Characteristic mutations induced in the small intestine of Msh2-knockout gpt delta mice.

Background: Base pair mismatches in genomic DNA can result in mutagenesis, and consequently in tumorigenesis. To investigate how mismatch repair deficiency increases mutagenicity under oxidative stress, we examined the type and frequency of mutations arising in the mucosa of the small intestine of mice carrying a reporter gene encoding guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (gpt) and in which the Msh2 gene, which encodes a component of the mismatch repair system, was either intact (Msh2+/+::gpt/0; Msh2-bearing) or homozygously knockout (KO) (Msh2-/-::gpt/0; Msh2-KO).

Results: Gpt mutant frequency in the small intestine of Msh2-KO mice was about 10 times that in Msh2-bearing mice.

Oxidative-stress-driven mutagenesis in the small intestine of the gpt delta mouse induced by oral administration of potassium bromate.

Tumorigenesis induced by oxidative stress is thought to be initiated by mutagenesis, but via an indirect mechanism. The dose-response curves for agents that act by this route usually show a threshold, for unknown reasons. To gain insight into these phenomena, we have analyzed the dose response for mutagenesis induced by the oral administration of potassium bromate, a typical oxidative-stress-generating agent, to gpt delta mice.

Mutant Frequency is not Increased in Mice Orally Exposed to Sodium Dichromate.

The mutagenicity of hexavalent chromium in the small intestine, the target organ of tumorgenicity, was examined by means of a transgenic mouse gene mutation assay. Sodium dichromate dihydrate was administered orally in drinking water to male delta mice at a dose of 85.7 or 257.

Change over time of the mutagenicity in the lungs of delta transgenic mice by extract of airborne particles collected from ambient air in the Tokyo metropolitan area.

Background: Previously we found that DNA adducts were accumulated in the lungs of the rats exposed to ambient air in the Tokyo metropolitan area. To examine chronological change in in vivo mutagenicity of airborne particles, extracts produced from samples of total suspended particulates (TSP) collected from urban air in 1980, 1990, and 2010 in the Tokyo metropolitan area were intratracheally administered into the lungs of delta mice, and differences in mutation and mutant frequency were determined by using the assay. In vivo mutations induced by the extracts were characterized and mutation hotspots were identified by DNA sequencing of the mutated gene.

Mutagenicity of 2-[2-(acetylamino)-4-[bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino]-5-methoxyphenyl]-5-amino-7-bromo-4-chloro-2H-benzotriazole (PBTA-6) and benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) in the gill and hepatopancreas of rpsL transgenic zebrafish.

We examined the in vivo mutagenicity of 2-[2-(acetylamino)-4-[bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino]-5-methoxyphenyl]-5-amino-7-bromo-4-chloro-2H-benzotriazole (PBTA-6) and benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) by using transgenic (Tg) zebrafish carrying the mutational target gene rpsL. PBTA-6 is one of the PBTA-type compounds that were recently identified in highly mutagenic river water in Japan. BaP is a well-known contaminant that is frequently found in polluted water.

Enhanced spontaneous and benzo(a)pyrene-induced mutations in the lung of Nrf2-deficient gpt delta mice.

The lung is an organ that is sensitive to mutations induced by chemicals in ambient air, and transgenic mice harboring guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (gpt) gene as a target gene are a well-established model system for assessing genotoxicity in vivo. Transcription factor Nrf2 mediates inducible and constitutive expression of cytoprotective enzymes against xenobiotics and mutagens. To address whether Nrf2 is also involved in DNA protection, we generated nrf2+/-::gpt and nrf2-/-::gpt mice.