DNA breaks induced by micromolar concentrations of dimethylnitrosamine in liver primary cell cultures from untreated and phenobarbital treated rats

Genotoxicity assessment of four novel quinazoline-derived trypanocidal agents in the Drosophila wing somatic mutation and recombination test

Chagas disease, caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, has increased in the world due to migration, travelling and climate change; at present, the principal problem is that common trypanocidal agents have resulted in toxic or inconvenient side effects. We tested for genotoxicity in the standard (ST) and high bioactivation (HB) crosses of Drosophila wing somatic mutation and recombination test, four novel trypanocidal agents derived from 2, 4, 6-triaminquinazoline (TAQ): 2,4-diamino-6 nitro-1,3 diazonaftalene (S-1QN2-1), 2,4-diacetamino-6-amino 1,3 diazonaftalene (D-1), N6-(4,methoxybenzyl)quinazoline-2,4,6-triamine (GHPM) and N6-[4-(trifluoromethoxy)benzyl]quinazoline-2,4,6-triamine (GHPMF) at 1.9, 3.9, 7.9 and 15 µM, respectively. Also, high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis was run to determine the remanence of either drug in flare, and Oregon R(R)-flare flies emerged from treated larvae. S-1QN2-1 showed genotoxicity only in the ST cross, increasing the small, large and total spot frequencies at all concentrations and twin spots only at 1.9 µM; D-1 and GHPM showed significant increments of large spots only at 15 µM in the ST cross; GHPMF was not genotoxic at any concentration or either cross. In the mwh clones accumulated distribution frequencies analysis, associated with disrupted cell division, S-1QN2-1 caused alterations in the ST cross at all concentrations but only at 15 µM in the HB cross; D-1 caused alterations at 3.9, 7.9 and 15 µM in the ST cross and at 1.9 and 15 µM in the HB cross; GHPM caused alterations at 7.9 and 15 µM in the ST cross and also at 1.9, 3.9 and 7.9 µM in the HB cross; GHPMF caused those alterations at all concentrations in the ST cross and at 1.9, 3.9 and 7.9 µM in the HB cross. The HPLC results indicated no traces of either agent in the flare and Oregon R(R)-flare flies. We conclude that S-1QN2-1 is clearly genotoxic, D-1 and GHPM have an unclear genotoxicity and GHPMF was not genotoxic; all quinazoline derivatives disrupted cell division. GHPMF is a good candidate to be tested in other genotoxicity and cytotoxic bioassays. The differences in the genotoxic activity of these trypanocidal agents are correlated with differences in their chemical structure.

Genetic toxicity assessment using liver cell models: past, present, and future

Genotoxic compounds may be detoxified to non-genotoxic metabolites while many pro-carcinogens require metabolic activation to exert their genotoxicity in vivo. Standard genotoxicity assays were developed and utilized for risk assessment for over 40 years. Most of these assays are conducted in metabolically incompetent rodent or human cell lines. Deficient in normal metabolism and relying on exogenous metabolic activation systems, the current in vitro genotoxicity assays often have yielded high false positive rates, which trigger unnecessary and costly in vivo studies. Metabolically active cells such as hepatocytes have been recognized as a promising cell model in predicting genotoxicity of carcinogens in vivo. In recent years, significant advances in tissue culture and biological technologies provided new opportunities for using hepatocytes in genetic toxicology. This review encompasses published studies (both in vitro and in vivo) using hepatocytes for genotoxicity assessment. Findings from both standard and newly developed genotoxicity assays are summarized. Various liver cell models used for genotoxicity assessment are described, including the potential application of advanced liver cell models such as 3D spheroids, organoids, and engineered hepatocytes. An integrated strategy, that includes the use of human-based cells with enhanced biological relevance and throughput, and applying the quantitative analysis of data, may provide an approach for future genotoxicity risk assessment.

Cytochrome P-450 isozyme pattern is related to individual susceptibility to diethylnitrosamine-induced liver cancer in rats

Differences in susceptibility to chemical carcinogenesis between rodent strains and species have been linked to variations in genetically-determined mixed function oxidase activities. In order to verify whether such variations also determine the susceptibility of individual animals of the same strain to a chemical carcinogen, outbred male Wistar rats were administered diethylnitrosamine (DEN) (1, 2, or 3 mg/kg) five times a week for 20 weeks. The relationship was examined between the outcome (i.e., presence or absence of liver tumors, and latency period) and the hepatic activities of mixed function oxidases and conjugating enzymes, as well as of O6-methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase, measured before the carcinogen treatment. In addition, the metabolic profiles of two model drugs, antipyrine and disopyramide, in the urine were analyzed and correlated with the carcinogen susceptibility. The length of the latency period of hepatocellular tumors in individual rats was negatively related to the activities of hepatic dimethylnitrosamine N-demethylase, aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase and epoxide hydrolase and positively related to the amount of microsomal protein. Consistent relationships between the other 10 measured parameters and the susceptibility to DEN-induced carcinogenesis were not detected. Long-term treatment with DEN slightly decreased the proportion of metabolism of antipyrine into norantipyrine, and increased the share of 4-hydroxyantipyrine; a decrease in the metabolism of disopyramide to N-deisopropyldisopyramide was also detected. It is concluded that the pattern of cytochrome P-450 isoenzymes is related to differences in individual susceptibility to nitrosamine-induced carcinogenesis. The relationship was most marked at low dose levels, which are the levels at which nitrosamine exposures of humans are known to occur.

Cultivation of adult rat hepatocytes on 3T3 cells: expression of various liver differentiated functions

Adult rat hepatocytes were maintained in culture for at least 1 month without losing the expression of their differentiated functions; they were cultured on lethally treated 3T3 fibroblasts inoculated at 35,000 cells/cm2 with medium containing 10-25 micrograms/ml hydrocortisone. Hepatocytes showed their typical morphology; they formed bile canaliculi, microvilli, and intercellular junctions with desmosomes and nexus; some formed structures that may resemble the perisinusoidal space of Disse. In addition, they showed DNA synthesis and expressed some liver-specific functions. They synthesized albumin and other proteins, which were exported to the culture medium. Like parenchymal liver cells in vivo, de novo fatty acid synthesis and esterification took place, and more than 80% of the lipids synthesized by the hepatocytes were secreted into the medium as triglycerides; they also showed cytochrome-P450 activity that was inducible with phenobarbital, suggesting that the hepatocytes have the capacity to metabolize drugs. These culture conditions allow the study of various hepatocyte differentiated functions, and they may provide the means to analyze the effect on liver of hormones, viruses and hepatotoxic chemicals and drugs; they may also indicate conditions adequate for serial growth of hepatocytes.

Intracytoplasmic triglyceride accumulation produced by dexamethasone in adult rat hepatocytes cultivated on 3T3 cells

Glucocorticoids, such as hydrocortisone (HC) and dexamethasone (DEX), when administered to rats, induce lipid accumulation within hepatocytes (fatty liver). To investigate whether glucocorticoids can produce triglyceride (TG) accumulation as they do in vivo and the involved mechanisms, we have used primary cultures of rat hepatocytes which synthesized and secrete triglycerides into the culture medium. Hepatocytes cultivated on a feeder layer of lethally treated 3T3 cells were exposed for 2 weeks to micromolar concentrations of DEX. This glucocorticoid caused morphological alterations and cells accumulated lipid droplets in their cytoplasm; the TG content increased up to 6-fold in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. The removal of [14C]acetic or [14C]oleic acid from the culture medium was not altered in the cultures treated with 50 micrograms/ml DEX but the incorporation of [14C]acetic and [14C]oleic acid into TG in these cultures was about 13-fold and 60% higher than in non-treated cells, respectively. On the other hand, hepatocytes treated with 50 micrograms/ml DEX for 2 weeks showed a 16-fold decrease in TG release and 40% inhibition in protein export, whereas synthesis of total cellular proteins was not altered. Our results show that corticosteroids, such as DEX, caused lipid accumulation in liver cells through an increased synthesis and/or esterification of fatty acids, but mostly through a decrease in the secretion of TG.

Effects of pretreatment with pyrazole and inducers of mixed function oxidases on DNA repair elicited by dimethylnitrosamine in rat hepatocytes in vivo and in vitro

Experiments were performed to investigate the relationship between the rate of oxidative metabolism of dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) by rat liver microsomes (i.e., DMN demethylase activity, DMNd) and its genotoxicity in liver, as assessed by the in vitro and in vivo/in vitro rat hepatocyte primary culture/DNA repair (HPC/DR) assays. Pretreatment of rats with pyrazole (PYR) resulted in a 4-fold increase in DMNd and a 3-fold greater DNA repair response to in vivo administration of 5 mg DMN/kg body weight. Pretreatment with phenobarbital (PB), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), 3-methylcholanthrene (3-MC), beta-naphthoflavone (beta-NF) or Aroclor 1254 (ARO) produced a variable degree of inhibition of DMNd and had no significant effects on the response to DMN in the in vivo/in vitro HPC/DR assay. DNA repair elicited by DMN in vitro was decreased in hepatocytes from rats pretreated with 3-MC, while PB, DDT, beta-NF and ARO pretreatments had little effect on the response. In contrast, PYR pretreatment produced a 4.5-6.7-fold increase in the in vitro DNA repair response to DMN, and extended detection of positive responses to lower concentrations. Most of the inducers had no effect on DNA repair elicited by the direct acting alkylator, methyl methanesulfonate (MMS). Thus, the pretreatment-related changes in DMN-induced DNA repair were probably due to alterations in DMNd rather than to effects on the DNA repair capacity of the hepatocytes.

Rapid analysis of DNA strand breaks in soft tissues

A technique was developed to measure rapidly DNA strand breaks in soft tissues. This method measured the rate of alkaline unwinding of DNA, which was proportional to strand breakage. Alkaline unwinding of DNA was done by treating tissue homogenates with NaOH. Single-stranded DNA was removed by extraction with aqueous phenol. DNA unwinding was quantitated by measuring the remaining double-stranded DNA. Using the described technique, a dose-effect relationship was observed between N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) and alkaline unwinding of mouse liver DNA.

Dimethylnitrosamine genotoxicity in rat liver primary cell cultures with low cytochrome P-450 levels

Liver primary cell cultures (LPCC) with decreasing concentrations of cytochrome P-450 were used to investigate the genotoxicity of the hepatic carcinogen dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) and the correlation between DMN genotoxicity and cytochrome P-450 levels. Hepatocytes were isolated from partially hepatectomized rats and incubated with [3H]thymidine; single-strand DNA molecular weight was determined by alkaline sucrose sedimentation. The molecular weight of DNA decreased 50% in LPCC plated either 2 or 24 h before being treated for 24 h with 70 micron DMN. Cytochrome P-450 content was 188 pmol per mg protein in freshly isolated hepatocytes, whereas it was 70 and 32 pmol per mg protein in hepatocytes that had been cultured 24 and 48 h, respectively. Incorporation of 14C into acid-insoluble material was the same in LPCC exposed 24 h to [14C]DMN starting either 2 or 24 h after cell plating. At non-toxic concentrations (0.01-1 microM), SKF 525-A, an inhibitor of mixed-function oxidase enzymes, inhibited approximately 20% of the binding of 14C from [14C]DMN to acid-insoluble material in LPCC plated either 2 or 24 h before they were exposed to DMN for 24 h. Hepatocyte cultures exposed to the direct-acting alkylating agent N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (at concentrations ranging between 6.8 X 10(-8) and 6.8 X 10(-5) M) starting 2 and 24 h after plating, exhibited significant unscheduled DNA synthesis. These results indicate that DMN genotoxicity was similar in LPCC differing considerably in cytochrome P-450 levels, and they suggest that DMN genotoxicity in these cultures is due mainly to similar DMN activation than to decreased DNA repair.