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H L Liber

Publications and source records attributed to H L Liber.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Molecular and biochemical analyses of spontaneous and X-ray-induced mutants in human lymphoblastoid cells.

We have isolated a series of 14 spontaneously arising and 28 X-ray-induced mutants at the hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (hgprt) locus in human lymphoblastoid cells. Among the spontaneous mutants, 5/14 (36%) had detectable alterations in their restriction fragment pattern after hybridization with a human cDNA probe for hgprt. Of the 10 remaining mutants, 4 had partial HGPRT enzyme activity, which suggested that they contained point mutations. Among the 28 mutants induced by 150 rad of X-rays, 15 (54%) had deletions of part or all of the hgprt gene. 5 of the remaining 13 (18% overall) had partial HGPRT enzyme activity, which suggested that they contained point mutations. These data imply that in this human cell system, X-rays induce both point mutants which have residual enzyme activity as well as mutations involving relatively large deletions of DNA.

DNA Restriction Enzymes↗

Chemical and toxicological characterization of residential oil burner emissions: II. Mutagenic, tumorigenic, and potential teratogenic activity.

Extracts of effluents from a modern residential oil burner have been evaluated in several toxicological assay systems. Bacterial mutagens were detected in extracts from both the particulate and vapor phase emissions. Effluents from continuous operation were an order of magnitude less mutagenic than those from cyclic (5 min on, 10 min off) operations. No difference in the yield of bacterial mutagens per gram of fuel burned was found between cyclic operation under low and moderate sooting conditions. On the basis of elution behavior from alumina it appeared that the bacterial mutagens collected from high sooting effluents were more polar than those from low sooting effluent. An extract that was mutagenic in bacteria did not induce a significant increase in mutation frequency to human lymphoblasts. No evidence of tumorigenicity was observed in a limited number of newborn mice after IP injection of effluent extract when compared to historical control data. Putative nonmutagenic teratogens were detected in effluent using an attachment inhibition assay. The level of these agents was reduced in effluents from continuous oil burner operation.

Air Pollutants↗

Differential effects of radical scavengers on X-ray-induced mutation and cytotoxicity in human cells.

The cytotoxic and mutagenic effects of X irradiation on a human lymphoblast cell line were examined in the presence of two radioprotective agents which modulate damage to DNA. The cells were treated with X rays alone or in the presence of either dimethyl sulfoxide or cysteamine. Surviving fraction and mutation to trifluorothymidine resistance (tk locus) and to 6-thioguanine resistance (hgprt locus) were measured. Survival was enhanced when the cells were irradiated in the presence of dimethyl sulfoxide; the D0 rose from 58 to 107 rad. However, at both genetic loci the induced mutant fractions were identical in the presence or absence of dimethyl sulfoxide. Survival was enhanced to a greater degree when the cells were irradiated in the presence of cysteamine; the D0 rose from 58 to 200 rad. Cysteamine also protected the cells from X-ray-induced mutation; the frequencies of X-ray-induced mutation at both the tk and hgprt loci were reduced by 50-75%. No protective effects were observed unless dimethyl sulfoxide or cysteamine was present during irradiation. These findings are discussed in terms of the hypothesis that, unlike for cell killing, radiation-induced mutagenesis in human lymphoblast cells is not mediated by the actions of aqueous free radicals, but rather by the direct effects of ionizing radiation.

Cell Line↗

Microsomal activation of fluoranthene to mutagenic metabolites.

The in vitro metabolism of fluoranthene (FA) was assessed by incubating 3-[3H]FA, the synthesis of which is described, with rat hepatic microsomal enzymes. Several metabolites including the FA 2,3-diol, FA 2-3,-quinone, 3-OH-FA, 1-OH-FA, and 8-OH-FA were isolated by high-pressure liquid chromatography and identified by comparison of chromatographic properties and uv-visible spectra with those of synthetic standards. The major metabolite produced over the FA concentration range studied (23-233 microM) was FA 2,3-diol, accounting for 29-43% of the total extractable metabolites. This diol was characterized further by high-resolution mass spectroscopy and H-NMR and determined to be identical in structure to the trans-2,3-dihydroxy-2,3-dihydrofluoranthene. The FA 2,3-diol, syn and anti 2,3-diol-1,10b-epoxides, FA 2,3-quinone, and FA 7,8-diol were all shown to be mutagenic toward Salmonella typhimurium TM677. The FA 1,10b-diol and syn and anti FA 1,10b-diol-2,3-epoxides were not mutagenic. The epoxide hydrolase inhibitor, 3,3,3-trichloropropylene oxide, markedly reduced the mutagenic potency of FA while concurrently inhibiting FA 2,3-diol production but not overall FA metabolism. These results suggests that a major metabolic activation pathway of FA resulting in the production of mutagenic species involves the formation of the FA 2,3-diol and the subsequent oxidation of this diol to a FA 2,3-diol-1,10b-epoxide. Another minor activation pathway with mutagenic endpoints may involve the formation of the 7,8-diol.

Animals↗

X-rays mutate human lymphoblast cells at genetic loci that should respond only to point mutagens.

We have demonstrated that X-rays induce mutations at 4 of 5 genetic loci. 2 of these loci, which code for a mRNA synthesis factor (resistance to 5,6-dichlororibofuranosylbenzimidazole) and tubulin (resistance to podophyllotoxin), are "small-marker" loci, in that they theoretically respond only to mutations which eliminate a toxin-binding site while leaving the major function of the protein intact. Thus mutations induced by X-rays in these two loci are most likely due to base-pair substitution-type alterations. X-Rays did not induce mutations in the Na+/K+ ATPase (resistance to ouabain), another small-marker locus. Two other loci, hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (resistance to 6-thioguanine) and thymidine kinase (resistance to trifluorothymidine), are "whole-gene" targets in that they theoretically respond to a wide variety of mutagenic changes. X-Rays induced dose-dependent increases in mutant fraction at both of these loci. Ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS), an agent thought to produce mutations primarily through a base-pair substitution mechanism, induced mutations at all genetic loci tested. The pattern of mutations at the small-marker loci induced by EMS was different than that induced by X-rays, suggesting that the specificities of the mutagens and/or of the loci are different.

Dichlororibofuranosylbenzimidazole↗

Studies of mutagenicity and clastogenicity of 5-azacytidine in human lymphoblasts and Salmonella typhimurium.

5-Azacytidine (5-AzaC) induced mutation in the TK+/- human lymphoblastoid line, TK6, at both the thymidine kinase (tk) locus as measured by resistance to trifluorothymidine (F3TdR), and the hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (hgprt) locus, as measured by resistance to 6-thioguanine (6TG). F3TdRR and 6TGR mutant fractions induced by 5-AzaC were observed after a normal phenotypic expression time and remained stable. Interestingly, 5-AzaC was 5-10 times more mutagenic at the tk locus than the hgprt locus. However, F3TdRR colonies from 5-AzaC-treated cultures behaved like TK-deficient mutants induced by other chemical mutagens. The TK or HGPRT phenotype had no effect on the toxicity of 5-AzaC, thus eliminating differential toxicity as a potential cause for the observed higher mutability at the tk locus. 5-AzaC did not induce F3TdRR cells in the parental TK+/+ lymphoblastoid line, indicating that 5-AzaC-induced F3TdRR variants were not due to a dominant alteration in gene expression. 5-AzaC did not induce chromosomal aberrations in TK6 cells, eliminating clastogenic events as a potential cause for the higher mutability at the tk locus. 5-AzaC was also found to be mutagenic in a forward mutation assay to 8-azaguanine resistance in Salmonella typhimurium.

Azacitidine↗

The in vitro genetic effects of fibrous erionite and crocidolite asbestos.

Epidemiologic evidence has recently identified an association between an endemic outbreak of pleural and peritoneal mesothelioma in the Urgup region of Turkey and exposure to zeolite fibres. This malignancy is usually associated with exposure to asbestos dusts whose mineralogical characteristics differ from those of zeolites. The present study further defines the in vitro biologic activity of erionite, a common zeolite fibre found in the Urgup region of Turkey. Both erionite and crocidolite asbestos fibres were clastogenic in synchronous Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) fibroblasts. Both fibres also altered CHO ploidy. Erionite, unlike crocidolite or Min-U-Sil quartz, caused a slight increase in sister chromatid exchanges in synchronous CHO cells. Neither erionite nor crocidolite was mutagenic in a human lymphoblastoid cell line. Erionite fibres thus produced in vitro cytogenic changes similar to those caused by asbestiform mineral dusts and, like asbestos fibres, did not induce mutations in human lymphoblastoid cells.

Aluminum Silicates↗

Mutational and pseudomutational effects of 5-bromodeoxyuridine in human lymphoblasts.

We have studied the effects of 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) at two genetic loci in diploid human lymphoblast cells. In thymidine kinase heterozygotes (tk +/-), a 2-h dose of BrdUrd induced a transient, non-heritable resistance to the thymidine analogue, trifluorothymidine (F3TdR). We have called this phenomenon pseudomutation and have shown that affected cells acquire the ability to survive in the presence of F3TdR and then, after degradation of F3TdR in the medium, return to an apparently normal wild-type state. Our data suggest that BrdUrd incorporation into DNA as a thymidine analogue is responsible for the effect, which we interpret as a temporary loss of thymidine kinase activity. This effect is not seen in tk +/+ homozygotes. In contrast, at the hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase locus in tk +/- heterozygotes, BrdUrd did not induce a permanent, heritable resistance to 6-thioguanine (gene locus mutation). We detected such mutations only in the tk +/+ homozygote and only at external BrdUrd concentrations considerably higher than those which saturate the uptake of BrdUrd into DNA as a thymidine analogue. We postulate that the reduced TK enzyme levels (30%) in the heterozygote prevent the build-up of a sufficiently high intracellular BrdUrd triphosphate pool to promote the misincorporations as deoxycytidine triphosphate which may be responsible for gene locus mutation.

Aminopterin↗

A human cell line sensitive to mutation by particle-borne chemicals.

A human lymphoblastoid cell line with ability to perform oxidative metabolism of various chemicals is mutated by the direct addition of an intact particulate soot. This experiment demonstrates that materials associated with combustion-generated particulates are biologically available and able to cause genetic changes in metabolically competent human cells.

Air Pollutants↗

Toxicity and mutagenicity of low dose rates of ionizing radiation from tritiated water in human lymphoblastoid cells.

In order to study the toxic and mutagenic effects of low-dose-rate exposure to ionizing radiation, human lymphoblast cells were grown continuously in tritiated water (3H2O) for up to 8 days. Dose rates ranged from 0.0054 to 0.064 rad/min. Mutation to trifluorothymidine resistance (TK locus) and 6-thioguanine resistance (HGPRT locus) was measured; comparable results were observed at both loci. The mutant fraction as a function of total absorbed dose was independent of dose rate over the range studied. At the lower doses, the dose-response curve was linear, with no indication of a threshold. Overall, it appeared to be slightly biphasic with a diminished slope at higher total doses. These data are discussed in relation to earlier studies utilizing high-dose-rate X-irradiation and incorporated [3H]TdR; 3H2O and [3H]TdR were more mutagenic per rad than X-rays, but 3H2O was less cytotoxic than either X-rays or [3H]TdR.

Cell Line↗

Toxicity and mutagenicity of X-rays and [125I]dUrd or [3H]TdR incorporated in the DNA of human lymphoblast cells.

We measured the toxicity and mutagenicity induced in human diploid lymphoblasts by various radiation doses of X-rays and two internal emitters, [125I]iododeoxyuridine ([125I]dUrd) and [3H]thymidine ([3H]TdR), incorporated into cellular DNA. [125I]dUrd was more effective than [3H]TdR at killing cells and producing mutations to 6-thioguanine resistance (6TGR). No ouabain-resistant mutants were induced by any of these agents. Expressing dose as total disintegrations per cell (dpc), the D0 for cell killing for [125I]dUrd was 28 dpc and for [3H]TdR was 385 dpc. The D0 for X-rays was 48 rad at 37 degrees C. The slopes of the mutation curves were approximately 75 x 10(-8) 6TGR mutants per cell per disintegration for [125I]dUrd and 2 x 10(-8) for [3H]TdR. X-Rays induced 8 x 10(-8) 6TGR mutants per cell per rad. Normalizing for survival, [125I]dUrd remained much more mutagenic at low doses (high survival levels) than the other two agents. Treatment of the cells at either 37 degrees C or while frozen at -70 degrees C yielded no difference in cytotoxicity or mutation for [125]dUrd or [3H]TdR, whereas X-rays were 6 times less effective in killing cells at -70 degrees C. Assuming that incorporation was random throughout the genome, the mutagenic efficiencies of the radionuclides could be calculated by dividing the mutation rate by the level of incorporation. If the effective target size of the 6TGR locus is 1000-3000 base pairs, then the mutagenic efficiency of [125I]dUrd is 1.0-3.0 and of [3H]TdR is 0.02-0.06 total genomic mutations per cell per disintegration. 125I disintegrations are known to produce localized DNA double-strand breaks. If these breaks are potentially lethal lesions, they must be repaired, since the mean lethal dose (D0) was 28 dpc. The observations that a single dpc has a high probability of producing a mutation (mutagenic efficiency 1.0-3.0) would suggest, however, that this repair is extremely error-prone. If the breaks need not be repaired to permit survival, then lethal lesions are a subset of or are completely different from mutagenic lesions.

Cell Line↗

Mutation of human lymphoblasts exposed to low concentrations of chemical mutagens for long periods of time.

Methylnitrosourea (MNU), ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS), and 4-nitroquinoline-N-oxide (4NQO) induce mutation to 6-thioguanine resistance and trifluorothymidine resistance in diploid human lymphoblasts (TK6). In single exposure experiments in which greater than 10% of treated cells survive, mutation as a function of concentration is linear for MNU, accelerates for EMS and appears to reach a plateau for 4NQO. In order to probe the bases of these concentration dependencies, human lymphoblasts were exposed for 20 days to each of the three mutagens. Each individual exposure chosen was in itself insufficient to induce statistically significant mutation and each resulted in a cellular survival of greater than 95%. Under this regimen, induced mutation as a function of the number of exposures was linear for all three mutagens. Prior exposure to low concentrations of mutagens was found to have no significant effect on the amount of mutation induced in subsequent exposures. Thus, no biological evidence was found for the induction of repair of misrepair systems.

4-Nitroquinoline-1-oxide↗

Mutation assay at the thymidine kinase locus in diploid human lymphoblasts.

A thymidine kinase heterozygote was isolated from a diploid human lymphoblast line which forms colonies with high efficiency in microtiter dishes. We show that this cell line, called TK6, can be mutated from a TK+/- to TK-/- state by diverse mutagens, including ethyl methanesulfonate, butyl methanesulfonate, nitrosomethylurea, UV light, ICR-191, 4-nitroquinoline oxide, fluorodeoxyuridine, benzo[a]pyrene and aflatoxin B1. We report here the experiments required to demonstrate the applicability of this new line in quantitative assays of mutation in human cells. Mitotic recombination between the centromere and the tk locus could not be induced by either dimethylsulfoxide or phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate.

Cell Line↗

Mutation of human cells by kerosene soot.

The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon fraction of a kerosene soot induced forward mutation in human diploid lymphoblasts when coincubated with Sprague-Dawley rat liver postmitochondrial supernatant. Two components of the kerosene soot extract, benzo[a]pyrene (BP) and cyclopenta[cd]pyrene (CP), were also tested. TP was not mutagenic at the concentration found in the soot extract, although it was active at higher concentrations. The amount of CP present could account for approximately 8% of the total mutation observed with the soot. The results were compared to data obtained previously in a similar mutation assay in Salmonella typhimurium. The protocol described permits the facile assay of mutation at the hgprt locus in human lymphoblasts; such mutation is induced by compounds of complex mixtures requiring mixed-function oxygenase activity for metabolism to genetically active derivatives.

Animals↗