title: Mutational fingerprint induced by the antineoplastic drug chloroethyl-cyclohexyl-nitrosourea in mammalian cells.
abstract: Using the pZ189 shuttle vector approach, we determined two chloroethyl-cyclohexyl-nitrosourea (CCNU)-induced mutation spectra (3 and 6 mM) in African green monkey kidney cells (CV1). One hundred and twenty-one independent clones (101 CCNU induced, 45 at 3 mM and 56 at 6 mM; 20 spontaneous) showing functional inactivation of the supF gene were analyzed. One hundred and five plasmids (91 CCNU induced, 41 at 3 mM and 50 at 6 mM; 14 spontaneous), showing no large deletion/rearrangements, were sequenced. Ninety mutants (81 CCNU induced and 9 spontaneous) showed at least one mutation in the supF region. The analysis of the 122 CCNU-induced mutations (56 and 66 at 3 and 6 mM, respectively) revealed that: (a) the majority of the mutations were GC-targeted base pair substitutions; (b) AT-targeted mutations were significantly more frequent in the CCNU-induced (6 mM) than in the spontaneous mutational spectrum (P < 0.0006, Fisher's exact test); (c) mutational spectra obtained at 3 and 6 mM CCNU were significantly different (P < 0.008); (d) induced mutations were nonrandomly located in both spectra and generated either a common hot spot (position 123, 5'-GGG-3') or hot spots exclusive for each CCNU concentration (3 mM: position 159, 5'-AGG-3'; 6 mM: position 109, 5'-GGG-3'); (e) the occurrence of GC-->AT transitions was significantly different as a function of CCNU concentration (P < 0.02, Fisher's exact test), the mutated G being almost exclusively preceded by a purine (5'Pu G) at 6 mM and by either Pu or Py at 3 mM; and (f) by applying Calladine's rules, we found that sequences encompassing the three CCNU hot spots shared identical helix parameters for no more than 2 bp steps 5' (or 3 bp steps 3') to the mutated G. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that O6-alkylguanine is responsible, either directly or indirectly, for the majority of GC-targeted mutations, while O4-alkylthymine and/or N3-alkyladenine are probably responsible for AT-targeted mutations. The results suggest also that, in CV1 cells, the efficiency of the repair mechanism(s) involved in the removal of O6-alkylguanine is influenced by the DNA sequence context. All of these factors determine the CCNU mutational fingerprint. CCNU has been implicated in the induction of therapy-related leukemias.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Centre for the Study of Tumors of Environmental Origin-Mutagenesis Laboratory, National Institute for Research on Cancer IST, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Inga
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Iannone
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Campomenosi
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Molina
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Menichini
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abbondandolo
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fronza
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018906:Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating / Q000633:toxicity*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008130:Lomustine / Q000633:toxicity*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009153:Mutagens; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides / Q000737:chemistry; D010957:Plasmids; D017354:Point Mutation; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
chemical_list: D018906:Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating; D009153:Mutagens; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D008130:Lomustine