Effects of benzo[a]pyrene and (±)-trans-7,8-dihydroxy-7,8-dihydrobenzo[a]pyrene on mitosis in Chinese hamster V79 cells with stable expression of rat cytochrome P4501A1 or 1A2

Abstract
The effect of bioactivation of benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) and (±)-trans-7,8-dihydroxy-7,8-dihydrobenzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P-7,8-diol) on spindle disturbances and toxicity has been investigated in V79 Chinese hamster cells genetically engineered to express cytochrome P4501A1 (CYP1A1) and cytochrome P4501A2 (CYP1A2). B[a]P induces spindle disturbances in native V79 Chinese hamster cells. This effect was enhanced by the expression of CYP1A1 but not CYP1A2. The increased effect seen in the CYP1A1-expressing cell line could be brought back to the level seen in the native cell line by α-naphthoflavone in a dose-dependent manner. This strongly suggests that a CYP1A1-dependent metabolite, conceivably (±)-trans-7,8-dihydroxy-7,8-dihydrobenzo[a]pyrene (BPDE) accounts for the increased spindle disturbing effect. B[a]P-7,8-diol induced spindle disturbances at remarkably low concentrations, 10−8 M, irrespective of expression of the two CYPs. Our data suggest that B[a]P-7,8-diol is the most potent spindle-disturbing metabolite, whereas BPDE is the most important metabolite concerning mutagenesis. The concentrations inducing spindle disturbances correspond to those that are positive in mutation assays. We hypothesize that B[a]P is a complete carcinogen because of its ability to induce both aneuploidy and mutations after metabolic conversion of low non-cytotoxic concentrations.

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