6-Aminochrysene (6-Chrysenamine)

Identification of C8-modified deoxyinosine and N2- and C8-modified deoxyguanosine as major products of the in vitro reaction of N-hydroxy-6-aminochrysene with DNA and the formation of these adducts in isolated rat hepatocytes treated with 6-nitrochrysene and 6-aminochrysene

Since 6-nitrochrysene and 6-aminochrysene have shown activity in carcinogenicity bioassays, we have begun an investigation of their metabolic activation pathways and the nature of the carcinogen-DNA adducts that may be formed. N-Hydroxy-6-aminochrysene (N-hydroxy-AC), a candidate proximate or ultimate carcinogen and the highest polycyclic N-hydroxy arylamine homolog studied thus far, was prepared by direct chemical synthesis and characterized by 1H-n.m.r. spectroscopy. Its rate and extent of reaction with DNA in vitro was 20-30 nmol bound/mg DNA/30 min, which is 2-10 times greater than has been reported for several other carcinogenic N-hydroxy arylamines. Three major aminochrysene-nucleoside adducts were detected in enzymatic hydrolysates of this N-hydroxy-AC-modified DNA, and these were isolated and identified by mass and 1H-n.m.r. spectroscopy as N-(deoxyinosin-8-yl)-6-aminochrysene, 5-(deoxyguanosin-N2-yl)-6-aminochrysene, and N-(deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-6-aminochrysene. These adducts accounted for 32%, 28%, and 22% respectively, of the total DNA adducts formed. We hypothesize that the deoxyinosine adduct is derived from spontaneous oxidation of the corresponding deoxyadenosine adduct prior to or during DNA isolation and adduct preparation. DNA isolated from Sprague-Dawley rat hepatocytes which had been treated with [3H]6-aminochrysene or [3H]6-nitrochrysene contained up to 12 pmol adducts/mg DNA (4 adducts per 10(6) nucleotides). High performance liquid chromatography (h.p.l.c.) analyses of enzymatic hydrolysates of this DNA indicated that the major products formed cochromatographed with the C8-deoxyinosine and C8-deoxyguanosine adducts. N-(Deoxyinosin-8-yl)-6-aminochrysene and N-(deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-6-aminochrysene accounted for 45% and 30% respectively, of the total DNA adducts formed in these cells. The preferential modification of deoxyadenosine by N-hydroxy-6-aminochrysene and the apparent facile oxidation of this adduct to a deoxyinosine derivative is thus far unique among the reactions of N-hydroxyarylamines with DNA and would not be predicted on the basis of reactivity alone.

Activation of 6-aminochrysene to genotoxic products by different forms of rat liver cytochrome P450 in an O-acetyltransferase-overexpressing Salmonella typhimurium strain (NM2009)

Metabolic activation of a potent mutagen, 6-aminochrysene, to genotoxic products in a newly developed tester strain, Salmonella typhimurium NM2009, was studied in a rat liver microsomal monooxygenase system containing cytochrome P450 (P450). Since the tester strain was constructed by introducing an O-acetyltransferase gene into the original strain S. typhimurium TA1535/pSK1002, it is highly sensitive toward the reactive metabolites of carcinogenic arylamines. DNA-damaging activities of 6-aminochrysene were detected at very low concentrations of substrate (between 0.01 and 0.2 microM) and liver microsomes (from 0.2 to 2 micrograms protein/mL) in the S. typhimurium NM2009 strain. Thus, the potency of genotoxic activities induced by 6-aminochrysene was about 10- to 20-times greater than those induced by the well-known mutagens 2-aminoanthracene and 2-amino-3,5-dimethylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline. Liver microsomes isolated from rats treated with phenobarbital (PB) and a polychlorinated biphenyl mixture, Kanechlor 500, catalyzed very efficiently the activation of 6-aminochrysene to genotoxic metabolites. Treatment of rats with beta-naphthoflavone (BNF) and with dexamethasone also caused moderate induction of the microsomal activation of 6-aminochrysene. Studies employing immunoinhibition of microsomal catalytic activities and reconstitution with purified P450 enzymes suggested that the most important enzymes involved in the activation of 6-aminochrysene were P450 2B1 and 2B2; other enzymes including P450 1A1 and 1A2 participated to some extent. We also found that the microsomal activation of 6-aminochrysene was catalyzed more effectively in an acetyltransferase-overexpressing strain (NM2009) than in the original TA1535/pSK1002 strain and that these activities could be inhibited by an acetyltransferase inhibitor, pentachlorophenol, in liver microsomes from PB-treated rats, but not in those from BNF-treated rats. These results suggest that the P450/acetyltransferase system is one of the most important catalysts for the activation of 6-aminochrysene in liver microsomes of PB-treated rats, and that activation by BNF-induced P450 enzymes occurs by different mechanisms, probably through the ring oxidation pathway.

Mutation induction and DNA adduct formation in Chinese hamster ovary cells treated with 6-nitrochrysene, 6-aminochrysene and their metabolites

6-Nitrochrysene, 6-aminochrysene and several of their metabolites were assayed for mutagenic activity at the hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (hprt) locus in DNA-repair-proficient Chinese hamster ovary (CHO-K1) cells and excision-repair-deficient CHO-UV5 cells. Mutagen-DNA adducts were analyzed by 32P-postlabeling in cells treated under the conditions of the mutagenicity assay and compared with the adduct patterns produced from the in vitro reaction of metabolites of 6-nitrochrysene and 6-aminochrysene with calf-thymus DNA. The mutagenic activities of the test compounds in the presence of a liver homogenate (S9) fraction from Aroclor 1254-pretreated rats, expressed as the number of mutants per 10(6) cells per nmole test compound per ml, in CHO-K1 and CHO-UV5 cells, respectively, were as follows: 6-nitrochrysene, 0.3 and 4; 6-aminochrysene, 35 and 117; 6-nitrochrysene-1,2-dihydrodiol, 1 and 6; 6-aminochrysene-1,2-dihydrodiol, 488 and 644; chrysene (run as a positive control), 12 and 28. 6-Nitrosochrysene was a direct-acting mutagen, yielding 127 and 618 mutants per 10(6) cells per nmole per ml in CHO-K1 and CHO-UV5 cells, respectively. Mutagen-DNA adduct analysis indicated that cells treated with 6-aminochrysene in the presence of S9 or 6-nitrosochrysene in the absence of S9 contained an adduct pattern identical to that derived from the in vitro reaction of N-hydroxy-6-aminochrysene with calf-thymus DNA. Cells treated with 6-aminochrysene-1,2-dihydrodiol plus S9 contained a single mutagen-DNA adduct that was distinct from those derived from N-hydroxy-6-aminochrysene. Based on comparison with previous studies, this adduct is presumed to be derived from 1,2-dihydroxy-3,4-epoxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-6-aminochrysene. Cells treated with 6-nitrochrysene plus S9 and 6-nitrochrysene-1,2-dihydrodiol plus S9 contained a single major chromatographically identical adduct that was apparently derived from N-hydroxy-6-aminochrysene-1,2-dihydrodiol. The results indicate that 6-nitrochrysene, 6-aminochrysene and their metabolites are mutagenic in CHO cells, but that the major activation pathway for 6-nitrochrysene and 6-nitrochrysene-1,2-dihydrodiol in this system differs from previously described pathways.

Roles of different forms of cytochrome P450 in the activation of the promutagen 6-aminochrysene to genotoxic metabolites in human liver microsomes

We reported previously that the potent mutagen 6-aminochrysene is catalyzed principally by rat liver microsomal P4501A and P4502B enzymes to reactive metabolites that induce umu gene expression in O-acetyltransferase-over-expressing strain Salmonella typhimurium NM2009; the proposal was made that there are different mechanisms in the formation of reactive N-hydroxylated and diolepoxide metabolites by P450 enzymes (Yamazaki, H. and Shimada, T., Biochem. Pharmacol., 44, 913-920, 1992). Here we further examined the roles of human liver P450 enzymes and the mechanism of activation of 6-aminochrysene by rat and human P450 enzymes in the Salmonella tester strains. Liver microsomes from 18 different human samples catalyzed activation of 6-aminochrysene more efficiently in S. typhimurium NM2009 than in the original strain of S. typhimurium TA1535/pSK1002. The rates of 6-aminochrysene activation in 18 human liver samples showed good correlation to the contents of P4502B6 as well as contents of P4503A4 and the respective mono-oxygenase activities catalyzed by P4503A4. Among purified P450 enzymes examined, P4501A2 as well as P4503A4 were highly active in transforming 6-amino-chrysene to reactive metabolites, suggesting the involvement of different human P450 enzymes in the reaction. Four human samples that contained relatively high levels of particular P450 enzymes in their microsomes were selected and used for further characterization. Liver microsomes from human samples HL-13 and HL-4 that contained the highest levels of P4502B6 and P4503A4 respectively, were sensitive to the respective antibodies raised against monkey P4502B and human P4503A4; the activity in sample HL-16 having the highest level of P4501A2 was inhibited by anti-P4501A2 IgG. alpha-Naphthoflavone enhanced the activation of 6-aminochrysene very significantly in human liver microsomes enriched in P4503A4 and P4502B6 enzymes. Pentachlorophenol, an inhibitor of acetyltransferase activity, suppressed the activation of 6-aminochrysene in liver microsomes from phenobarbital-treated rats and from human samples HL-4, HL-13 and HL-18 but not HL-16. In contrast, 1,1,1-trichloropropane-2,3-oxide, an inhibitor of epoxide hydrolase activity, enhanced the activation of 6-aminochrysene catalyzed by liver microsomes from beta-naphthoflavone-treated rats and from human samples HL-16 but not HL-4, HL-13 and HL-18. Inclusion of purified rat epoxide hydrolase to the reconstituted system containing rat and human P4501A enzymes caused a decrease in the rates of 6-aminochrysene activation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Comparing cytotoxicity and genotoxicity in HaCaT cells caused by 6-aminochrysene and 5,6-chrysenequinone under ultraviolet A irradiation

Chrysene is one of the basic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that are toxic environmental pollutants. The photoproducts of 6-aminochrysene (6AC) include 5,6-chrysenequinone (5,6-CQ) along with some minor products. In this study, cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of 6AC and 5,6-CQ to a human skin cell line, HaCaT, were measured with the fluorescein diacetate uptake (FDA) test and comet assay, respectively, in the presence or absence of ultraviolet A (UVA) irradiation. The FDA test result showed that HaCaT cell viability decreased dose dependently after exposure to UVA irradiation in both 6AC (0, 0.1, 0.5, 1, 5, 10, 50 microM) and 5,6-CQ (0, 0.05, 0.25, 0.5, 2.5, 5, 25 microM) groups, with the 6AC group having lower cell viability at the same substrate concentrations; therefore, 6AC was more cytotoxic. Results of the comet assay showed that the extent of DNA damage was also dose dependent after the combined UVA and 6AC treatment (0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.5, 1 microM), although no DNA damage was detectable in the 6AC group without UVA irradiation. In addition, no DNA damage was found in the 5,6-CQ group with or without UVA irradiation. Our study indicated that 5,6-CQ, the major photoproduct of 6AC, was less photocytotoxic than the parent compound and was not photogenotoxic to HaCaT cells under the experimental conditions.