Hexahydro‐1,3,5‐trinitro‐1,3,5‐triazine (RDX), a widely used military explosive and soil and ground water contaminant of munitions manufacturing and artillery training sites, undergoes microbial nitroreductase metabolism to hexahydro‐1‐nitroso‐3,5‐dinitro‐1,3,5‐triazine (MNX), hexahydro‐1,3‐dinitroso‐5‐nitro‐1,3,5‐triazine (DNX), and hexahydro‐1,3,5‐trinitroso‐1,3,5‐triazine (TNX). Human occupational and accidental exposures to RDX, as well as acute oral exposures in rats, result in seizures, but little is known about the toxicity of the RDX degradation products. The main objective of the present study was to determine the oral LD50 of the most potent RDX N‐nitroso product in female Sprague‐Dawley rats using the recently validated up‐and‐down procedure (UDP). With only 26 rats, MNX was identified as the most potent metabolite and a maximum likelihood estimate of 187 mg kg−1 (95% confidence interval 118–491 mg kg−1) for its LD50 was established and found equivalent to that of RDX determined with the same protocol. CNS toxicity, manifested as forelimb clonic seizures progressing to generalized clonic‐tonic seizures, was the critical adverse effect. Further, confirmation of the UDP LD50 for MNX with a fixed‐dose design enabled identification of 94 mg kg−1 as the highest nonlethal dose. An ED50 of 57 mg kg−1 was determined for neurotoxicity, while splenic hemosiderosis and decreased blood hematocrit and hemoglobin concentration occurred with a threshold at 94 mg kg−1 in 14‐day survivors. These studies, while providing new toxicity data necessary for the management of RDX‐contaminated sites, illustrate the efficiency of the UDP for comparative acute toxicity determinations and its value in guiding further characterization of dose dependency of identified adverse effects. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Metolachlor (2-chloro-N-(2-ethyl-6-methylphenyl)-N-(2-methoxy-1-methylethyl) acetamide) is widely used internationally as a corn and cotton herbicide. The metolachlor effects noted in rats during testing for U.S. pesticide registration include increased liver weight and hepatocarcinogenicity associated with eosinophilic foci. These properties, plus nongenotoxicity, are also characteristic of the prototypical rat liver tumor promoter, phenobarbital. Phenobarbital induces hepatic cytochrome P450s CYP2B1/2 and CYP3A1/2 and thyroxine (T4)-UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (T4-UGT), which enhances thyroxine clearance and thus indirectly increases thyroid gland activity. Because other chloroacetanilide herbicides are known to similarly affect rat thyroid gland, this study tested the hypothesis that metolachlor would have these additional phenobarbital-like effects on liver, especially that of T4-UGT induction with consequential stimulation of thyroid gland. Effects of metolachlor, fed to male Sprague-Dawley rats for 14 days at the carcinogenic dose of 3000 ppm, were compared to those of equimolar phenobarbital. Liver microsomal CYP2B1/2 and CYP3A1/2 were probed by immunoblotting and T4-UGT was measured enzymat-ically. Serum T4, triiodothyronine (T3), and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and thyroid follicular epithelial cell morphology and proliferation were used to assess thyroid gland activity. Metolachlor induced CYP2B1/2 and CYP3A1/2 proteins, but unlike phenobarbital, did not affect T4-UGT activity. In agreement, serum T4, T3, or TSH were unaffected by metolachlor. Also, no significant effects of metolachlor on thyroid gland morphology or follicular epithelial cell height or proliferation were observed. These data demonstrate that metolachlor is an inducer of hepatic CYP2B1/2 activity. But unlike the prototypical CYP2B1/2 inducer phenobarbital, metolachlor does not cause an increase in T4-glucuronidation and thyroid gland activation.

Hepatocytes from Fisher 344 rats treated with the liver tumor promoter phenobarbital (PhB; 0.1% in the drinking water, 2-3 months) exhibit reduced epidermal growth factor (EGF) binding and EGF-induced mitogenesis in culture. Similar responses are induced by >1 mM PhB added to the culture medium of hepatocytes from untreated rats. In this study, we demonstrated that hepatocyte EGFr protein, as determined by immunoblotting, was unchanged by treatment of rats with PhB. However, hepatocytes from PhB-treated rats are more sensitive to PhB in culture in that decreased EGF binding occurred with 0.05 mM PhB, a concentration also attained in plasma of rats exposed to PhB. Sensitization was reversible, as is tumor promotion, since hepatocytes from rats withdrawn from PhB for 1 month were unresponsive to <3 mM PhB. EGFr down-regulation by a series of barbiturates correlated well with their known activities as tumor promoters and CYP2B1/2 inducers, with pentobarbital and PhB yielding high activities, while barbital was intermediate and barbituric acid, 5-phenylbarbituric acid, and 5-ethylbarbituric acid were ineffective. Differentiated hepatocyte function was required for PhB-induced EGFr down-regulation since HepG2 and rat liver epithelial cells were unresponsive, but involvement of CYP2B1/2 activity was discounted by the failure of metyrapone to inhibit the response in PhB-induced hepatocytes. These studies support a role for impaired EGFr function in PhB liver tumor promotion due to effects on existing EGFr protein and suggest that EGFr down-regulation by PhB in culture is independent of CYP2B1/2 activity but shares mechanistic components involved in its transcriptional activation by PhB.

Treatment of mice with multiple topical applications of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) or diacylglycerol resulted in a preferential decrease in epidermal protein kinase C-beta 2 (PKC-beta 2) compared with PKC-alpha as determined by western analysis. When PKC-alpha was decreased by 40%, PKC-beta 2 could no longer be detected, suggesting that PKC-beta 2 is more sensitive to downregulation, and/or specific epidermal cell types that contain PKC-beta 2 are more sensitive to TPA/diacylglycerol. To address this issue, we isolated Langerhans cells (LCs) from epidermal cell suspensions with immunomagnetic beads and an antibody to the class II major histocompatibility complex. Northern blot analysis revealed a PKC-beta 2 signal in isolated LCs that was 40-fold greater than that observed in unfractionated epidermal cells, and no PKC-beta 2 signal was detected in epidermal cells depleted of LCs, indicating that PKC-beta 2 is expressed exclusively in LCs within the epidermis. Western blot analysis confirmed the presence of PKC-beta 2 in LCs. PKC-beta 2 was highly sensitive to downregulation, because a single application of TPA resulted in a 90% loss of PKC-beta 2 within 6 h without a decrease in the number of LCs. To determine whether the decreased level of PKC-beta 2 within LCs was associated with an alteration in contact hypersensitivity, we treated mice with only a single application of TPA, and 6 hours later mice were sensitized with 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene on the same dorsal area. Subsequent challenge revealed a 60% decrease in contact hypersensitivity in TPA-treated mice. These data indicate that (i) within the epidermis, PKC-beta 2 is highly sensitive to downregulation and is exclusively expressed in LCs, and (ii) the downregulation of PKC-beta 2 is associated with impaired LC function with respect to contact hypersensitivity.

Mirex, an organochlorine pesticide and non-genotoxic rodent hepatocarcinogen, is also a potent non-phorbol ester-type promoter of mouse skin tumors. Mirex, unlike most other skin tumor promoters, is not a significant epidermal hyperplasiogen even at a maximally promoting dose (200 nmol). Experiments described here examined whether tumor promotion by mirex and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) are mediated through different mechanisms as indicated by their additivity when co-applied to 7,12-dimethyl-benz[a]anthracene (DMBA, 200 nmol)-initiated female CD-1 mouse skin. Instead of the additive response of 14 plus 5 tumors/mouse predicted from mice promoted for 20 weeks (2x/week) with either mirex (200 nmol) or TPA (2 nmol) respectively, their co-application yielded 35 tumors/mouse. This synergy with TPA was specific to mirex since a structurally related compound, chlordecone (Kepone) was inactive. Mirex plus TPA-promoted papillomas contained a c-Ha-ras A182-->T mutation as frequently (13/14) as those promoted by mirex or TPA alone, suggesting that these DMBA-initiated/co-promoted papillomas were not atypical in this genotypic marker. Promotional synergy with mirex was only observed with a submaximal promoting dose of 2 nmol TPA; 5 or 8 nmol TPA plus mirex gave additive or less tumor multiplicities. This synergistic multiplicity with mirex plus 2 nmol TPA (35 tumors/mouse) approximated the sum of individual responses to 200 nmol mirex (14 tumors/mouse) and the maximally promoting dose of TPA (12 nmol), 24 tumors/mouse, suggesting that mirex potentiated the promotional activity of TPA, as well as promoted through a mirex-specific mechanism. Epidermal DNA synthesis induced by 2 nmol TPA was potentiated by mirex, further supporting a role for mirex in potentiation of epidermal TPA activity. Collectively, these studies suggest that mirex affects two possibly related responses: (i) promotion through a distinct mirex-specific mechanism, and (ii) potentiation of a mechanism mediating the promotional activity of TPA.

Mirex, a chlorinated hydrocarbon previously used as a systemic insecticide and flame retardant, is a nongenotoxic hepatocarcinogen in both rats and mice. In liver, mirex induced biochemical responses and hyperplasia characteristic of increased cell proliferation, which is consistent with its role as a liver tumor promoter. We have recently shown that mirex is a potent nonphorbol ester-type skin tumor promoter in 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA)-initiated mice. However, unlike its effect in liver, a single topical application of mirex to skin does not induce the acute biochemical responses, such as increased epidermal DNA synthesis and ornithine decarboxylase activity, indicative of increased cell proliferation. Multiple topical applications of mirex over a 1 month period induced only a minimal increase in the number of epidermal nucleated cell layers, which contrasts with definitive hyperplasia induced by a comparable tumor-promoting dose of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA). Collectively, these data indicated that mirex is promoting through a novel mechanism. Further evidence that mirex promotes tumors through a mechanism distinct from that of the prototypical skin tumor promoter, TPA, was obtained by examining the effect of their simultaneous co-treatment. The co-application of mirex and TPA yielded a tumor multiplicity greater than the sum of the responses of each promoter individually. In summary, our results demonstrate that mirex, a carcinogenic and hyperplastic agent in liver, is also a very effective tumor promoter in mouse skin, but suggest that mirex operates via a novel mechanism in skin that may involve only a minimal role for enhanced cell proliferation.

The intestinal absorption of calcium has been proposed to occur by the transcellular transfer of Ca2+ through the enterocyte proper and between the cells of the intestinal epithelium, i.e., the paracellular path. Attention in this report is given to the transcellular models of Ca2+ absorption and, more specifically, the Ca2+ extrusion events occurring at the basolateral membrane. These extrusion processes include the operation of an ATP-dependent Ca2+ pump and a Na+/Ca2+ exchanger, as well as exocytosis as the terminal event in a proposed vesicular transport mechanism. Evidence for the presence of an ATP-dependent Ca2+ pump at the basolateral membrane is documented and illustrated with biochemical and immunological data from studies on the avian intestinal basolateral membrane. As shown immunohistochemically, the Ca2+ pump was primarily localized on the enterocyte basolateral membrane. The ATP-dependency and vitamin D enhancement of Ca2+ uptake by isolated basolateral membrane vesicles are shown. Western blot analysis of intestinal mucosa, by using a monoclonal antibody produced against the erythrocyte Ca2+ pump, indicated that the number of pump units is increased by 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol. The possible involvement of calbindin-D28K as a direct stimulator of the Ca2+ pump is discussed, and the quantitative relationship between Ca2+ transport rates and Ca2+ pumping activity has been estimated. Information related to the basolateral membrane Na+/Ca2+ exchanger and the vesicular transport model of Ca2+ absorption is also briefly reviewed.

The hepatocarcinogenic organochlorine pesticide, mirex, was examined as a tumor promoter in the mouse skin initiation-promotion model. Female CD-1 mice were initiated with 200 nmol 7,12-dimethylbenz[a] anthracene and topically promoted three times weekly for 20 weeks with doses of 25, 50, 100, or 200 nmol mirex. Mirex promoted tumors at all dose levels in a dose-dependent manner. At 20 weeks, mice promoted with 25, 50, 100, and 200 nmol mirex developed an average of 0.2, 4, 10, and 16 tumors per mouse with a 10, 60, 93, and 96% incidence of tumor-bearing mice, respectively. With continued treatment to 34 weeks, mice promoted with 25, 50, and 100 nmol mirex developed an average of 0.7, 7, and 12 tumors per mouse with a 27, 85, and 100% incidence of tumor-bearing mice, respectively. These results demonstrate that mirex is a very effective tumor promoter in mouse skin. The effect of mirex on several biochemical and morphological events associated with tumor promotion was then investigated. Mirex did not stimulate epidermal protein kinase C activity in vitro. Unlike the phorbol ester, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate, a single topical application of mirex (200 nmol) did not increase [3H]thymidine incorporation into epidermal DNA up to 108 h after application. Furthermore, multiple applications of 200 nmol mirex (3 times weekly for 4 weeks) resulted in only a very weak proliferative response; mirex increased the number of nucleated epidermal cell layers from 1 to 2 in acetone-treated controls to 2 to 3 while 2 nmol 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate produced 6 to 7 nucleated cell layers. Mirex (200 nmol) did not induce ornithine decarboxylase activity up to 56 h after a single topical application. Collectively, these data indicate that mirex is a novel nonphorbol ester-type tumor promoter in mouse skin.

Phorbol ester-induced translocation of the calcium/phospholipid-dependent protein kinase, protein kinase C (PKC), from soluble to particulate cell fractions was inhibited in primary cultures of hepatocytes isolated from rats chronically exposed to the liver tumor promoter phenobarbital (PB). Inhibition of translocation (34%) was significant after a 15-min treatment with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA, 500 nM); an 85% inhibition was observed after 60 min. In contrast, the translocation responses to two non-phorbol ester activators of PKC, ATP (1 mM) and arginine-vasopressin (0.1 microM), were not significantly impaired. Assessment of total PKC specific activity revealed that translocation induced by TPA and the two nonphorbol activators was not associated with PKC degradation in hepatocytes from either control or PB-exposed rats. The defect in TPA-induced translocation was correlated with an impaired down-regulation of the hepatocyte surface receptor for epidermal growth factor in hepatocytes from PB-exposed rats. Chronic exposure to PB did not affect the total content or specific activity of PKC in whole liver, nor did it affect the distribution of PKC activity between soluble and particulate fractions in unstimulated liver or hepatocytes. However, both the diminished epidermal growth factor receptor response and the inhibition of TPA-induced PKC translocation were reversed by withdrawal of PB for 2 to 4 weeks. Hepatocytes isolated from female rats were found to contain a 3- to 4-fold greater PKC specific activity and content than hepatocytes from male rats. However, no sex-related differences were observed in PKC distribution or in the modulation of translocation by chronic PB exposure and withdrawal. Immunoblotting of partially purified liver extracts revealed that the defect in phorbol ester-induced translocation was not caused by altered expression of PKC isozymes. PKC isozymes II and III, but not I, were detected, and their amounts were unaffected by PB exposure, although higher levels were detected in female relative to male livers. These data demonstrate reversible inhibition of phorbol ester-induced PKC activation by the liver tumor promoter, PB, and suggest that PB alters a component of the PKC-signaling pathway other than the expression of PKC isozymes.

The liver tumor promoter, phenobarbital, directly applied to cultured, adult rat hepatocytes at concentration of >1 mM, decreases cellular surface binding of EGF. This effect of phenobarbital resembles that of 4β-phorbol-12α-myristate-13β-acetate (TPA) in that both decrease EGF receptor number, but do not affect receptor affinity. The effects of the two tumor promoters differ however, in that only TPA reduces high affinity EGF binding by A431 cells. They also differ in that TPA, but not phenobarbital, causes redistribution of protein kinase C from a soluble to a membranous hepatocyte subcellular fraction. These data indicate that decreased EGF binding is a common hepatocyte response to the tumor promoters, TPA and phenobarbital, but that this response can be mediated by either a TPA-activated, protein kinase C-dependent pathway or by a phenobarbital-sensitive, protein kinase C-independent pathway.

Primary cultures of hepatocytes derived from adult Fischer 344 rats were used to test for effects of the liver tumor promoter phenobarbital on several components of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor signal transduction pathway. Phenobarbital had no effect on the binding of 125I-labeled EGF by its hepatocyte receptor at 4 degrees C or on EGF-induced receptor down-regulation. However, pretreatment of hepatocytes with phenobarbital (3 mM) at 37 degrees C caused inhibition of subsequent 125I-labeled EGF binding. This response temporally resembled that of hepatocytes to 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) in that maximal inhibition occurred after 1 h of pretreatment but was reversed after longer pretreatment times. The inhibitory effects of phenobarbital and TPA on EGF binding were additive, suggesting that distinct mechanisms mediated the responses to these two tumor promoters. In addition, treatment with TPA, but not phenobarbital, caused a redistribution of the activity of Ca2+/phospholipid-dependent protein kinase C. In untreated and phenobarbital-treated hepatocytes, 20% of protein kinase C activity was isolated with a membranous fraction, while 75% of the activity was membrane associated in TPA-treated hepatocytes. These results demonstrate that phenobarbital, like TPA and other tumor promoters, can modulate the EGF receptor system but suggest that it does so without directly competing with EGF for binding to its receptor or by activating protein kinase C.

Optimal proliferation of cultured hepatocytes from normal rats occurs in response to epidermal growth factor (EGF) at an extracellular calcium concentration of 0.4 mM, whereas physiological concentrations of calcium have been shown to decrease hepatocyte proliferation. Exposure of hepatocytes in vivo to phenobarbital (PB, 0.1% in the drinking water) reduced significantly the ability of physiological levels of calcium to suppress hepatocyte proliferation. An increased relative ability of hepatocytes to proliferate at physiological calcium concentrations versus that at 0.4 mM calcium was first seen after 3 days of in vivo PB treatment and this effect was maintained during 2 months of exposure. Hepatocytes from short-term PB-exposed animals (i.e. 3-28 days) proliferated at physiological Ca2+ concentrations 2-3 times better than those from control animals. However, after 2 months of continuous PB exposure, cell growth was reduced significantly at all extracellular Ca2+ concentrations investigated. EGF binding studies demonstrated that the biphasic kinetic effect of PB on hepatocyte proliferation was not correlated directly with the steady decline in EGF receptor number or the lack of significant change in receptor binding affinity with duration of PB exposure. These results imply that the effectiveness of PB in tumour promotion may result from its ability to reduce the absolute magnitude of normal hepatocyte proliferation and to alter the growth regulatory effect of extracellular calcium. Further, the results argue that PB effects on hepatocyte proliferation are not mediated simply through regulation of EGF surface receptor number or binding affinity. Additional events of the EGF-induced cascade necessary for hepatocyte proliferation appear to be modified by PB.

Morphological and biochemical parameters of neuroblastoma differentiation were assessed in 12 clonal derivatives of the N-18 mouse neuroblastoma cell line selected for their ouabain-resistant (ouar) property. When cultured in a normal growth medium, nine of the 12 ouar cell lines exhibited a more complex pattern of neurite outgrowth than the parental N-18 cells. The morphological pattern most frequently observed with the ouar cells was the extension of several branched processes per cell. This pattern of spontaneous neurite outgrowth in the ouar cell lines can be correlated with an increase in expression of the 47,000-dalton RI cyclic AMP (cAMP)-binding protein. The growth rate, intracellular level of cAMP, and acetylcholinesterase activity of the ouar cell lines were not significantly different from those of the parental N-18 neuroblastoma cells. Treatment of the parental and ouar neuroblastoma cell lines with 1 mM N6, O2-dibutyryl cAMP promoted an elaborate pattern of neurite outgrowth and marked increases in acetylcholinesterase and RI cAMP-binding activities. The distinctive pattern of differentiation phenotype exhibited by the ouar cells and the dibutyryl cAMP-induced differentiated neuroblastoma cell suggests that these two protocols yielded different degrees of differentiation. Furthermore, our results suggest a linkage of the biochemical events underlying ouabain resistance and expression of differentiation phenotypes in the mouse neuroblastoma cells.

In order to investigate the mechanisms of cellular damage by alkylating agents, human fibroblasts and tumor cell strains having different sensitivities to killing by N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine [and different abilities to repair O6-methylguanine ( O6mGua ) in their DNA] were treated with other alkylating agents. Methyl methanesulfonate, 1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea (BCNU), 1-(2-hydroxyethyl)-3-(2-chloroethyl)-3-nitrosourea, and N-ethyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine gave rise to sensitivity differences, but the differences were less than those observed with N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine. After treatment with UV light, the strains showed similar survival. The data show that the DNA repair mechanism(s) responsible for the differential survival of the strains after N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine treatment probably play(s) a role in repairing DNA damage produced by methyl methanesulfonate, N-ethyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine, BCNU, and 1-(2-hydroxyethyl)-3-(2-chloroethyl)-3-nitrosourea but not that produced by UV. Furthermore, the results support the idea that a breakdown product of BCNU, that does not cause damage repairable by O6mGua repair mechanisms, contributes to the lethal effects due to BCNU-produced DNA-damage that is repairable by O6mGua repair mechanisms. The survival data, along with nucleoid sedimentation and adenovirus host-cell reactivation data, are consistent with the hypothesis that the lesion(s) lethal to tumor cells defective in O6mGua DNA repair are lesions in which DNA oxygen atoms are alkylated.