title: Toxicity of the mycotoxins fumonisins B1 and B2 and Alternaria alternata f. sp. lycopersici toxin (AAL) in cultured mammalian cells.
abstract: Fumonisins B1 and B2 and AAL toxin are a series of structurally related mycotoxins. Fumonisins B1 and B2, produced by Fusarium moniliforme Sheldon induce toxic hepatitis and hepatomas in rats and leukoencephalomalacia in horses. The cancer-promotion assay which has been used to guide their purification is slow and consumes large amounts of sample. We have examined a series of cultured mammalian cell lines in order to develop a more rapid and sensitive bioassay system, which may be useful for examining structure-activity relationships and the mechanism(s) of action of these toxins. Of 9 rat hepatoma cell lines tested, all except the two most de-differentiated line were sensitive to the three toxins, with a toxic response visible by 48 h. Approximate IC50 values for the most sensitive hepatoma line, H4TG, were 4, 2 and 10 micrograms/ml for fumonisins B1, B2 and AAL toxin, respectively, in 100 microliters cultures. Among 15 cell lines from other sources, only MDCK dog kidney epithelial cells were sensitive (IC50 = 2.5, 2 and 5 micrograms/ml, respectively). Studies in co-cultures of sensitive and insensitive cell lines and in cultures of a sensitive cell line over a range of cell densities indicated that cytotoxicity of fumonisins B1 and B2 does not involve metabolite activation to a derivative stable enough to diffuse to adjacent cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Minnesota, St. Paul 55108.
authors.forename: W T
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Shier
authors.forename: H K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Abbas
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Mirocha
mesh_terms: D000528:Alternaria; D000818:Animals; D002274:Carcinogens, Environmental / Q000633:toxicity*; D002455:Cell Division / Q000187:drug effects; D002460:Cell Line; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D037341:Fumonisins; D006801:Humans; D009183:Mycotoxins / Q000633:toxicity*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D002274:Carcinogens, Environmental; D037341:Fumonisins; D009183:Mycotoxins; C056934:fumonisin B2; C056933:fumonisin B1