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Query: UMLS:C0596263 (carcinogenesis)
 64,820 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The genomic level of DNA cytosine methylation was significantly diminished in dividing BALB/3T3 A31 CL1-13 cells treated with several aromatic hydrocarbon carcinogens. Benzo[a]pyrene-induced decreases in DNA 5-methylcytosine levels were concentration dependent over the range of 0.1 to 1.0 microgram/ml when determined at the end of the 16 h treatment period. The enzymatic methylation of DNA cytosine residues was the most sensitive to inhibition 48 h after treatment as concentrations of benzo[a]pyrene as low as 0.033 micrograms/ml initiated significant reductions in 5-methylcytosine levels. This inhibition of DNA cytosine methylation may be mediated by alkylation of the DNA. Treatment of hemimethylated DNAs with (+/-)-r-7,t-8-dihydroxy-t-9,10-epoxy-7,8,9,10-tetrahydro benzo[a]pyrene (anti-BPDE), (+/-)-r,7-t-8-dihydroxy-c-9,10-epoxy-7,8,9,10-tetrahydrobenzo[a]pyrene (syn-BPDE), and (+/-)-benzo[a]pyrene-4,5-epoxide inhibited the transfer of methyl moieties from [3H]S-adenosylmethionine to cytosine residues in the undermethylated strand in the presence of mouse spleen methyltransferase activity. The syn isomer of BPDE was the most potent in this action while the parent compound, benzo[a]pyrene, did not significantly decrease the methyl accepting abilities of treated DNAs. All chemical carcinogens that were tested and are known to transform BALB/3T3 cells initiated significant reductions in 5-methylcytosine formation by 48 h post-treatment. However, concentrations of some hydrocarbons which do not transform these cells 5- to 50-fold above effective concentrations of the transforming carcinogens also provided significant reductions in DNA cytosine methylation. Thus the inhibition of DNA methylation may be an important step in the initiation of oncogenic transformation of BALB/3T3 cells, but decreases in DNA 5-methylcytosine levels alone cannot account for the onset of this multi-step process.
Carcinogenesis 1984 Aug
PMID:Chemical carcinogen-mediated decreases in DNA 5-methylcytosine content of BALB/3T3 cells. 608 66

5-Methyl-2'-deoxycytidine (m5dC) levels were measured in DNA from three types of cultured cells following treatment with u.v. radiation and two chemical carcinogens, N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) and N-acetoxy-2-acetylaminofluorene (NA-AAF). Control values for m5dC in Raji cells (a human lymphoblastoid cell line), S49 cells (a mouse thymic lymphoma cell line) and human diploid fibroblasts are 3.6%, 3.6% and 3.2%, respectively. None of the damaging agents produced a detectable change in methylation levels of newly replicated DNA, even at levels of damage that inhibited replication by 95%. In contrast, treatment with 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine, a known methyltransferase inhibitor, transiently reduced genomic methylation by 89% and 74% in Raji and S49 cells, respectively. Although other investigators have found a marked reduction in m5dC in DNA replicated after carcinogen treatment, our experiments indicate that extensive demethylation is not a necessary consequence of DNA damage.
Carcinogenesis 1984 Sep
PMID:Methylation of deoxycytidine in replicating cells treated with ultraviolet radiation and chemical carcinogens. 646 3

Cells from Gardner's syndrome (GS) and familial polyposis coli (FP) patients, persons with a hereditary predisposition to colon cancer, were compared to those of normal persons for sensitivity to the cytotoxic and mutagenic action of N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG), a model compound chosen because methylating agents have been implicated in colon carcinogenesis. FP cell line GM2355 and GS cell lines 2938 and GM3948 exhibited normal sensitivity to the cytotoxic and mutagenic effects of MNNG. In contrast, GS cell line GM3314 and cells from an apparently normal fetus GM0011 showed extreme sensitivity to the killing and mutagenic effect of this alkylating agent. To determine if the resistance of the various cell lines to MNNG correlated with their ability to remove methyl groups from the O6-position of guanine, we measured their O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MT) activity. The resistant cell lines exhibited normal levels of MT; the sensitive strains showed virtually non-detectable levels of this activity. We also compared fibroblasts from a xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) patient (XP12BE, complementation group A), an SV40 virus-transformed XP cell line (XP12ROSV) and a normal cell line transformed by this virus (GM637) for their response to the cytotoxic and mutagenic effect of MNNG and for MT activity. XP12BE cells showed normal sensitivity and a normal level of MT; GM637 cells showed an intermediate level of sensitivity and a reduced level of MT activity; XP12ROSV cells were extremely sensitive to the cytotoxic and mutagenic effect of MNNG and showed virtually non-detectable levels of MT activity. The MT did not remove methyl group from O4-methyl-thymine. These results suggest that O6-methylguanine and/or any other adduct repaired by the methyltransferase, is a potentially cytotoxic and mutagenic lesion. They also indicate that the predisposition to colon cancer of FP and GS patients is not necessarily correlated with an increased sensitivity of their fibroblasts to mutations induced by methylating carcinogens.
Carcinogenesis 1984 Dec
PMID:Correlation between O6-methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase activity and resistance of human cells to the cytotoxic and mutagenic effect of N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine. 649 16

A synthetic DNA substrate containing O6-methyl[8-3H]-guanine was used to assay demethylation of the premutagenic base by O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase in extracts of HeLa cells, Chinese hamster ovary cells and normal rat kidney cells which had been treated with multiple doses of N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG). No induction of methyltransferase activity was observed in any of the cell lines tested. Constitutive levels of methyltransferase in cell lines proficient (Mex+) in O6-methylguanine repair were decreased in a dose-dependent fashion by either single or multiple treatments with MNNG over a broad range of dose levels. Recovery of constitutive levels of activity required 24- to 48-h incubation periods. Repair deficient (Mex-) cell lines lacked both constitutive and inducible methyltransferase activity.
Carcinogenesis 1984 Feb
PMID:Lack of induction of O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase in mammalian cells treated with N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine. 669 44

O6-Methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase activity, i.e., the capacity of cells to transfer the methyl group from O6-methylguanine in DNA to protein, was determined in 10 hepatoma cell lines, all derived from Reuber H35 hepatoma but differing in their status of differentiation. Methyltransferase activity of the six differentiated lines tested was at least 4-5 times higher than that of two dedifferentiated lines. The activity of the two poorly differentiated lines examined was low to intermediate. Some of the differentiated lines possessed methyltransferase activities comparable to those in hepatocytes freshly isolated from adult rat. The results suggest that certain differentiated hepatoma lines are capable of mimicking liver in the capacity for repair of O6-methylguanine lesions and in this respect may be useful as model systems for studying liver-specific effects of monofunctional alkylating agents.
Carcinogenesis 1984 Jul
PMID:The capacity of rat hepatoma cell lines for O6-methylguanine-DNA repair correlates with their status of differentiation. 673 58

It was found that rat kidney contains a protein similar to that previously described in rat liver which catalyzes the transfer of the methyl group from O6-methylguanine in DNA to a protein-bound cysteine residue. The amount of the renal O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase was increased up to 2.5-fold during renal hypertrophy in response to unilateral nephrectomy or treatment with folic acid. These results indicate that the protein in kidney resembles that in rat liver which is known to be increased in response to a variety of hepatotoxins or to partial hepatectomy. The liver O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase was reduced by hypophysectomy or thyroidectomy and could be increased by treatment with growth hormone or thyroxine. The level in the liver was considerably lower than the adult value in 1-day-old rats and increased to adult values by 14 to 21 days. At no time was the amount in the neonatal rat liver higher than in the adult, indicating that liver cell proliferation alone is not obligatorily coupled with an elevated methyltransferase level. The high sensitivity of neonatal rats to liver carcinogenesis by dimethylnitrosamine may be related to the high rate of cell proliferation and the lower capacity to repair O6-methylguanine.
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PMID:Regulation of O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase levels in rat liver and kidney. 682 17

The ability of extracts of human tumor cells to demethylate O6-methylguanine (O6-MeG) in DNA was assayed using the synthetic DNA polymer poly(dC,dG,m6dG). Cell strains proficient in repair of O6-MeG in vivo (Mer+ phenotype) contained a methyltransferase activity while repair deficient cells (Mer- phenotype) had little or no activity. Mixing extracts of different Mer- strains did not result in the appearance of the activity. Extracts of Mer- cells did not inhibit the activity in extracts of Mer+ cells. Both Mer+ and Mer- strains contained methylnitrosourea-damage-specific endonuclease activity. The data suggest that the Mer- strains are deficient in methyltransferase and that this is the fundamental reason for their hypersensitivity to the cytotoxic effects of DNA alkylation. The activity was partially purified from a Mer+ colon carcinoma cell strain. Its kinetics parallel the repair of O6-MeG in DNA in vivo and suggest that the activity is inactivated during repair of DNA.
Carcinogenesis 1983
PMID:Repair of O6-methylguanine in DNA by demethylation is lacking in Mer- human tumor cell strains. 682 8

A new, simple and relatively inexpensive assay for measuring O6-methylguanine (O6-MeG) in methylated DNA is described. This assay used the property of suicide inactivation of Escherichia coli methyltransferase. When crude extracts of methyltransferase are incubated with DNA containing O6-MeG, transfer of the methyl group to a cysteine residue on the protein occurs and the protein is subsequently inactivated. Each protein molecular has been shown to act only once. In our assay, methylated DNA is first incubated with a fixed amount of the extract. The O6-MeG present in this DNA proportionally inactivates a part of the methyltransferase activity. The remaining activity is then incubated with a fixed amount of O6-[3H]MeG substrate of known specific activity and precipitated with acid. Hydrolysis of the acid precipitable fraction releases the unaltered O6-[3H]MeG enabling the amount of O6-MeG present in the unknown sample to be calculated. This method enables the accurate measurement of as little as 0.1 pmol of O6-MeG in methylated DNA and compares favourably with current radiochemical and immunological techniques. We have used this assay to measure O6-MeG produced in the DNA of human fibroblasts treated with N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine. We have also studied the kinetics of removal of this lesion. We confirm previous reports of a rapid repair system for the removal of O6-MeG from DNA by human fibroblasts.
Carcinogenesis 1982
PMID:Excision of O6-methylguanine from DNA by human fibroblasts determined by a sensitive competition method. 712 72

cDNA for mouse O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase was expressed in methyltransferase-deficient Escherichia coli mutant cells, and the overproduced mouse enzyme was purified to a homogeneous state. Using this purified product, polyclonal antibodies were prepared and used to estimate amounts of the methyltransferase protein in cells. A single cell of NIH3T3 contained 1.8 x 10(4) molecules of the methyltransferase protein. When mouse fibroblasts were immunostained, it was shown that most of the methyltransferase protein exists in the cytoplasm rather than in the nucleus. Using double-stranded oligomers containing a single O6-methylguanine or O4-methylthymine at predetermined sites, the mouse enzyme repaired O6-methylguanine and O4-methylthymine, at an almost equal efficiency. In the LacZ reversion assay, MNNG-induced A:T to G:C as well as G:C to A:T transition mutations were efficiently suppressed by the function of mouse methyltransferase, in vivo.
Carcinogenesis 1995 Jul
PMID:Mouse methyltransferase for repair of O6-methylguanine and O4-methylthymine in DNA. 761 94

N-methylnitrosourea (MNU) induces thymic lymphoma in a high proportion of susceptible C57BL/6xSJL (C57/SJL) mice. Expression of the human DNA repair gene, MGMT cDNA, which encodes O6-methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase, in transgenic mice effectively prevents MNU-induced thymic lymphomas. In this study, we determined the phenotype of thymocytes expressing the transgene and defined whether the target cell population for MNU induced lymphomas were actually those that expressed the transgene. Transgene expression was characterized by in situ hybridization for MGMT mRNA and immunohistochemistry for the human alkyltransferase protein and was compared to the phenotype of the MNU induced lymphomas. The MGMT transgene was expressed uniformly in immature cortical thymocytes that were CD4+CD8+J11d+ and to a lesser extent in the medullary thymocyte. Lymphomas were induced by single [50 or 80 mg/kg] or multiple doses [30 mg/kg x 5] of MNU to evaluate the dose response of tumor induction and protection by the MGMT-CD2 transgene. Forty-seven of the 108 treated mice developed lymphomas: 38 of 58 nontransgenic and 9 of 50 MGMT+ mice. The T-cell phenotype of thymic lymphomas was established by immunohistochemistry and FACS analysis. Most of the lymphomas were J11d+ (98%), 70% of the tumors were CD4+CD8+, 21% were CD4-CD8+, 9% were CD4-CD8-, and none were CD4-CD8-. All lymphomas in MGMT+ transgenic mice were CD4+CD8+. Since the main phenotype of MNU induced lymphomas in these mice, CD4+CD8+J11d+, is also the cell phenotype which expresses the MGMT-CD2 transgene at high levels, it appears that MGMT-induced protection has occurred in the cell target for MNU induced transformation.
Carcinogenesis 1995 May
PMID:The immature thymocyte is protected from N-methylnitrosourea-induced lymphoma by the human MGMT-CD2 transgene. 776 63


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