DNA adducts, mutant frequencies, and mutation spectra in various organs of λlacZ mice exposed to ethylating agents

article
To investigate tissue-specific relations between DNA adducts and mutagenesis in vivo, λlacZ transgenic mice were treated i.p. with N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU), diethylnitrosamine (DEN), and ethyl methanesulphonate (EMS). In liver, bone marrow, and brain DNA from mice sacrificed at several time points after treatment O6-ethylguanine (O6-EtG) and N7-ethylguanine (N7-EtG) levels were determined as well as the mutant frequency (MF) in lacZ. In liver DNA of ENU- and DEN-treated mice, the bulk of O6-EtG was removed at 3 days after treatment, while the MF continued to increase thereafter. This suggests that O6-EtG is not the major premutagenic lesion in the liver. Indeed, sequence analysis of mutants showed only 24% GC → AT transitions, consistent with the O6-EtG lesion, and 28% TA → AT transversions, expected from O2-ethylthymine. In bone marrow after ENU treatment, a maximum mutation induction occurred at 3 days post-treatment, of which 43% were GC → AT mutations and 22% were TA → AT mutations. This suggests that in bone marrow O6-EtG may be a major premutagenic lesion at the 3-day time point. In liver and bone marrow, EMS treatment gave rise to a high level of N7-EtG and a low level of O6-EtG but no increase in MF. No adducts or mutation induction were observed in bone marrow of DEN-treated mice. No MF increase was observed in the brain of either ENU- or EMS-treated mice, although O6- and N7-adducts were present.
TNO Identifier
234397
ISSN
08936692
Source
Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis, 31(1), pp. 18-31.
Pages
18-31
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