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Carcinogenesis vol.20 no.11 pp.2167–2170, 1999 Mutagenesis induced by oral carcinogens in lacZ mouse (Muta™Mouse) tongue and other oral tissues Marcia d.M.von Pressentin1, Wieslawa Kosinska1 and Joseph B.Guttenplan1,2,3 1Division of Basic Sciences/Biochemistry, New York University, Dental Center, 345 East 24th Street and 2Department of Environmental Medicine, New York University, Medical Center, New York, NY 10100, USA 3To whom correspondence should be addressed Email: joseph.guttenplan@nyu.edu Animal models for carcinogenesis of the oral cavity are limited, although this disease is often fatal or disfiguring and its incidence in the USA is ~30 000 cases/year. Shortterm whole-animal models for this disease should prove valuable in the investigation of factors affecting oral carcinogenesis. In this study we observed that a group of oral carcinogens are clearly mutagenic in the lacZ transgenic mouse oral cavity. The carcinogens 4-nitroquinoline-Noxide (4-NQO), benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), N-nitroso-Nmethylurea (NMU), 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1butanone (NNK), nitrosonornicotine (NNN) and 7,12dimethylbenzanthracene (DMBA) were all mutagenic in a mixture of pooled oral tissues (gingival, buccal, pharyngeal and sublingual) and in the tongue. All agents except DMBA (which was swabbed in the oral cavity) and B[a]P (by gavage) were given in drinking water for 2–4 weeks followed by a 2 week expression period before killing. With one exception, groups of 4–5 female mice were treated. The doses and mutant fractions (MF) in DNA isolated from pooled oral tissues (in mutants/105 p.f.u. K SD) were: 4-NQO (20–80 µg/ml, over 4 weeks) 78 K 16; B[a]P (five doses of 125 mg/ml) 33.2 K 10.9; NMU (20–80 µg/ml over 4 weeks) 7.8 K 2.6; NNK (0.1 mg/ml, weeks 1–2, 0.2 mg/ ml, weeks 3–4) 9.1 K 3.0; NNN (same dose as NNK) 9.2 K 1.6 and DMBA (0.5 mg/ml in corn oil, 3 weeks) 7.1 K 2.7. The corresponding value for untreated controls was 3.2 K 1.8. Values for induced mutagenesis in tongue from the same animals were similar except for 4-NQO which was about twice as potent in tongue. Mutagenesis by several compounds was compared in other organs. B[a]P was assayed in lung and kidney and was about twice as mutagenic in oral tissues as in lung, but several times less mutagenic in kidney. Lung, but not kidney is a target organ for B[a]P-induced carcinogenesis in the mouse. NNK was somewhat more mutagenic in lung (MF of 15.0 K 5.5) than in oral tissues, corresponding with previous reports on carcinogenesis by NNK. Mutagenesis induced by NNN was also assayed in esophagus, a target organ in rodents, and was similar to that in oral tissue. In all cases the MF in untreated control group was about 3–4. These results suggest that: (i) the oral cavity has a significant capacity for metabolic activation of carcinogens; (ii) DNA damage in the oral cavity can be converted to mutations; and (iii) Abbreviations: B[a]P, benzo[a]pyrene; DMBA, 7,12-dimethylbenzanthracene; MF, mutant fraction; MNU; N-nitroso-N-methylurea; NNK, 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone; NNN, nitrosonornicotine; 4-NQO, 4nitroquinoline-N-oxide. © Oxford University Press there is significant target organ specificity. The results also tend to support the concept that the anatomical components of the upper aerodigestive tract, in general, behave similarly with respect to genotoxicity. As carcinogenesis is believed to involve mutagenesis, this study demonstrates the utility of the lacZ mouse for investigations involving initiation of carcinogenesis of the oral cavity. Introduction Cancer of the oral cavity represents a significant public health problem, with ~30 000 new cases and 8000 deaths per year (1). In addition it often results in significant disfiguration and other complications in the oral cavity and face. There are two whole-animal models for this disease, 7,12-dimethylbenzanthracene (DMBA)-induced carcinogenesis in the hamster cheek pouch (2) and 4-nitroquinoline-N-oxide (4-NQO)induced carcinogenesis in the rat oral cavity (3). The latter model is anatomically closer to the human situation (3), more convenient and probably more reproducible as the carcinogen is administered in the drinking water, as opposed to painting in the former. Experiments in cultured cells are of course much more time efficient, but they require major extrapolations to in vivo situations and generally there is no accurate method for performing such extrapolations, as carcinogen-activating and -detoxifying enzymes, the concentrations of carcinogens and their metabolites, and a host of other conditions are much different in culture than in animals. Since carcinogenesis assays involving the oral cavity require significant time and resource investment, a shorter term in vivo assay would offer considerable utility in establishing conditions for carcinogenesis assays and possibly for mechanistic studies. The lacZ and related lacI mouse in vivo mutagenesis assays have been developed as shorter-term models for the initiation steps of carcinogenesis (4,5). In addition the assay is sensitive to increases in cellular proliferation at certain time intervals after administration of the genotoxin (6,7), and therefore the effects of certain tumor promoters are detectable (6,7). This system should then be applicable to the initiation stages of carcinogenesis, including the effects of cellular proliferation on initiation. In an initial study we reported that benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), a carcinogen known to produce tumors in the mouse tongue, among other organs (8) was mutagenic in lacZ mouse tongue and a number of other organs (9). Here we extend that work and report that a number of known oral carcinogens, including several present in tobacco products, are mutagenic in tongue and other pooled areas of the oral cavity following oral administration. Materials and methods Animals Female mice (Muta™Mouse, 6 weeks old) were purchased from Covance Research Products (Denver, PA) and acclimated for 1 week before the start of treatments. Mice were housed in polycarbonate micro-isolation cages, with 2167 M.d.M.von Pressentin, W.Kosinska and J.B.Guttenplan Shepard Paper Products dry bedding. The housing quarters were maintained on a 12 h light/dark cycle, 21°C, 50% relative humidity. The mice were maintained on an AIN-76 diet (ICN Biomedicals, Costa Mesa, CA) and were allowed food and water ad libitum. Chemicals B[a]P, 4-NQO, N-nitroso-N-methylurea (MNU), DMBA, protease K and RNase A were purchased from Sigma (St Louis, MO) and nitrosonornicotine (NNN) and 4-(methylnitrosoamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) were purchased from Chemsyn Science Laboratories (Lenexa, KS). Dosing DMBA was swabbed (0.5 mg/ml solution in corn oil) for 2 min/mouse for 3 weeks (weekdays only). The animals were killed after another 2 weeks. 4-NQO and MNU were given at a concentration of 20 µg/ml for 2 weeks, followed by 40 and 80 µg/ml for 1 week each in the drinking water. The mice were killed 2 weeks later. B[a]P was administered by gavage in corn oil (0.25 ml of 10 mg/ml every other day for the first 5 days and then twice more every third day, for a total of five doses. As the mice weighed ~20 g at the time of administration, the individual doses administered were 125 mg/kg. NNK and NNK were given at a concentration of 0.1 mg/ml for 2 weeks followed by 0.2 mg/ml in drinking water for 2 weeks followed by a 2 week expression period. Drinking water containing 4-NQO, NNK and NNN was changed twice weekly. Drinking water containing NMU was changed every other day. DNA isolation A portion of the tissue was gently homogenized by hand in a ground glass homogenizer using three volumes of 10 mM Tris–HCl (pH 8.0), 10 mM EDTA, 150 mM NaCl per part tissue weight (w/v). To this mix, 1% SDS and 1 mg/ml protease K were added. The mixture was incubated overnight at 37°C or 2–3 h at 50°C, and then for 30 min at 37°C with 0.1 mg/ml RNase A. After this, one-third volume of 6 M ammonium acetate (pH 7.4) was added, the mixture was gently mixed and then centrifuged at 14 000 r.p.m. in an Eppendorf microfuge. The supernatant was carefully removed, leaving a small volume behind, so as not to transfer any of the precipitate. An equal volume of isopropyl alcohol was added to the supernatant at room temperature to precipitate DNA. The supernatant was removed, the DNA was washed once with 70% ethanol, suspended in 10 mM Tris–HCl (pH 8.0), 1 mM EDTA, and left at room temperature overnight to dissolve. The samples designated, ‘pooled oral tissues’ consist of a mixture of gingival, buccal, pharyngeal and sublingual tissue. Mutagenesis assay Phage packaging was carried out using a Transpack packaging mix (Stratagene, La Jolla, CA) and the positive selection (galE–) mutation assay was performed according to published techniques (10). The necessary bacterial strain, Escherichia coli C lac– galE–, was obtained from Ingeny (Leiden, The Netherlands). Results All of the compounds tested were mutagenic in tongue and other pooled oral tissues under the conditions employed (Tables I and II). 4-NQO was the most potent, producing very high levels of mutagenesis (78 and 144 mutants/105 p.f.u., or ~18 and 353 background in oral tissue and tongue, respectively) after 4 weeks in drinking water at 20–80 µg/ml. B[a]P also showed considerable mutagenic activity, resulting in mutant fractions of 33 and 26 mutants/105 p.f.u. in oral tissue and tongue, respectively, after five doses of 125 mg/kg. NNK and NNN were administered in drinking water for 2 weeks at 0.1 mg/ml followed by 2 weeks at 0.2 mg/ml. Both were mutagenic in tongue and oral tissue, resulting in mutant frequencies 2– 3-fold above spontaneous levels. NNN was somewhat more potent in tongue than NNK, and was similarly mutagenic in other pooled oral tissue (Tables I and II). The total dose was estimated as 16.8 mg (588 mg/kg). DMBA was administered using an oral painting protocol similar to that previously used to initiate tumors in the hamster cheek pouch model (2). It resulted in about a doubling in the mutant frequency. We estimate that 0.1 ml per administration was applied, for a total dose of 7.5 mg (262 mg/kg). However, the exact amount 2168 Table I. Mutant frequencies in pooled oral tissue and selected other tissues of LacZ mice treated with oral carcinogens Carcinogen Tissue 4-NQO DMBA NNK Pooled oral Pooled oral Pooled oral Lung Pooled oral Esophagus Pooled oral Lungc Kidneyc Pooled oral Pooled oral Lung Esophagus Kidney NNN B[a]P NMU Control No. mice/group MF (mutants/105 p.f.u.)a tissueb 4 tissue 5 tissue 5 5 tissue 5 5 tissue 5 5 5 tissue 2 tissue 6 5 5 5 77.8 6 33** 7.1 6 2.7** 9.1 6 3.0** 15.0 6 5.5** 9.2 6 1.6** 9.8 6 1.8** 33.2 6 10.9** 57.9 6 33.0** 11.6 6 6.4** 7.8 6 2.6* 3.2 6 1.8 3.1 6 1.6 3.7 6 1.9 2.9 6 2.0 The range of p.f.u. (3103) and mutants are, respectively, for each group: 4-NQO (oral tissue) 24–841, 18–1054; DMBA (oral tissue), 266–947, 20–48; NNK (oral tissue), 303–427, 21–59; (lung) 147–341, 15–71; NNN (oral tissue) 57–322, 4–31; (esophagus) 177–685, 21–56; B[a]P (oral tissue) 208–333, 56–129; (lung) 143–320, 59–272; (kidney) 61–661, 4–113; NMU (oral tissue) 340–353, 20–34; control (oral tissue) 401–829, 4–40; (lung) 294–593, 6–22; (esophagus) 201–611, 5–11; (kidney) 540–1004, 10–34. aGroup mean 6 SD. bPooled oral tissue: gingival, buccal, pharyngeal and sublingual. cTaken from Kosinska and Guttenplan (9). **P , 0.01; *P , 0.05 in Student’s t-test versus control group. Table II. Mutant frequencies in tongue of LacZ mice treated with oral carcinogens Carcinogen Tissue No. mice/group MF (mutants/105 p.f.u.)a 4-NQO DMBA NNK NNN B[a]P NMU Control Tongue Tongue Tongue Tongue Tongue Tongue Tongue 4 3b 5 5 5 2 6 144 6 73** 7.9 6 4.6 5.6 6 1.2* 7.5 6 1.7** 25.7 6 6.1** 9.7 6 2.5* 3.8 6 1.4 The range of p.f.u. (3103) and mutants are, respectively, for each group: 4-NQO, 12–185, 18–235; DMBA, 373–788, 28–47; NNK, 538–936, 22–63; NNN, 244–906, 17–93; B[a]P, 66–404, 16–132; NMU, 342–834, 39–66; control, 62–727, 2–23. aGroup mean 6 SD. bTwo samples did not package. **P , 0.01, *P , 0.05 in Student’s t-test versus control group. applied to the oral cavity cannot be determined because some of the DMBA probably remained on the cotton swab, and some may have been immediately swallowed. In a pilot experiment, MNU was administered to two mice in drinking water under the same conditions and concentrations as 4-NQO, but was much less mutagenic, resulting in an ~2-fold increase mutagenesis. To compare mutagenesis in the oral cavity with that in other target and non-target organs the MFs induced by several of the carcinogens were determined in certain other organs. 4NQO, which is not carcinogenic in the rat liver (in contrast to tongue) after administration in drinking water (3) was not mutagenic in liver. B[a]P, which is a lung carcinogen in certain strains of mice (11,12) was about twice as potent in lung than in oral cavity tissues (Tables I and II); it was much less mutagenic in the kidney which is a non-target organ (8,11– 13). NNK, a potent lung carcinogen (14,15), was about twice Mutagenesis in lacZ mouse oral tissue as potent a mutagen in lung than in the pooled oral tissues and somewhat more potent than in tongue. NNN, an esophageal carcinogen in hamsters and rats (15), was similarly potent in esophagus, tongue and pooled oral tissues (Tables I and II). The standard deviations of the means of the individual groups were sometimes relatively high and did not seem to be tissue specific. Discussion All of the known oral carcinogens tested here were mutagenic in the oral cavity of lacZ mice. These agents exhibited mutagenic activity in tongue and other pooled oral tissues when administered by several different routes. By far the most potent of the group was 4-NQO. 4-NQO is carcinogenic in the rat tongue and to a lesser extent in other areas of the oral cavity when administered orally (3,16). The higher mutagenic activity of 4-NQO in tongue than other oral tissues is consistent with this report. The mutagenic activity in tongue and lack of mutagenic activity of 4-NQO in liver is strikingly consistent with the carcinogenic effects of 4-NQO in the rat (3). The inital concentration of 4-NQO used here for 2 weeks was the same as that used in an 8 week administration in carcinogenesis experiments (3). Here, however, in each of the subsequent 2 weeks the dose was doubled. Thus, in mutagenesis and carcinogenesis protocols the exposure, calculated as concentration versus duration of exposure, was similar. B[a]P was significantly mutagenic in tongue and oral tissue. In contrast to 4-NQO, B[a]P was slightly more mutagenic in oral tissue than tongue. When administered in feed in a 2 year feeding study of carcinogenicity at 100 p.p.m., the tongue and forestomach were major target organs (8). The authors estimate a daily consumption of B[a]P of ~0.4 mg/day compared with 2.5 mg/ day for 5 days here. Thus, the total dose was much higher in the long-term feeding study, but the daily dose and the route of administration were different. The target organs for B[a]Pinduced carcinogenesis in mice are dependent on the administration protocol and the strain, (8,11–13 and references therein). For B[a]P then, the mutagenic activity observed in lacZ mouse tongue is consistent with the results of carcinogenicity studies, but here mutagenesis was also observed in other areas of the oral cavity, and thus far there are no reports of B[a]P-induced carcinogenesis at these sites. Also, B[a]P was not reported to be carcinogenic in any other area of the oral cavity of male lacZ mice under similar conditions (13). It is, of course, possible that life-shortening by other tumors in certain studies precluded the development or detection of oral tumors. It is, however, noteworthy that B[a]P was relatively weakly mutagenic in the kidney, consistent with carcinogenicity data. It appears then that at least for B[a]P, the lacZ mutagenesis assay is sensitive to initiation, but this is not sufficient to predict carcinogenesis. In an initial study B[a]P was mutagenic in tongue and other oral tissues when administered as a suspension in drinking water followed by a single administration by gavage (9). It was assumed that the oral cavity was primarily exposed via the drink, but in the current study gavage administration alone was very effective at inducing mutagenesis in oral tissues. Here, exposure of oral tissue could be physical, via contact with B[a]P solution during gavage, by regurgitation or reflux, and/or via systemic circulation. B[a]P is metabolically activated by cytochrome P450 1A1 and perhaps less efficiently by other forms of cytochrome P450 (17). Previous studies have reported that it can be metabolized to DNA binding products in cultured rodent and human oral tissue cells (18), indicating cytochrome P450 is constitutively expressed in oral tissue. Cytochrome P450 1A1 is also highly inducible by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and related compounds (17) and in the current study B[a]P was administered over a 12 day time period. Thus, it seems possible that some induction of cytochrome P450 1A1 occurred during the treatment period, and this would result in enhanced genotoxicity of B[a]P. NNK and NNN were both mutagenic when given in drink. A long-term lower dose administration of a mixture of NNN and NNK has been reported to induce tumors in the rat oral cavity when administered by swabbing or via a test canal (14) although which of these agents was most active is uncertain. The total dose on a weight/kg basis was similar to that administered here. NNK is activated to genotoxic products by a cytochrome P450-dependent pathway (17), and NNK has been reported to be metabolized to genotoxic products in cultured human oral tissue (18). Therefore, it is reasonable to assume it is metabolized by a cytochrome P450-dependent pathway in oral tissues. NNK is reported to be a potent lung carcinogen in rodents, but it also targets other areas of the upper aerodigestive tract, while NNN is carcinogenic in esophagus, nasal cavity, trachea and lung (15). Most carcinogenesis studies using NNK did not involve oral administration in drink and there is a possibility that NNK might also be carcinogenic in the oral cavity if given in drink. Also, the A/ J mouse, often used in studies reporting murine lung tumors (15,19,20), is particularly sensitive to lung carcinogenesis (19) and, thus, may be a less appropriate model for certain other organs. Both NNK and NNN are usually present together in tobacco products, but NNN is present in significantly higher concentrations (15). Thus, if both are similarly potent initiators, and other factors were equal, NNN would contribute more to carcinogenesis in the oral cavity than NNK. Both NNN and NNK were more mutagenic in the pooled oral tissue than tongue. This was in contrast to results with 4-NQO. As NNN and NNK are presumably activated by cytochrome P450 isozymes in lacZ mouse oral tissue and it seems possible that the sites of greatest mutagenic activity are those with the highest levels of the specific forms of P450 that activate NNN and NNK. 4-NQO, in contrast to NNK and NNN, can be activated by several reductases (21,22). The relatively higher mutagenic activity of 4-NQO in tongue rather than other oral tissue may result from a different distribution of these reductases (22) than that of P450. Rat tongue contains significant levels of reductases, and levels in other areas of the oral cavity are lower (22). Additionally, if both oral cavity and liver can metabolize 4-NQO to a genotoxin, the high mutagenic activity in oral cavity relative to liver may reflect dilution of the 4-NQO in body water before absorption by the liver. DMBA was also mutagenic via oral swabbing of a 0.5% solution in corn oil over a 3 week period. This concentration has been used to induce tumors in the hamster cheek pouch (2). Although the contact time of the DMBA with the oral cavity may be relatively short, DMBA is such a potent genotoxin that even this exposure was sufficient for mutagenesis. As with B[a]P, it seems likely that either constitutive and/or induced cytochrome P450 activities contribute to the metabolic activation of DMBA. A pilot experiment on two mice was performed where MNU was administered under the same conditions as 4-NQO. 2169 M.d.M.von Pressentin, W.Kosinska and J.B.Guttenplan Although NMU is a carcinogen in rodents in a number of organs including the oral cavity (20), and a mutagen in certain organs of lac mice when administered i.p. (4,5) it was a relatively weak mutagen in the oral cavity. MNU is relatively unstable at neutral pH (20) and, in contrast to 4-NQO (which is activated intracellularly) it is likely that a significant fraction of the MNU decomposes extracellularly. It might be thought to rapidly decompose in drinking water, but after a trace amount decomposed the water became slightly acidic due to decomposition products, and UV analysis indicated relatively little decomposition at the time of water change. In conclusion, several oral carcinogens were all mutagenic in lacZ mouse tongue and other pooled oral tissues. 4-NQO, which is the most potent of the carcinogens for the oral cavity, was the most potent mutagen. Although conditions of previous carcinogenicity assays and the present mutagenicity assays are not directly comparable (because carcinogenicity assays are usually carried out for longer time periods), when the total applied dose was compared in the two assays, they were similarly effective in detecting significant increases over background. It is noteworthy that the increases in mutant frequency were observable with relatively small numbers of mice per group and occasional large standard deviations of the means. Usually, the large deviations resulted from results with a single outlier per group. Possibly these outliers may result from ‘jackpot’ mutations, or the fact that lacZ mice are not inbred. It should also be noted that mutagenesis has been observed in several organs of the lacZ mouse which have not been reported to be target organs for carcinogenesis (9,13). Thus, mutagenesis in lacZ mouse oral tissue appears to be a useful and appropriate short-term in vivo model for the initiation of carcinogenesis in the oral cavity. Acknowledgements The authors thank Kurosh Haghighi for carrying out some of the some of the preliminary experiments in this study. This work was supported in part by a grant from the Smokeless Tobacco Research Council, # 0727, and the American Institute for Cancer Research, #95B-104. References 1. 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