Sex-dependent expression of class pi glutathione S-transferase during chemical hepatocarcinogenesis in B6C3F1 mice.
Expression of class pi glutathione S-transferase (GST-II) was investigated during chemical hepatocarcinogenesis in female and male mice. Diethylnitrosamine (DEN; 10 mg/kg body wt) was administered to B6C3F1 mice on day 15 after birth, and liver sections were immunohistochemically stained with GST-II antibody at 12 and 24 weeks thereafter. In the normal mouse liver, GST-II was strongly expressed in males but only weakly in females. At 24 weeks after DEN treatment, the majority of preneoplastic foci could be detected as GST-II-positive in the female mice, while those in males were observed as to have decreased GST-II relative to the background. Class alpha GST-I and class mu GST-III did not exhibit any remarkable changes in preneoplastic foci. This result indicates that GST-II is a useful positive and negative marker for preneoplastic lesions in female and male mouse livers. In addition, class pi GST-II may be useful for the rapid screening hepatocarcinogens in mice because GST-II-positive or -negative single cells and minifoci, considered as precursor initiated populations, were detectable in females and males at 12 weeks after the DEN injection.
Hatayama
I
I
Second Department of Biochemistry, Hirosaki University School of Medicine, Japan.
Nishimura
S
S
Narita
T
T
Sato
K
K
D000818:Animals; D004052:Diethylnitrosamine / Q000633:toxicity; D005260:Female; D005982:Glutathione Transferase / Q000032:analysis*; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000032:analysis*; D008114:Liver Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000201:enzymology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D012737:Sex Factors
D007527:Isoenzymes; D004052:Diethylnitrosamine; D005982:Glutathione Transferase