Inhibition of the formation of benzo[a]pyrene adducts to DNA in A549 lung cells exposed to mixtures of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous pollutants, which exhibit carcinogenic properties especially in lungs. In the present work, we studied the effect of mixtures of 12 PAHs on the A549 alveolar cells. We first assess the ability of each PAH at inducing gene expression of phase I metabolization enzymes and at generating DNA adducts.

The extreme variety of genotoxic response to benzo[a]pyrene in three different human cell lines from three different organs.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are associated with occupational exposure and urban atmospheric pollution. Determination of the genotoxic properties of these compounds is thus of outmost importance. For this purpose a variety of cellular models have been widely used.