacZ transgenic mouse (Muta mouse) 6 months after oral treatment (5 days) with benzo[a]pyrene.

We have recently demonstrated that not all organs with high rates of mutation in the lacZ transgene develop tumors using the Muta Mouse. To better understand the role of in vivo mutation in carcinogenesis, we examined the mutant frequencies (MF) of the lacZ transgene in tumor-bearing and non tumor-bearing organs. MF, recovered after 2 weeks (the data taken from our previous study) and after 26 weeks following oral doses of 125 mg kg-1 day-1 benzo[a]pyrene (BP) for five days were compared. The organs examined included the target organs (forestomach, spleen, and lung) and non-target organs (colon, glandular stomach, and liver) for BP carcinogenesis. The data indicated that lacZ MF were markedly increased over spontaneous frequencies in the organs examined and that the organ which showed the highest MF was the colon, followed by the forestomach>spleen>glandular stomach, liver, and lung in that order. These findings indicate that the MF of the lacZ transgene in each organ, even 26 weeks after the start of the treatment does not fully correlate with the known target organs of BP. Furthermore, the lacZ MF in a non-papilloma region of a forestomach with a papilloma was equivalent to the two highest MF observed in the healthy colon (non-target organ) of mice at 26 weeks. These observations also indicate that the generation of tumors requires the induction of mutations as well as other factor(s) specific to the target organs. These results clearly suggest that highly mutated organs do not always progress to tumors in the transgenic mouse.

Substituent effect of a fluorine atom on the mutagenicity of nitroquinolines.

Some 16 nitroquinolines (NQs) and their fluorinated derivatives were tested for mutagenicity in Salmonella typhimurium TA100 without S9 mix to investigate the effect of fluorine-substitution on the mutagenicity. These NQs consist of 5-NQs, 5-nitroquinoline N-oxides (5-NQOs), N-methyl-5-nitroquinolinium methanesulfonates (N-Me-5-NQs) and 8-NQs, including three ortho-F-NQs, one meta-F-NQ, four para-F-NQs and four 3-F-NQs. For this purpose, eight F-NQs were newly synthesized. The data indicated that the ratio of the mutagenic activities (revertants/plate/nmol) of fluorinated NQs to those of the corresponding parent non-fluorinated compounds ranged from 0.6- to 119-fold. The fluorine atom located para to the nitro group markedly enhanced the mutagenicity (24-fold and more), while three ortho-fluorinated derivatives showed no significant increase in mutagenicity (enhancement ratio were 0.6, 0.8 and 1.7). With respect to 8-NQs, its meta-fluorinated derivative also had an enhanced mutagenicity over the parent compound (53-fold). In addition, although N-Me-5-NQ was less mutagenic than 5-NQ and 5-NQO, the mutagenicity of N-Me-5-NQ was most significantly enhanced by fluorine-substitution. These results suggest that introduction of a fluorine atom to the molecule in question may be a useful tool to modify their mutagenic potency and to better understand the mechanism of mutation.

Expression of latent and replicative-infection genes of Epstein-Barr virus in macrophage.

Unlike other herpesviruses, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has not yet been shown to infect macrophages. Six macrophage cultures were isolated from normal and affected samples. Nested polymerase chain reaction revealed the existence of the EBV genome in all these macrophages. EBV latent genes expression in all cultures were detected by mRNA in situ hybridization and immunofluorescence staining. Some cultures also expressed EBV replicative-infection proteins, while in other cultures induction of these proteins was demonstrated. These findings are the first to show expression of several latent and replicative-infection genes of EBV in macrophages, indicating that EBV proliferates in macrophages.

Effects of oligofluorine substitution on the mutagenicity of quinoline: a study with twelve fluoroquinoline derivatives.

A total of 12 variously fluorinated derivatives of quinoline (Q) were tested for their mutagenicity in Salmonella typhimurium TA100 in the presence of S9 mix to investigate the structure-mutagenicity relationship in oligofluorinated quinolines. Nine of them, 3,7-di-, 5,6-di-, 6,7-di-, 6,8-di-, 7,8-di-, 3,5,7-tri-, 5,6,8-tri-, 6,7, 8-tri-, and 5,6,7,8-tetrafluoroquinolines (FQs), were newly synthesized for this purpose. Those fluorinated at position 3 were all non-mutagenic. Mutagenicity was enhanced by fluorine-substitution at position 5 or 7, but not in 3-FQs (i.e., 3, 5-di-, 3,7-di-, and 3,5,7-triFQs). Some of the 6-fluorinated derivatives showed less maximum induced-revertants with more mutagenic potencies in terms of induced-revertants per dose than quinoline. No marked change occurred by fluorine-substitution at position 8. These results show that the effect of di- and trifluoro-substitution on mutagenicity is generally additive, while that of tetrafluorination approaches the deactivating effect of perfluorination. Our study suggests that 3-fluorine-substitution in the pyridine moiety may be a useful means of antimutagenic structural modification in pyridine-fused aromatic chemicals for medicinal and agricultural use.

Reduction of syndecan-1 mRNA in cervical-carcinoma cells is involved with the 3' untranslated region.

Syndecan-1 is a transmembrane proteoglycan expressed predominantly in epithelial cells. Studies with immunohistochemistry have shown that syndecan-1 expression is reduced in carcinoma derived from human epidermis. Here we show that syndecan-1 mRNA, which is abundant in human primary keratinocyte (HK) and HaCaT spontaneous immortalized keratinocyte, is decreased in cervical-carcinoma cell lines. Further, in relation to a long and well-conserved 3' untranslated region (3' UTR) of syndecan-1 cDNA, we examined whether 3' UTR is involved with syndecan-1-mRNA reduction in cervical-carcinoma cells. A stable transfection experiment showed that addition of the 3' UTR does not affect expression in HaCaT, but that syndecan-1 cDNA containing the 3' UTR is not expressed efficiently selectively in cervical-carcinoma cell lines. The transient assay with CAT reporter plasmids linking the 3' UTR confirmed this, and indicated that the 3' end of the 3' UTR (nt 2285-2410) is required to influence expression in cervical-carcinoma cells. Further excessive expression of syndecan-1 suppressed growth in cervical-carcinoma cells. These results demonstrate that the reduction of syndecan-1 mRNA involved with the 3' untranslated region gives growth advantage to cervical-carcinoma cells.

[Mutagenicity study of gadobenate dimeglumine formulation (E7155) (1)--Reverse mutation assays in S. typhimurium and E. coli tester strains].

The ability of gadobenate dimeglumine formulation (E7155) to cause gene mutations was assessed in five strains of Salmonella typhimurium (TA100, TA1535, TA98, TA1538, and TA1537) and a strain of Escherichia coli (CM891; WP2, uvrA-, pKM101) using the Ames test (agar plate assay). The results suggest that E7155 is non-mutagenic towards these bacterial tester strains.

Advantage of the use of human liver S9 in the Ames test.

The mutagenicity of 13 chemicals was compared using human liver S9 or liver S9 prepared from male Sprague-Dawley rats either non-treated (R-n) or pretreated with phenobarbital/5,6-benzoflavone (R-i). The test compounds used in this study were well recognized procarcinogens requiring cytochrome P450 for metabolic activation. These included polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, aromatic amines, heterocyclic aromatic amines, nitrosoamines, and nitropyrene. We used four human liver S9 fractions, one of which was prepared from the liver sample having higher levels of the P450-catalyzed drug metabolizing enzyme activities, a possible explanation for which was enzyme induction by anti-asthma agents for 10 years. The results of the present study are as follows: (1) there were individual differences in the magnitude of the mutagenic activity of the procarcinogens by each S9 fraction used, (2) equivalent mutagenicity of chemicals was seen with three human S9 fractions (H3, H8, and H12), while a human H14 S9 fraction showed higher P450 enzyme activity, leading to much higher mutagenicity than the other three human S9 specimens, (3) the order of magnitude of the mutagenicity of the procarcinogens using human and rat liver S9 fractions was R-i>/=H14>/=R-n>/=H3, H8, and H12, while with 2-aminoanthrathene, N-nitrosodimethylamine, and 1-nitropyrene, this relationship was H3, H8, H12, and H14>/=R-n>/=R-i. The experimental data in the present study strongly suggest that the complementary use of human liver S9 fraction in the Ames test is a much more useful tool than rat S9 for evaluation of genotoxicity to humans.

Toxicity profile of benzo[a]pyrene in the male LacZ transgenic mouse (MutaMouse) following oral administration for 5 consecutive days.

The toxicity profile of benzo[a]pyrene (BP) was examined in the MutaMouse. The transgenic mouse integrated with lambda gt10 lacZ vectors is used worldwide as an experimental animal in in vivo mutagenesis testing systems. There are few toxicity studies including carcinogenicity in the MutaMouse, and so far only a few carcinogenicity studies of BP accompanied with hematological and plasma biochemical examinations have been conducted even in generic mice. Accordingly, male mice were orally administered BP at doses of 75 and 125 mg/kg/day for 5 consecutive days, and complete autopsy was conducted together with pathological, hematological, and plasma biochemical examinations and measurement of organ weights 41 weeks after the last treatment. Squamous cell papilloma and hyperplasia in the forestomach were induced at incidences of 25 and 50%, respectively and were induced 26 weeks after the final treatment without any significant alterations in t he hematological and plasma biochemical parameters in mice of the 125 mg/kg/day BP-treated satellite group. Fourty-one weeks after the final treatments, 75 and 125 mg/kg/day BP induced squamous cell carcinoma, papilloma, and hyperplasia in the forestomach at incidences of 18 and 18%, 36 and 45%, and 91 and 91%, respectively, and anemia possibly due to continuous hemorrhage from tumors in the forestomach. BP (125 mg/kg/day) also produced malignant lymphoma with an incidence of 18%, accompanied by a marked increase in leukocyte count and decrease in erythrocyte count and by a remarkable decrease in body weights 26 and 39 weeks after the last treatment. Moreover, administration of 75 and 125 mg/kg/day BP induced bronchiolar-alveolar hyperplasia in the lung at incidences of 18 and 9%, respectively. Slight increases were also observed in the weight of the liver and in the levels of urea nitrogen, creatinine, and potassium ion in the plasma biochemical examinations, although no significant pathological alterations were found in the liver and kidney. This study provides new information about BP toxicity including carcinogenicity in the MutaMouse developed for in vivo mutational analysis.

Establishment of an epidermal growth factor-dependent, multipotent neural precursor cell line.

We have established a multipotent clonal cell line, named MEB5, from embryonic mouse forebrains after the infection of a retrovirus carrying E7 oncogene of human papillomavirus type 16. MEB5 cells proliferated in serum-free, epidermal growth factor (EGF)-supplemented medium. They expressed markers for neural precursor cells (nestin, A2B5, and RC1) and did not express markers for neurons (class III beta-tubulin), astrocytes (glial fibrillary acidic protein), and oligodendrocytes (galactocerebroside). MEB5 cells were stably maintained in an undifferentiated state with a diploid karyotype in the presence of EGF. When they were deprived of EGF, about 50% of the cells died due to apoptosis within 24 h. The remaining cells differentiated into neurons, astrocytes, or oligodendrocytes within 2 wk. The newly developed cells with neuronal morphology were immunoreactive for gamma-aminobutyric acid and exhibited neuronal electrophysiological properties. When MEB5 cells were treated with leukemia inhibitory factor for 7 d, they were induced to differentiate exclusively into astrocytes. These results indicate that MEB5 is a cell line with characteristics of EGF-dependent, multipotent neural precursor cells. This cell line should provide a good model system to study the mechanisms of survival, proliferation, and differentiation of the multipotent precursor cells in the central nervous system.

Comparison between in vivo mutagenicity and carcinogenicity in multiple organs by benzo[a]pyrene in the lacZ transgenic mouse (Muta Mouse).

To evaluate whether the in vivo mutagenicity test system using the lacZ transgenic mice (Muta Mouse) may be applied to carcinogenesis studies, both the in vivo mutagenicity and carcinogenicity of benzo[a]pyrene (BP) was tested in mice under the same administration conditions. The eleven organs of the mice on the 14th day after the final oral administration of BP at a dose of 125 mg kg(-1) day(-1) or corn oil for 5 consecutive days were tested for in vivo mutation by the positive-selection method. The data show that the colon had the highest lacZ mutant frequency (37-fold increase over the spontaneous frequency), followed by the ileum > forestomach > bone marrow, spleen > glandular stomach > liver, lung > kidney and heart. No significant mutations were found in the brain. These results may suggest that, in general, the organs with rapidly proliferative tissues have a marked increase in vivo mutant frequencies under the conditions of this experimental design. The forestomach and lymphatic organs including the spleen (malignant lymphoma) were the main target organs for BP carcinogenesis by 5 daily oral doses of 75 and 125 mg kg(-1) day(-1). These results suggest that the mutation results from the transgenic assay with BP reflect the carcinogenicity of BP in the mouse. They also indicate, however, that the magnitude of the in vivo lacZ mutant frequencies induced by BP in different organs did not fully correlate with the target organs for carcinogenicity.

Dispensability of p53 degradation for tumorigenicity and decreased serum requirement of human papillomavirus type 16 E6.

Certain types of human papillomavirus (HPV), such as types 16 and 18, are etiological agents for carcinogenesis of the uterine cervix. These HPVs have two oncogenes, E6 and E7, that have transforming activities in established murine cells. Tumorigenicity and decreased serum requirement for cell growth are conferred by the E6 gene, whereas anchorage-independent growth is mainly governed by the E7 gene. To understand the mechanism of cellular transformation by the HPV16 E6 gene, we examined three mutant E6 proteins defective for p53 binding, p53 degradation, or transactivation of the adenovirus E2 promoter for the ability to induce tumorigenicity and decreased serum requirement. The results showed that tumorigenicity and decreased serum requirement were associated with the ability of E6 to bind to p53, although the subsequent degradation of p53 was not required for these functions.