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PubMed1984

DNA-purine methylation in hepatic chromatin following exposure to dimethylnitrosamine or methylnitrosourea.

The investigations reported in this paper were designed to analyze the patterns of DNA-purine methylation in hepatic chromatin following in vivo exposure to the carcinogenic alkylating agents dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) or methylnitrosourea (MNU). Male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to [14C]DMN (8 mumoles, 1.0 microCi per mumole per 100 g) or [3H]MNU (15 mumoles, 10 microCi per mumole per 100 g) via gastric intubation. Hepatic chromatin was fractionated into portions having characteristics of template-active euchromatin (S2) and template-repressed heterochromatin (P2) by digestion with DNase II followed by MgCl2 precipitation. Specific DNA purines were identified at 24 hr post-intubation using an isocratic high pressure liquid chromatographic system. A qualitatively similar pattern of 7-methylguanine, O6-methylguanine, 1-methyladenine and 3-methyladenine alkylation was observed in DNA from total chromatin versus heterochromatin at 24 hr following exposure to either carcinogen. These assessments were made at times following carcinogen exposure which produced maximal quantitative differences in alkylation of euchromatin versus heterochromatin DNA. Similar patterns of DNA purine alkylation were observed in total chromatin and heterochromatin. These observations suggest that, once the reactive species is generated and access to chromatin DNA occurs, a similar pattern of DNA-purine alkylation is produced in different regions of the genome.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Methionine-cysteine deficiency and alkylation of DNA in liver, kidney and lung of mice administered dimethylnitrosamine.

The effect of methionine-cysteine deficiency on the methylation of DNA purines by dimethylnitrosamine metabolites was studied in subadult and adult mice. In liver, no dietary effect on the specific methylation of 7-methylguanine was observed, while that of 3-methyladenine decreased in the adult animals. The specific methylation of guanine in the 0(6)-position and the ratio of 0(6)-methylguanine to 7-methylguanine increased significantly after methionine-cysteine deficiency. Methylation in kidney decreased in subadult but increased in adult mice. In lung, the amount of 7-methylguanine was significantly elevated after methionine-cysteine deficiency in both the subadult and adult mice. The results demonstrate an increase in the specific methylation in liver of guanine in the 0(6)-position by the methionine-cysteine deficient diet, together with differences in the methylation pattern between organs of the two age groups.

Aging↗
PubMed1987

Effect of glutathione modulation using buthionine sulfoximine on DNA methylation by dimethylnitrosamine in the rat.

An in vivo study was carried out in order to determine whether glutathione (GSH) might serve as a scavenger for the supposed electrophilic methylating fragment derived from dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) and thus function to decrease the degree of cellular macromolecule interaction, estimated by measuring the DNA methylation yield. After a 4-hr pretreatment with DL-buthionine-SR-sulfoximine (BSO), a specific inhibitor of GSH synthesis, male Sprague-Dawley rats were dosed with radiolabeled DMN (250 micrograms/kg). Four hours later the animals were killed and the livers and kidneys were excised. The DNA isolated from these organs was hydrolyzed in mild acid, and the liberated purines were quantified utilizing HPLC and liquid scintillation counting. The 70-75% GSH depletion in the liver and kidney resulting from BSO pretreatment did not have any significant effect on the degree of DNA methylation as assessed by the 7-methylguanine/guanine yield. In control experiments we found that DMN doses greater than 1 mg/kg had a marked effect on liver and kidney GSH levels after 4 hr.

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Role of the transfer of metabolites from hepatocytes to splenocytes in the suppression of in vitro antibody response by dimethylnitrosamine.

The metabolism and subsequent immunosuppressive effects of dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) were investigated in mixed cultures of mouse hepatocytes and mouse splenocytes. Hepatocytes were shown to activate DMN to an immunosuppressive form that caused the suppression of the in vitro antibody response to the T-dependent antigen, sheep erythrocytes (SRBC). A significant increase in the binding of DMN metabolites to trichloroacetic acid (TCA) precipitable material in splenocytes was induced when 94 microM [14C-methyl]DMN was added to the co-culture medium, indicating that reactive intermediates of DMN were transferred from hepatocytes to splenocytes and resulted in alkylation of macromolecules in splenocytes. The amount of [14C]DMN bound to TCA precipitable material in splenocytes increased in a time-dependent manner up to 4 hr of incubation. Aminoacetonitrile (AAN), a high-affinity DMN demethylase inhibitor, reversed the suppression by low concentrations of DMN (0.5 to 5 mM), but not by high concentrations of DMN (greater than 5 mM). AAN also inhibited the binding of [14C]DMN to both hepatocytes and splenocytes. These results suggest that reactive metabolites of DMN are released from hepatocytes and that the suppression of the antibody response by DMN is mediated via these reactive intermediates.

Alkylation↗
PubMed1993

In vivo inhibition of glucocorticoid-inducible gene expression by dimethylnitrosamine in rat liver.

Sprague-Dawley rats were pretreated with a single i.p. injection of either 2.25 mL/kg of phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) or 22.5 mg/kg of dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) followed 2 hr later by a single i.p. injection of either 1.35 mg/kg of dexamethasone (DEX) or the vehicle, a 50% ethanol solution, both delivered in a volume of 3 mL/kg. RNA levels of the hormone-inducible, specialized liver function genes, tyrosine aminotransferase (TAT) and glutamine synthetase (GS), were monitored 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 10 hr after the DEX injection. Maximal induction of both the TAT (26-fold) and GS (6-fold) RNAs occurred 6 hr after DEX administration in PBS-pretreated animals. Pretreatment with DMN caused at least a 42% inhibition of DEX-induced RNA accumulation at every time point examined, with greater than 90% inhibition occurring when the genes were maximally induced at 6 hr. This inhibition was not due to any alterations of the glucocorticoid receptors as DMN had no effect on the binding affinity or amounts of glucocorticoid receptors present in rat hepatic cytosols. These results suggest that chemical carcinogens such as DMN may affect normal gene function in vivo by inhibiting the cellular response to hormone receptors mediating differentiation-associated, specialized cell functions.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Mutagenic selectivity of carcinogenic nitroso compounds. II. N,N-dimethylnitrosamine.

The genetic properties in the hepatocarcinogen N,N-dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) were examined in Drosophila for the assessment of the role of dose, cellular metabolism and genic target in its mutagenicity. Genetic activity was assayed with respect to the induction of the non-specific X-chromosome recessives (lethals and visibles) relative to the effects on specific genic sites, especially rDNA, which yields bobbed (bb) mutations. Dosses and germ cell types, which indicated that DMN induced at least some multiple-hit mutagenic events. The genetic activity of DMN was favoured by cellular metabolism for all mutational classes, as was indicated by the progressive increase in mutational classes, as was indicated by the progressive increase in mutation yield during spermatogenesis--from the metabolically inert mature sperm to the actively metabolizing spermatocyte and spermatogonia. The role of DNA methylation in the mutagenicity of DMN was deduced from quantitative assays for its genetic activity relative to the methylating nitrosamide--N-methyl-N-nitrosourethane (MNUr)--over the same dose range (1-10 mM) and on identical cell types and genic targets. In the metabolically inert cells (mature sperm), the two compounds were equally active with respect to the non-specific effects (X-recessives), but MNUr, but the two compounds were equally effective on rDNA. These results could not be entirely interpreted by the methylation hypothesis and indicated that a DMN aldehydic metabolite, structurally analogous to MNUr, might be responsible for the induction of the rDNA mutations. The rDNA selectivity index of DMN was significantly lower than for MNUr, which paralleled their relative carcinogenic verstilities. However, DMN was comparatively more effective on the tRNA genes, a feature which might be associated with its oncogenic specificity.

Animals↗
PubMed1975

Studies on lung tumours. III. Oxidative metabolism of dimethylnitrosamine by rodent and human lung tissue.

The oxidative metabolism of the carcinogen dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) was studied in mouse, rat, hamster and human respiratory tissue. [14C]DMN was purified by Dowex-1-bisulfite column chromatography to remove a contaminant (probably [14C]formaldehyde) interfering with the enzyme assay. Since formaldehyde and methyl carbonium ions - yielding methanol with water - are considered to be the primary products of DMN metabolism, tissue slices were assayed for the production of [14C]CO2 from 14C-labelled methanol, formaldehyde, formate, and DMN. Oxidation of formaldehyde to formate was not, but oxidation of formate to CO2 was very much rate-limiting. This rate-limiting step was circumvented by introducing quantitative chemical oxidation of formate to CO2 by mercury(II)chloride following the enzymic reaction. Since oxidation of methanol to CO2 proved to be insignificant, production of CO2 from DMN by lung tissue enzymes and HgCl2 may serve as a parameter for N-demethylating activity and the production of the suspected carcinogenically active methyl carbonium ions. The DMN-N-demethylating activities of lung tissue slices of two mouse strains with widely different susceptibilities to formation of lung adenomas by DMN differed significantly, but the difference seemed too small to explain the divergence in tumourigenic response. The enzymatic activities decreased in hamster bronchus, hamster trachea, hamster lung, GRS/A mouse lung, C3Hf/A mouse lung, human lung, Sprague-Dawley rat lung, in that order. The reported resistance of the hamster respiratory system to tumour induction by DMN may therefore not be due to poor DMN-N-demethylating capacity.

Aged↗
PubMed1975

Effect of a single treatment with the alkylating carcinogens dimethylnitrosamine, diethylnitrosamine and methyl methanesulphonate, on liver regenerating after partial hepatectomy. II. Alkylation of DNA and inhibition of DNA replication.

Experiments were carried out to determine whether replication of alkylated DNA could be involved in the initiation of hepatocellular carcinoma which results from a single administration of dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) given after partial hepatectomy. The incidence of tumours is higher when DMN is given during the wave of DNA synthesis induced by the operation than when given in the early prereplicative stage. Therefore the alkylation of DNA in the regenerating liver by DMN given at these times and the effect of DMN on DNA synthesis were investigated. The extent, duration and pattern of alkylation of DNA, including the formation of 0-6-methylguanine, were similar whether DMN was given in the early pre-replicative stage (6 h after the operation) or during the period of DNA synthesis (at 24 h). DMN given a 6 h very greatly reduced the wave of DNA replication which would otherwise have ensued. When given at 24 h, by which time DNA synthesis was already taking place, DMN reduced the rate of incorporation of (-3H)thymidine after 1-2 h delay. However, in neither case was DNA synthesis reduced to the level occurring in normal intact liver. Treatment with diethylnitrosamine (DEN) at 6 h or at 24 h had a similar effect to DMN on the wave of DNA replication induced by partial hepatectomy. Methyl methanesulphonate (MMS given in the early pre-replicative stage delayed the wave of DNA synthesis by about 8 h, but when it did take place the extent of synthesis was as great as in untreated animals. When given during the period of DNA replication, MMS rapidly reduced the rate of synthesis. As in the case of the nitrosamines, synthesis was not reduced to the level occuring in normal intact animals. The difference from the nitrosamines lies in the nature of the alkylated bases formed in DNA. The fact that a single treatment with DMN induces cancer in partially hepatectomised animals but not in intact adult animals is not considered to be due to a gross difference in the nature of the alkylation of DNA. The experiments described support the concept that replication of DNA containing bases which are likely to mispair during replication may be necessary to 'fix' the lesion and thus cause a permanent inheritable change in the genetic material.

Alkylation↗
PubMed1975

Reversibility of lysosomal and glucose 6-phosphatase changes produced in the rat liver by dimethylnitrosamine.

The present investigation was undertaken to discover whether repeated doses of dimethylnitrosamine (DMNA) could produce a cumulative toxic effect on the rat liver. For this purpose doses were selected at a level just too low to produce cytopathological changes, as indicated by depression of glucose-6-phosphatase and induction of autophagic vacuoles (AV) in hepatocytes, when given once only. Single subcutaneous injections of 10 or 3 mg/kg induced these cytopathological changes in the centrilobular (CLB) hepatic cells but when the dose was reduced to 1 mg/kg no such changes were seen. After daily administration of 1 mg/kg for 4 or 8 weeks we observed both glucose-6-phosphatase depression and autophagy, and in addition there was marked hypertrophy of the rough endoplasmic reticulum, nucleolar microsegregation and the appearance of distorted, often ring-shaped mitochondria with shortened cristae. Kupffer cells exhibited a marked increase in lysosomal activity. With the exception of mitochondrial changes and Kupffer cell activity this same picture was observed, although in milder form, when the dose administered was 0.3 or 0.1 mg/kg daily for the same period. When treatment was continued for 12 weeks, however, the only differences from control rats were the presence of hypertrophied rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) at all three dose levels, nucleolar microsegregation at the upper two dose levels, and pronounced Kupffer cell activity at the top dose. These findings indicate that cumulative cytopathologic effects occur only up to 8 weeks at the dose levels studied but hypertrophy of RER and increased Kupffer cell activity persist up to 12 weeks.

Acid Phosphatase↗
PubMed1975

Replication of hepatic DNA in rats treated with dimethylnitrosamine.

Replication of DNA containing unrepaired lesions such as depurinated sites, single-strand breaks or methylated bases such as O-6 and N-7 methylguanine was studied in the rat liver. Rat liver DNA was damaged by administering 10 mug dimethylnitrosamine (DMN)/g body wt i.p. 4 h prior to partial hepatectomy. The analysis of DNA on alkaline sucrose gradient revealed considerable damage to the parental strand at the time of and 48 h subsequent to partial hepatectomy. During this time interval, the synthesis of new strands was studied using labeled thymidine. In the control liver, radioactivity in DNA appeared as small fragments at 15 and 30 min following the administration of labeled thymidine which became bigger within 4 h. In the carcinogen-treated livers, the newly made DNA remained as small fragments for longer periods of time. Sometime between 4 and 24 h these became bigger in size than the parental damaged template DNA. Thus, with a delay, the newly made strands became eventually bigger, in spite of the fact that the parental template DNA strand was damaged. Such replication of DNA with unrepaired lesions (miscoding and/or non-coding) offers a mechanism by which the original damage to DNA caused by the carcinogen can be permanently imprinted on the newly made cell, a phenomenon that could account for the initiation of carcinogenesis under certain circumstances.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Dimethylnitrosamine-demethylase: absence of increased enzyme catabolism and multiplicity of effector sites in repression. Hemoprotein involvement.

Evidence is presented that the previously observed decrease of the Vmax of hepatic microsomal demethylation of dimethylnitrosamine (DMN), following pretreatment of rats with 3-methylcholanthrene (MC), is not due to increase in the rate of breakdown but to decrease of de novo synthesis. Determinations of Vmax at time intervals in the transition from the high steady-state level induced by a carbohydrate-devoid casein diet, down to the low steady-state level of carbohydrate-containing basal diet, yielded two consecutive slopes; descent from the basal diet level to the lower steady-state level following pretreatment with MC yielded one slope. Plotting these slopes against the initial Vmax values gave a typical exponential curve (or straight line if the logs of slopes are used) indicating that the rate of enzyme decay in the MC-treated animals is not greater than that expected from normal enzyme catabolism. A multiplicity of effector sites appears to be involved in the repressor action of different structural types; for example, repression by MC (46.6%) and by phenobarbital (23.9%) in combination are approximately additive (62.0%), rather than competitive, indicating that the two agents act at different sites. A P-450 type cytochrome is involved in the demethylation of DMN. DMN-demethylase is inhibited by carbon monoxide, but the susceptibility to CO is far greater than that observed previously with 3,4-benzopyrene hydroxylation; inhibition of DMN-demethylase as a function of CO concentration follows typical enzyme kinetics. However, while both phenobarbital and MC powerfully repress the DMN-demethylase, we have confirmed that they are strong inducers of the synthesis of P-450 and P-448, respectively, as estimated from the difference spectra.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

The interaction of acetoxy-dimethylnitrosamine, a proximate metabolite of the carcinogenic amine, and bacteriophages R17 and T7.

The biological and physicochemical effects of reacting bacteriophages R17 and T7 with acetoxy-dimethylnitrosamine (ADMN) have been studied. The rate-determining step in the reactions appeared to be the loss of the acetoxy group by hydrolysis, the hydroxymethyl-methylnitrosamine generated decomposing rapidly to give a methyldiazonium ion and formaldehyde. In experiments with bacteriophage suspended in phosphate buffer the biological inactivation observed was the sum of the effects of the formaldehyde and of alkylation by the methylcarbonium ion produced from the diazonium ion. In experiments with bacteriophage suspended in Tris--HCl buffer the effects of formaldehyde were eliminated by its reaction with the buffer component. Alkylation by the carbonium ion produced unstable phosphotriesters in the bacteriophage RNA which on hydrolysis led to degradation of the molecule. In phosphate buffer the formaldehyde cross-linked the protein coat of the bacteriophage blocking the extraction of the RNA. Estimates of the mean lethal dose and of the extent of degradation of the RNA following reaction in Tris--HCl buffer were fairly close to those observed in experiments with N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNUA).

Binding Sites↗
PubMed1976

Transfer of methyl groups from N-dimethylnitrosamine to glycerolipids in rat liver.

We have examined the in vivo labeling of lipids after a single intraperitoneal injection of the carcinogen, (C14) dimethylnitrosamine, into rats. Liver was most active in incorporating (C14) methyl groups into lipids (0.91% of the injected dose) and 80% of the activity appeared in sn-3-phosphatidyl-choline. Chromatographic analysis of the products (and derivatives) formed after treatment of the (C14) phosphatidylcholine with phospholipase A2 (EC 3.1.1.4) and phospholipase C (EC 3.1.4.3) demonstrated that 89% of the radioactivity was in the choline moiety. These results indicate the transfer of methyl groups to lipids occurred via the lipid methylation pathway that converts phosphatidylethanolamine to phosphatidylcholine.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Effect of a single treatment with the alkylating carcinogens dimethylnitrosamine and methyl methanesulphonate on liver regenerating after partial hepatectomy. III. Effect on DNA synthesis in vivo and on DNA polymerase activity assayed in vitro.

A single treatment with dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) but not with methyl methanesulphonate (MMS) induces liver cell carcinoma if given during the period of restorative hyperplasia following partial hepatectomy, a higher incidence of tumours being induced if the carcinogen is given during the period of DNA synthesis (24 h after the operation) than if given early in the prereplicative stage (at 6 h). To study the effect of treatment with DMN and with MMS on the regenerating liver, DNA replication was measured in vivo in partially hepatectomised animals treated with the methylating agents, and DNA polymerase activity was assayed in vitro.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Influence of lead nitrate on dimethylnitrosamine intoxication.

The effect of lead nitrate, an inhibitor of the hepatic drug-metabolizing enzyme system upon the acute, hepatotoxicity of dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) was studied. Lead pretreatment significantly prevented polysomal disaggregation induced by the nitrosamine. Cell necrosis, evaluated morphologically and by the release of serum glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (GPT), was also diminished. The metabolism of DMN in rats pretreated with lead nitrate was investigated by following its clearance from blood and by determining, in vitro the demethylation of the nitrosamine. Lead increased, although not significantly, the clearance of DMN from blood, but it lowered the activity of DMN-demethylase 24 h after its administration. Finally, lead lowered the lethal effects of DMN. The mechanism by which lead influenced DMN toxicity is discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

In vivo repair of rat liver DNA damaged by dimethylnitrosamine or diethylnitrosamine.

Effects of hepatocarcinogens dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) and diethylnitrosamine (DEN) on the sedimentation pattern of rat liver DNA in alkaline sucrose gradients were studied with regard to time and dose dependency. Both DMN (10 mg/kg body weight) and den (13.4 or 134 mg/kg) induced appreciably decreased DNA sedimentation rates at 24 h after injection. DMN at 10 mg/kg was as effective in decreasing the DNA sedimentation rate at 24 h after injection as was the higher dose of DEN (134 mg/kg). Sedimentation patterns at 1, 6 and 14 days after injection indicated that damage induced by DEN (134 mg/kg) was repaired at a substantially lower rate than DMN (10 mg/kg) induced damage. When effects of equimolar doses of DMN (10 mg/kg) and DEN (13.4 mg/kg) were compared at 1, 6 and 14 days after injection, it was observed that the more pronounced damage of rat liver DNA induced by DMN was repaired at a faster rate than was the DEN-induced damage. At the molecular level this difference in repair between damage induced by the two nitrosamines is probably related to different DNA alkylation patterns. The relatively persistent nitrosamine-induced DNA lesions (observed especially after DEN administration) are thought to represent phosphotriesters which give rise to single strand DNA breaks at strongly alkaline conditions of lysis on top of the gradient. The results are discussed in relation to the possible significance of alkylation and repair of DNA in the formation of (pre)cancerous lesions in rat liver.

Alkylation↗
PubMed1977

The formation and stability of methyl phosphotriesters in the DNA of rat tissues after treatment with the carcinogen N,N-dimethylnitrosamine.

Following the injection i.p. of N,N-dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) into Chester Beatty (CB) hooded, female rats (2 mg/kg) measurable concentrations of methyl phosphotriesters were found in the DNA of liver, lung and kidney but not in spleen, thymus or brain. In lung and kidney these lesions were stable for at least 14 days but in liver there was a steady loss (t 1/2 9-11 days). Administering the same total dose in 10 weekly injections produced the same concentration of phosphotriesters in lung and kidney DNA as the single injection but in liver only half of the concentration induced by the single injection was found. It was calculated that the half-life of methyl phosphotriesters in the liver DNA of animals given repetitive injections was of the order of 6 weeks.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Methylation of DNA in rat liver and intestine by dimethylnitrosamine and N-methylnitrosourea.

A chromatographic procedure for improved separation of deoxyribonucleosides and methylated deoxyribonucleosides is described. DNA was isolated from liver and small intestine of rats treated with [14C]dimethylnitrosamine ([14C]DMN) or N-[3H]methyl-N-nitrosourea ([3H]MNU), and the purified DNA was hydrolyzed enzymatically. The deoxyribonucleosides were chromatographed on an Aminex A-6 cation exchange column at 37 degrees C with 0.4 M ammonium formate, pH 4.5, as eluant. In addition to showing the presence of the expected alkylated products, N7-methyldeoxyguanosine (determined as N7-methylguanine) and O6-methyldeoxyguanosine, several other minor methylated products were found in liver and intestinal DNA of rats treated with DMN or MNU. Two of these products are believed to be N3-methylthymidine and O4-methylthymidine.

Animals↗