Instability of some of the products formed by the action of N-methyl-N-nitrosourethane on cysteine in vitro. Role of neighbouring groups in enzymatic and carcinogenic action

Export of glutathione by some widely used Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli strains

Significant levels of extracellular glutathione (GSH) were detected in aerobically grown cultures of some strains of Salmonella typhimurium LT-2 and in Escherichia coli K-12, B, and B/r but not in cultures of nine freshly isolated clinical isolates of E. coli. Cultures of S. typhimurium generally contained less total GSH (intracellular plus external) than did E. coli cultures. S. typhimurium TA1534 contained about 2 mM intracellular GSH and exported about 30% of its total GSH. The external GSH concentration increased logarithmically during exponential growth and peaked at about 24 microM in early-stationary-phase cultures. External accumulation of GSH was inhibited by 30 mM NaN3. GSH was predominantly exported in the reduced form. Two-dimensional paper chromatography of supernatants from cultures labeled with Na2(35)SO4 confirmed the presence of GSH and revealed five other sulfur-containing compounds in the media of S. typhimurium and E. coli cultures. The five unidentified compounds were not derivatives of GSH.

Glutathione: a protective agent in Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli as measured by mutagenicity and by growth delay assays

Cultures of some aerobically grown strains of Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli contain up to 24 microM extracellular glutathione (GSH) [Owens RO, Hartman PE (1985): Environ Mutagen 7(Suppl 3): 47] in addition to having intracellular GSH concentrations in the millimolar range. The addition of 26 microM GSH to cultures of Salmonella typhimurium strain TA1534 partially protected the bacteria from the toxic effects causing growth delay by 54 microM N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG). When MNNG was preincubated with equimolar GSH, the mutagenicity of the MNNG was neutralized. The addition of micromolar GSH to cultures of an Escherichia coli GSH- strain protected the cells from growth inhibition by micromolar concentrations of mercuric chloride, methyl mercuric chloride, silver nitrate, cisplatin, cadmium chloride, cadmium sulfate, and iodoacetamide. In the cases of mercuric chloride, cisplatin, MNNG, silver nitrate, and iodoacetamide, reaction products with GSH were detected by paper chromatography. In contrast to reduced GSH, micromolar concentrations of oxidized glutathione (GSSG) provided little or no protection and formed no detectable reaction products. Export of GSH by enteric bacteria may provide an important defense mechanism against exogenous toxic agents otherwise active in the micromolar range.

The inhibitory effect of cysteine on the mutagenic activities of several carcinogens

The Salmonella/microsome mutagenesis assay was used to determine the effect of cysteine (alpha-amino-beta-mercaptopropionic acid) on the mutagenic actions of several carcinogens: N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine. N-acetoxy-2-acetylaminofluorene, N-hydroxy-2-acetylaminofluorene, 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide, methyl methanesulfonate, 5-nitro-2-furaldehyde semicarbazone, 2-(2-furyl)-3-(5-nitro-2-furyl) acrylamide, aflatoxin B1 and the nitrosation products of methylurea and methylguanidine. Cysteine, at non-toxic concentrations, significantly decreased the frequency of reversion to histidine prototrophy when it was added to treatment mixtures. The extent of the inhibition of mutagenic action by cysteine depended on the carcinogen studied as well as the doses of cysteine and carcinogen employed. Cysteine (2.5--10 mM) completely inhibited the mutagenic actions of N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine and methylguanidine nitrosation products while only partially preventing the mutagenic effects of the other carcinogens assayed. Inhibition of 5-nitro-2-furaldehyde semicarbazone-induced mutagenesis occurred only with higher cysteine concentrations (20--200 mM).

Mutagenic selectivity of carcinogenic nitroso compounds 2. n-methyl-N-nitrosourethane

The mutagenicity of the carcinogen methylnitrosourethane (MNUr) was examined in Drosophila with a view to the determination of its activity on heterochromatic loci (especially rDNA) relative to those in the euchromatin. Assays were made of the yield of rDNA mutations (bobbed: bb) relative to other X-chromosome recessive lethals and visibles [X(l + v)] in the same male germ cells after treatment with different doses (1-10 mM) and at various stages in spermatogenesis. Dose dependence followed the same pattern for all genic loci and germ cell stages. In all instances, the regression of mutation frequency on injected molar dose was approximately linear, but could better be described by a quadratic dose curve. In contrast, the mutagenicity pattern during spermatogenesis varied according to the target genes. The response of the euchromatic loci reached a peak among the earlier germ cells (probably the spermatocytes), whereas that for the heterochromatic sites (including rDNA) was maximal in mature sperm. Mutagenic selectivity for rDNA with MNUr, as indicated by the percentage bb/X-mutations, was among the highest for the intrinsically reactive carcinogens (alkylating and arylating agents). This correlates with the strong carcinogenicity of MNUr and adds further support to the concept that rDNA mutations might well be a crucial step in cancer initiation.

The mechanisms of action of the carcinogenic nitroso and related compounds

It is suggested that the proximate carcinogenic forms of dialkylnitrosamines are their oxidation products, which retain the alkylnitrosamino moiety, but have acquired a carbonyl function as a result of omega or beta oxidation of an alkyl group. Such metabolites resemble the locally acting carcinogenic "nitrosamides" and probably have become multifunctional. Their functional groups, being in close proximity, could ensure binding in a concerted manner with apposite reactive centres of chromatin to form a firm bridge, for example, between an amino group of nucleic acid base and thiols of protein chains.

Synergism between cysteine and alkylating agents

Contrary to expectation, l-cysteine did not protect Escherichia coli from the lethal action of two monofunctional alkylating agents (nitrosomethylurethane and methylmethane sulfonate). The antibacterial action of these compounds was actually greatly enhanced by l-cysteine. This synergistic effect was also exhibited, to some extent, by d-cysteine but not by homocysteine, S-methylcysteine, or serine. The synergistic action between methylating agents and l-cysteine was not due to the formation of S-methylcysteine. l-Cysteine had no effect on the bacteriostatic action of ethylmethane sulfonate.

Methylation of deoxyribonucleic acid in cultured mammalian cells by N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine. The influence of cellular thiol concentrations on the extent of methylation and the 6-oxygen atom of guanine as a site of methylation

1. In neutral aqueous solution N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) yields salts of nitrocyanamide as u.v.-absorbing products. With cysteine, as found independently by Schulz & McCalla (1969), the principal product is 2-nitràminothiazoline-4-carboxylic acid. Both these reactions liberate the methylating species; thiols enhance the rate markedly at neutral pH values. An alternative reaction with thiols gives cystine, presumably via the unstable S-nitrosocysteine. 2. Thiols (glutathione or N-acetylcysteine) in vitro at about the concentration found in mammalian cells enhance the rate of methylation of DNA markedly over that in neutral solution. 3. Treatment of cultured mammalian cells with MNNG results in rapid methylation of nucleic acids, the extent being greater the higher the thiol content of the cells. Rodent embryo cells are more extensively methylated than mouse L-cells of the same thiol content. Cellular thiol concentrations are decreased by MNNG. Proteins are less methylated by MNNG than are nucleic acids. 4. Methylation of cells by dimethyl sulphate does not depend on cellular thiol content and protein is not less methylated than nucleic acids. Methylation by MNNG may therefore be thiol-stimulated in cells. 5. Both in vitro and in cells about 7% of the methylation of DNA by MNNG occurs at the 6-oxygen atom of guanine. The major products 7-methylguanine and 3-methyladenine are given by both MNNG and dimethyl sulphate, but dimethyl sulphate does not yield O(6)-methylguanine. Possible reaction mechanisms to account for this difference between these methylating agents and its possible significance as a determinant of their biological effects are discussed.