O-esters of N-acylhydroxylamines: toxicity and enhancement of sister-chromatid exchange in Chinese hamster ovary cells

Sister-chromatid exchange: second report of the Gene-Tox Program

This paper reviews the ability of a number of chemicals to induce sister-chromatid exchanges (SCEs). The SCE data for animal cells in vivo and in vitro, and human cells in vitro are presented in 6 tables according to their relative effectiveness. A seventh table summarizes what is known about the effects of specific chemicals on SCEs for humans exposed in vivo. The data support the concept that SCEs provide a useful indication of exposure, although the mechanism and biological significance of SCE formation still remain to be elucidated.

Mutagenicity of the anticancer drug, caracemide, and related compounds for salmonella

Caracemide, MeCON(CONHMe)(OCONHMe) (I), is a novel anticancer drug. Since it was derived from acetohydroxamic acid (II), a known mutagen, its potential metabolites and related compounds were synthesized and tested for mutagenicities in S. typhimurium TA98 and TA100. These compounds were: MeNHCONH(OCONHMe) (III), MeCONH(OCONHMe) (IV), MeCONOH(CONHMe) (V), MeNHCOONH2 X HCl (VI), MeNHCONHOH (VII), MeNHCOON(CONHMe)2 (VIII), and NOH(CONHMe)2 (IX). The mutagenicities in the absence of rat liver homogenate were: (VI) much greater than (IV) greater than (II), (III), (V). The other compounds were not mutagenic. (I) was mutagenic only in the presence of rat liver homogenate. The doses required to demonstrate mutagenicities of these compounds were from 0.05 to 5 mumoles/plate. The major hydrolytic products at 25 degrees C, pH 7, were (III), (IV), and (V) from (I); (II) and (III) from (IV); and (II), (III), (VII) and MeNHCONH(OCOMe) (X) from (V). (III) was stable at pH 7. Treatment of (IV) with HCl yielded (VI). Hydrolysis of (III) or (V) with ammonia yielded (VII). These results suggest that caracemide may be activated enzymatically or nonenzymatically by deacetylation or decarbamoylation, and its anticancer activity may be related to the reactivity of its metabolites with DNA. The synthetic procedures and characterizations of new compounds (IV), (V) and (X) are described.

Mutagenicity of pyridine- and quinoline-carbohydroxamic acid derivatives

11 pyridine- and 6 quinoline-carbohydroxamic acids were tested for mutagenicity on Salmonella typhimurium TA100 and TA98. The results are compared with those obtained for benzohydroxamic acid and 4 naphthohydroxamic acids. Most of them were mutagenic on both these tester strains. Of the pyridine derivatives, pyridine-2-carbohydroxamic acid was the most potent mutagen. Quaternarization of the pyridine-ring nitrogen prevented the induction of mutation to a marked extent. Among the quinoline derivatives, quinoline-6-carbohydroxamic acid showed potent mutagenicity similar to that of 2-naphthohydroxamic acid. The present study supports the proposal made previously that the mechanism for mutagenicity of hydroxamic acids involves Lossen rearrangement of the acid conjugates produced by enzymic acylation (or perhaps phosphorylation or sulfation) of the hydroxamic acids, followed by carbamoylation of the target molecule in the cell by the resultant isocyanate. The multiplicity of factors determining the mutagenic potency of hydroxamic acids is discussed.