32P-postlabeling assay for carcinogen-DNA adducts: nuclease P1-mediated enhancement of its sensitivity and applications

Acidic cellular microenvironment modifies carcinogen-induced DNA damage and repair

Chronic inflammation creates an acidic microenvironment, which plays an important role in cancer development. To investigate how low pH changes the cellular response to the carcinogen benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), we incubated human pulmonary epithelial cells (A549 and BEAS-2B) with nontoxic doses of B[a]P using culturing media of various pH’s (extracellular pH (pH_e) of 7.8, 7.0, 6.5, 6.0 and 5.5) for 6, 24 and 48 h. In most incubations (pH_e 7.0–6.5), the pH in the medium returned to the physiological pH 7.8 after 48 h, but at the lowest pH (pH_e < 6.0), this recovery was incomplete. Similar changes were observed for the intracellular pH (pH_i). We observed that acidic conditions delayed B[a]P metabolism and at t = 48 h, and the concentration of unmetabolized extracellular B[a]P and B[a]P-7,8-diol was significantly higher in acidic samples than under normal physiological conditions (pH_e 7.8) for both cell lines. Cytochrome P450 (CYP1A1/CYP1B1) expression and its activity (ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase activity) were repressed at low pH_e after 6 and 24 h, but were significantly higher at t = 48 h. In addition, a DNA repair assay showed that the incision activity was ~80% inhibited for 6 h at low pH_e and concomitant exposure to B[a]P. However, at t = 48 h, the incision activity recovered to more than 100% of the initial activity observed at neutral pH_e. After 48 h, higher B[a]P-DNA adduct levels and γ-H2AX foci were observed at low pH samples than at pH_e 7.8. In conclusion, acidic pH delayed the metabolism of B[a]P and inhibited DNA repair, ultimately leading to increased B[a]P-induced DNA damage.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-DNA adducts in prostate cancer

The formation of DNA adducts can lead to DNA replication errors and the potential for carcinogenesis. DNA adducts have been detected in prostate cells, but the distribution of adducts with respect to prostate cancer risk factors and histology is unknown. In a study of 130 Caucasian (n = 61) and African-American (n = 69) men with prostate cancer who underwent radical prostatectomy, we quantified polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-DNA adducts in prostate tumor and adjacent nontumor cells by immunohistochemistry. A strong correlation between paired adduct levels in the two cell types was observed (r = 0.56; P < 0.0001); however, nontumor cells had a significantly higher level of adducts compared with tumor (0.30 absorbance units +/- 0.05 versus 0.17 absorbance units +/- 0.04; P < 0.0001). Variables significantly associated with PAH-DNA adduct levels in tumor cells included primary Gleason grade, tumor volume, and log-transformed prostate-specific antigen (PSA) at time of diagnosis. Tumors with a primary Gleason grade of 5 had significantly lower PAH-DNA adduct levels than tumor cells with a primary Gleason grade of 3 or 4 (P < 0.0001 for both). Tumors that involved 10% or less of the prostate gland had significantly higher PAH-DNA adduct levels than tumors that involved 15 to 20% of the prostate gland (P = 0.004). PSA levels were inversely associated with PAH-DNA adduct levels in tumor cells (P = 0.009). A similar, albeit less significant, inverse association was observed between PSA and PAH-DNA adduct levels in nontumor cells (P = 0.07). Interestingly, increasing primary Gleason grade was associated with increasing PAH-DNA adduct levels in adjacent nontumor cells (P = 0.008). Our results show that PAH-DNA adducts are present in the prostate but vary with regard to cellular histology. In prostate tumor cells, decreased cellular differentiation and increased tumor proliferation may reduce PAH-DNA adduct levels.

32P analysis of DNA adducts in tissues of benzene-treated rats

Solid tumors have been reported in the Zymbal gland, oral and nasal cavities, liver, and mammary gland of Sprague-Dawley rats following chronic, high-dose administration of benzene. The carcinogenic activity of benzene is thought to be caused by activation to toxic metabolites that can interact with DNA, forming covalent adducts. A nuclease P1-enhanced 32P-postlabeling assay, having a sensitivity limit of 1 adduct in 10(9-10) DNA nucleotides, was found suitable for measuring aromatic DNA adducts derived in vitro from catechol, benzenetriol (BT), phenol, hydroquinone (HQ), and benzoquinone (BQ), potential metabolites of benzene. When DNA specimens isolated from tissues of female Sprague-Dawley rats at 24 hr after an oral gavage dose of 200 to 500 mg/kg, 5 days/week, in olive oil (3 mL/kg) for 1 day, 1 week, 5 weeks, and 10 weeks were analyzed by the 32P-postlabeling procedure, no aromatic adducts were detected unequivocally with DNA samples of liver, kidney, bone marrow, and mammary gland. With Zymbal gland DNA, three weak spots at levels totaling four lesions per 10(9) DNA nucleotides were seen only after 10 weeks of treatment, and these adducts did not correspond chromatographically to major adducts in vitro from the above specified compounds. Consequently, this finding requires confirmatory experiments. This distinct adduct pattern may relate to tumor induction in this organ following benzene administration. Our results also indicate that DNA adducts derived from catechol, BT, phenol, HQ, and BQ are either not formed in vivo with benzene or formed at levels below the detection limit of 1 adduct per 10(9-10) DNA nucleotides.

A method for in vitro culture of rat Zymbal gland: use in mechanistic studies of benzene carcinogenesis in combination with 32P-postlabeling

Zymbal glands were excised bilaterally from the ear ducts of female Sprague-Dawley rats (three/group), minced into approximately four fragments per gland, and transferred into a microtiter plate containing 1.5 mL per well of Waymouth's tissue culture medium supplemented with fetal calf serum, hydrocortisone, insulin, and gentamicin. After addition of a test compound or solvent vehicle, plates were incubated for 6, 24, 48, or 96 hr at 37 degrees C in a humidified atmosphere of 5% CO2 in air. Tissue in culture for 6 hr was histologically indistinguishable from the freshly excised tissue, while that in culture for 24, 48, and 96 hr showed a progressive deterioration often with necrosis and/or squamous metaplasia. More pronounced deterioration was noted in samples treated with 750 or 1500 micrograms/mL of benzene. Using a nuclease P1-enhanced 32P-postlabeling assay, aromatic DNA adducts were detected in cultured Zymbal glands exposed for 48 hr to benzene and its derivatives, as well as to 7,12-dimethylbenzanthracene (DMBA) and 2-acetylaminofluorene (AAF). Benzene produced very low levels of adducts (0.5 adducts per 10(9) nucleotides), whereas its congeners produced relatively high levels of adducts (50-2000 lesions per 10(9) nucleotides), which decreased in the order benzoquinone greater than hydroquinone greater than phenol greater than benzenetriol greater than catechol. Each adduct profile overall was characteristic for the compound studied, suggesting the formation of compound-specific electrophiles. AAF and DMBA adducts were identical to those formed in vivo in animals. Our results show that the Zymbal glands are capable of metabolizing different carcinogens to DNA-reactive intermediates, a process that may be causally associated with tumor formation in vivo in this organ.