Ken-ichi Saeki

In vivo mutagenesis by the hepatocarcinogen quinoline in the lacZ transgenic mouse: evidence for its in vivo genotoxicity

Quinoline is carcinogenic to the liver of rats and mice and mutagenic to bacterial tester strains in the presence of rat liver microsomal enzymes. The unscheduled DNA synthesis (UDS) study suggested that quinoline might be a non-genotoxic carcinogen because of the lack of UDS-inducing capacity. In order to determine whether or not cancer induction is initiated by mutagenic DNA lesions, the present study was undertaken to evaluate the mutagenicity of quinoline in an in vivo mutation assay system using the lac Z transgenic mouse (Muta Mouse). Mutation was only induced in the liver, the target organ of carcinogenesis by quinoline, but not in the other organs examined, i.e. lung, kidney and spleen. Mutant frequency in the liver was 4-fold higher than in the untreated control animals. Dimethylnitrosamine, used as a positive control, induced mutation at a frequency 5-fold higher in the liver and 3-fold higher in the spleen than in their respective control organs. It can be concluded that the genotoxicity of quinoline is responsible for its hepatocarcinogenesis, although UDS was not induced under the conditions previously reported.

Effects of oligofluorine substitution on the mutagenicity of quinoline: a study with twelve fluoroquinoline derivatives.

A total of 12 variously fluorinated derivatives of quinoline (Q) were tested for their mutagenicity in Salmonella typhimurium TA100 in the presence of S9 mix to investigate the structure-mutagenicity relationship in oligofluorinated quinolines. Nine of them, 3,7-di-, 5,6-di-, 6,7-di-, 6,8-di-, 7,8-di-, 3,5,7-tri-, 5,6,8-tri-, 6,7, 8-tri-, and 5,6,7,8-tetrafluoroquinolines (FQs), were newly synthesized for this purpose. Those fluorinated at position 3 were all non-mutagenic. Mutagenicity was enhanced by fluorine-substitution at position 5 or 7, but not in 3-FQs (i.e., 3, 5-di-, 3,7-di-, and 3,5,7-triFQs). Some of the 6-fluorinated derivatives showed less maximum induced-revertants with more mutagenic potencies in terms of induced-revertants per dose than quinoline. No marked change occurred by fluorine-substitution at position 8. These results show that the effect of di- and trifluoro-substitution on mutagenicity is generally additive, while that of tetrafluorination approaches the deactivating effect of perfluorination. Our study suggests that 3-fluorine-substitution in the pyridine moiety may be a useful means of antimutagenic structural modification in pyridine-fused aromatic chemicals for medicinal and agricultural use.

Study of in vitro glucuronidation of hydroxyquinolines with bovine liver microsomes

Glucuronidation of drugs by UDP‐glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) is a major phase II conjugation reaction. Defects in UGT are associated with Crigler–Najjar syndrome and Gilberts syndrome with severe hyperbilirubinaemias and jaundice. We analysed the reactivities of some hydroxyquinoline derivatives, which are naturally produced from quinoline by cytochrome P450. The analyses were carried out using a microassay system for UGT activity in bovine liver microsomes in the range 0.5–100 pmol/assay with the highly sensitive radio‐image analyser Fuji BAS2500 (Fujifilm, Tokyo, Japan). 3‐Hydroxylquinoline is a good substrate for glucuronidation, and the relative Kcat values were 3.1‐fold higher than the values for p‐nitrophenol. 5,6‐Dihydroquinoline‐5,6‐trans‐diol gave a similar Km value to that of 3‐hydroxyquinoline, but the Vmax value was approximately 1/15 of that of p‐nitrophenol and showed weak reactivity. Quinoline N‐oxide gave a low Vmax value and showed marginal activity. The Kcat values of 6‐hydroxyquinoline and 5‐hydroxyquinoline were 2.1‐ and 1.2‐fold higher than that of p‐nitrophenol, respectively. Fluoroquinoline (FQ) derivatives, such as 3FQ, 7,8diFQ and 6,7,8triFQ, did not show any substrate activities. These results suggest that there are therapeutic problems in administration of some quinoline drugs to patients with jaundice.

Mutagenicity of 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide in the Muta Mouse

As part of a collaborative study, the Mammalian Mutagenesis Study Group (MMS), a sub-organization of the Environmental Mutagen Society of Japan (JEMS) conducted mutagenicity tests in MutaMouse. Using a positive selection method, we studied the organ-specificity and time dependence of mutation induction by 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide (4NQO). A single dose of 4NQO was administered intraperitoneally (7.5 or 15 mg/kg) or orally (200 mg/kg) to groups of male mice. On days 7, 14 and 28 after treatment, we isolated the liver, kidney, lung, spleen, bone marrow, testis and stomach in the intraperitoneal administration experiment and the liver, lung, bone marrow, testis and stomach in the oral administration experiment. In addition, we performed the peripheral blood micronucleus test to evaluate clastogenicity. In the mice treated intraperitoneally at 7.5 mg/kg, we found increased mutant frequency (MF) only in the lung, where the MF did not vary with expression time. In the mice treated at 15 mg/kg, we found increased MF in the liver, bone marrow and lung. In orally treated mice, the MF was high in the lung and liver and very high in the bone marrow and stomach while the increase in the testis was negligible. As the expression time was prolonged, the MF tended to increase in the liver, decrease in the bone marrow, and remain stable in the lung, testis and stomach. The incidence of micronucleus induction in peripheral blood cells was significantly increased (p<0.01) in the 4NQO groups when compared with the vehicle control group by intraperitoneal treatment. Thus, these assay systems appeared to be of use in detecting not only genetic mutation but also chromosomal aberration.

Antimutagenic structural modification of quinoline assessed by an in vivo mutagenesis assay using lacZ-transgenic mice

Quinoline, a hepatocarcinogen, mutates the bacterial tester strains in the presence of the rat liver microsomal enzymes and induces GST-P (placental glutathione S-transferase)-positive foci in a medium-term bioassay system for hepatocarcinogenesis. On the other hand, 3-fluorinated quinoline was neither mutagenic nor carcinogenic in the same assay systems, whereas, 5-fluoroquinoline was mutagenic and carcinogenic. Quinoline was recently demonstrated to be mutagenic in an in vivo mutagenicity assay system using the lacZ-transgenic mouse (MutaMouse). The present study was undertaken to know whether 3-fluoroquinoline would be devoid of in vivo mutagenicity in MutaMouse. Quinoline and 5-fluoroquinoline were also tested in the same system. Mutagenicity was evaluated in the liver, the target organ of quinoline carcinogenesis, and also in the bone marrow and testis. The results strongly indicate that fluorine-substitution at the position-3 of quinoline could be an anti-genotoxic structural modification of quinoline in a wide range of its genotoxic end-points.

Effect of 10-aza-substitution on benzo[a]pyrene mutagenicity in vivo and in vitro.

Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), an environmental carcinogen, shows genotoxicity after metabolic transformation into the bay-region diol epoxide, BaP-7,8-diol 9,10-epoxide. 10-Azabenzo[a]pyrene (10-azaBaP), in which a ring nitrogen is located in the bay-region, is also a carcinogen and shows mutagenicity in the Ames test in the presence of the rat liver microsomal enzymes. In order to evaluate the effect of aza-substitution on in vivo genotoxicity, BaP and 10-azaBaP were assayed for their in vivo mutagenicity using the lacZ-transgenic mouse (MutaMouse). BaP was potently mutagenic in all of the organs examined (liver, lung, kidney, spleen, forestomach, stomach, colon, and bone marrow), as described in our previous report, whereas, 10-azaBaP was slightly mutagenic only in the liver and colon. The in vitro mutagenicities of BaP and 10-azaBaP were evaluated by the Ames test using liver homogenates prepared from several sources, i.e. CYP1A-inducer-treated rats, CYP1A-inducer-treated and non-treated mice, and humans. BaP showed greater mutagenicities than 10-azaBaP in the presence of a liver homogenate prepared from CYP1A-inducer-treated rodents. However, 10-azaBaP showed mutagenicities similar to or more potent than BaP in the presence of a liver homogenate or S9 from non-treated mice and humans. These results indicate that 10-aza-substitution markedly modifies the nature of mutagenicity of benzo[a]pyrene in both in vivo and in vitro mutagenesis assays.

Anti-mutagenic structural modification by fluorine-substitution in highly mutagenic 4-methylquinoline derivatives.

We have previously shown that fluorine-substitution at position 3 of quinoline deprived this molecule of mutagenicity, possibly due to interference with the yield of its metabolically activated form, the 1,4-hydrated 2,3-epoxide (enamine epoxide), which is directly responsible for the mutagenic modification of DNA. To further explore the possibility of a method for anti-mutagenic modification of mutagens by fluorine-substitution, 4-methylquinoline (4-MeQ), the most mutagenic form of all the quinoline derivatives examined so far, was used as a target in the present study. Five mono- and di-fluorinated derivatives of 4-MeQ, 2-fluoro-4-methylquinoline (2-F-4-MeQ), 6-F-4-MeQ, 7-F-4-MeQ, 2,6-difluoro-4-methylquinoline (2, 6-diF-4-MeQ), and 2,7-diF-4-MeQ, were subjected to analysis of their structure-mutagenicity relationships. The 2-fluorinated derivatives (2-F-4-MeQ, 2,6-diF-4-MeQ, and 2,7-diF-4-MeQ) were all non-mutagenic in the Ames test. 7-F-4-MeQ was as highly mutagenic as, and 6-F-4-MeQ was less mutagenic than non-fluorinated 4-MeQ. Metabolic studies were also conducted with 4-MeQ, 2-F-4-MeQ, 6-F-4-MeQ, and 7-F-4-MeQ, using a liver microsomal enzyme fraction prepared from the 3-methylcholanthrene-treated rat. The HPLC analytical data showed that, although the metabolic patterns (hydroxylation at 4-methyl group as a main metabolic pathway and 3-hydroxylation as a minor pathway) of these four F-MeQs were similar to one another, only the 3-hydroxy metabolite of 2-F-4-MeQ was not produced under the present experimental conditions employed. These results suggest that fluorine-substitution at position 2 of 4-MeQ inhibited the formation of the enamine epoxide in the pyridine moiety and deprived this molecule of mutagenicity as in the case of quinoline.

Hepatocarcinogen quinoline induces G:C to C:G transversions in the cII gene in the liver of lambda/lacZ transgenic mice (MutaMouse).

Quinoline is carcinogenic to the liver in rodents, but it is not clear whether it acts by a genotoxic mechanism. We previously demonstrated that quinoline does induce gene mutation in the liver of lambda/lacZ transgenic mice. In the present report, we reveal the molecular nature of the mutations induced by quinoline in the lambda cII gene, which is also a phenotypically selectable marker in the lambda transgene. (The cII gene has 294bp, which enables much easier sequence analysis than the original lacZ gene (3kb)). The liver cII mutant frequency was nine times higher in quinoline-treated mice than in control mice. Sequence analysis revealed that quinoline induced primarily G:C to C:G transversions (25 of 34). Thus, we have confirmed that quinoline is genotoxic in its target organ, and the G:C to C:G transversion is the molecular signature of quinoline-induced mutations.

Substituent effect of a fluorine atom on the mutagenicity of nitroquinolines

Some 16 nitroquinolines (NQs) and their fluorinated derivatives were tested for mutagenicity in Salmonella typhimurium TA100 without S9 mix to investigate the effect of fluorine-substitution on the mutagenicity. These NQs consist of 5-NQs, 5-nitroquinoline N-oxides (5-NQOs), N-methyl-5-nitroquinolinium methanesulfonates (N-Me-5-NQs) and 8-NQs, including three ortho-F-NQs, one meta-F-NQ, four para-F-NQs and four 3-F-NQs. For this purpose, eight F-NQs were newly synthesized. The data indicated that the ratio of the mutagenic activities (revertants/plate/nmol) of fluorinated NQs to those of the corresponding parent non-fluorinated compounds ranged from 0.6- to 119-fold. The fluorine atom located para to the nitro group markedly enhanced the mutagenicity (24-fold and more), while three ortho-fluorinated derivatives showed no significant increase in mutagenicity (enhancement ratio were 0.6, 0.8 and 1.7). With respect to 8-NQs, its meta-fluorinated derivative also had an enhanced mutagenicity over the parent compound (53-fold). In addition, although N-Me-5-NQ was less mutagenic than 5-NQ and 5-NQO, the mutagenicity of N-Me-5-NQ was most significantly enhanced by fluorine-substitution. These results suggest that introduction of a fluorine atom to the molecule in question may be a useful tool to modify their mutagenic potency and to better understand the mechanism of mutation.