Prophage induction by DNA topoisomerase II poisons and reactive-oxygen species: role of DNA breaks.

Various compounds were evaluated for their ability to induce prophage lambda in the Escherichia coli WP2s(lambda) microscreen assay. The inability of a DNA gyrase subunit B inhibitor (novobiocin) to induce prophage indicated that inhibition of the gyrase's ATPase was insufficient to elicit the SOS response. In contrast, poisons of DNA gyrase subunit A (nalidixic acid and oxolinic acid) were the most potent inducers of prophage among the agents examined here. This suggested that inhibition of the ligation function of subunit A, which also has a DNA nicking activity, likely resulted in DNA breaks that were available (as single-stranded DNA) to act as strong SOS-inducing signals, leading to prophage induction. Agents that both intercalated and produced reactive-oxygen species (the mammalian DNA topoisomerase II poisons, adriamycin, ellipticine, and m-AMSA) were the next most potent inducers of prophage. Agents that produced reactive-oxygen species only (hydrogen peroxide and paraquat) were less potent than adriamycin and ellipticine but more potent than m-AMSA. Agents that intercalated but did not generate reactive-oxygen species (actinomycin D) or that did neither (teniposide) were unable to induce prophage, suggesting that intercalation alone may be insufficient to induce prophage. These results illustrate the variety of mechanisms (and the relative effectiveness of these mechanisms) by which agents can induce prophage. Nonetheless, these agents may induce prophage by producing essentially the same type of DNA damage, i.e., DNA strand breaks. The potent genotoxicity of the DNA gyrase subunit A poisons illustrates the genotoxic consequences of perturbing an important DNA-protein complex such as that formed by DNA and DNA topoisomerase.

Compatibility of organic solvents with the Microscreen prophage-induction assay: solvent--mutagen interactions.

The following solvents did not induce prophage lambda in the Escherichia coli WP2s(lambda) Microscreen assay: acetone, benzene, chloroform, ethanol, n-hexane, isopropanol, methanol, toluene, and a mixture of the three isomers of xylene. Dimethyl sulfoxide was genotoxic in the presence and absence of S9, and methylene chloride was weakly genotoxic in the presence of S9. The genotoxic potencies of 2-aminoanthracene and 2-nitrofluorene were reduced when dissolved in DMSO or methanol compared to their potencies when dissolved in acetone.

Mutagenic screening of marker grenade dyes by the Salmonella reversion assay, L5178Y/TK+/- mouse lymphoma assay, and in vivo sister chromatid exchange analysis in mice.

Two dyes (C.I. Solvent Yellow No. 33 and a mixture of C.I. Solvent Yellow No. 33 and C.I. Solvent Green No. 3) were tested for mutagenicity in the Salmonella reversion assay and the L5178Y/TK+/- mouse lymphoma assay, and also for sister chromatid exchange (SCE) induction in vivo in C57B1/6J mice. In addition, a greater than 99.9% pure sample of the yellow dye [2-(2'-quinolyl)-1,3-indandione] was tested with and without exogenous activation in the Salmonella reversion assay and the L5178Y/TK+/- mouse lymphoma assay. Neither C.I. Solvent Yellow No. 33 nor the C.I. Solvent Yellow No. 33 and Solvent Green No. 3 mixture was positive for inducing SCEs in vivo. All three dyes were tested in the standard plate incorporation test in seven Salmonella strains TA98, TA100, TA102, TA104, TA1535, TA1537, and TA1538. The dyes were negative with and without exogenous activation in TA98, TA1535, and TA1538. One test with TA1537 was positive with the greater than 99.9% purified yellow dye. All three dyes gave weakly positive results (less than a twofold increase) with S-9 in TA100 and were clearly positive in TA102 and TA104 both with and without S-9. They also induced mutation at the thymidine kinase locus in mouse lymphoma cells, produced both large- and small-colony trifluorothymidine-resistant mutants, and were clastogenic. The purified yellow dye was further tested for SCE induction in mouse lymphoma cells and was determined to give a slightly positive response in the presence of S-9.

Mutagenicity of topoisomerase-active agents in bacteriophage T4.

Recently, the antitumor agent 4'-(9-acridinylamino)-methanesulfon-m-anisidide (m-AMSA) was shown to revert a frameshift mutant of T4 (rFC11), and its mutagenicity was shown to be mediated by T4 DNA topoisomerase II [Ripley et al.: J Mol Biol 200: 665-680, 1988]. Here we report dose-response data on the mutagenicity and toxicity of m-AMSA in T4 rFC11. We find that m-AMSA is among the most potent frameshift mutagens observed in T4, inducing a 10-fold increase in mutant frequency in the absence of toxicity and a 500-fold increase in mutant frequency at 31% survival. In addition to m-AMSA, the topoisomerase-active agents ellipticine, oxolinic acid, and nalidixic acid also reverted rFC11; however, they required concentrations 10-100 times greater than those required by m-AMSA in order to be mutagenic, and they did not produce mutant frequencies as high as those produced by m-AMSA. Unlike m-AMSA, all three agents were mutagenic only at toxic doses. The other agents evaluated--actinomycin D, adriamycin, 9-aminoellipticine, 9-methoxyellipticine, teniposide (VM-26), and novobiocin--were toxic but not mutagenic to T4 rFC11. Thus, m-AMSA appears to be distinctly different from the other topoisomerase-active agents in exhibiting such potent mutagenic activity in T4 rFC11. Because E. coli DNA gyrase may substitute for T4 topoisomerase II, we examined the ability of two inhibitors of E. coli DNA gyrase, novobiocin and nalidixic acid, to inhibit m-AMSA's mutagenicity. Both agents substantially reduced the mutagenicity of m-AMSA in T4 rFC11, further suggesting that topoisomerase mediates the mutagenicity of m-AMSA.