A rationale for the non-mutagenicity of 2- and 3-aminobiphenyls

Refine and Strengthen SAR-Based Read-Across by Considering Bioactivation and Modes of Action

Structure-activity relationship (SAR)-based read-across is an important and effective method to establish the safety of a data-poor target chemical (structure of interest (SOI)) using hazard data from structurally similar source chemicals (analogues). Many methods use quantitative similarity scores to evaluate the structural similarity for searching and selecting analogues as well as for evaluating analogue suitability. However, studies suggest that read-across based purely on structural similarity cannot accurately predict the toxicity of an SOI. As mechanistic data become available, we gain a greater understanding of the mode of action (MOA), the relationship between structures and metabolism/bioactivation pathways, and the existence of "activity cliffs" in chemical chain length, which can improve the analogue rating process. For this purpose, the current work identifies a series of classes of chemicals where a small change at a key position can result in a significant change in metabolism and bioactivation pathways and may eventually result in significant changes in chemical toxicity that have a big impact on the suitability of analogues for read-across. Additionally, a series of SAR-based read-across case studies are presented, which cover a variety of chemical classes that commonly link to different toxic endpoints. The case study results indicate that SAR-based read-across can be refined and strengthened by considering MOAs or proposed reactive metabolite formation pathways, which can improve the overall accuracy, consistency, transparency, and confidence in evaluating analogue suitability.

Comparative evaluation of three methylene dianiline isomers in the bacterial reverse mutation assay, the in vitro gene mutation test, and the in vitro chromosomal aberration test

4,4'-MDA is classified as a genotoxic carcinogen based on numerous in vitro and animal data. The consequential assumption that a safe threshold does not exist is not only applied to 4,4'-MDA but also to its structural isomers and impurities 2,2'- and 2,4'-MDA in the absence of substance-specific data. This constitutes a problem in human risk assessments for all three substances as the inherent risks of 2,2'- and 2,4'-MDA and their contribution as impurities to that of 4,4'-MDA are essentially unknown. A comparative in vitro genotoxicity dataset consisting of the bacterial reverse mutation (Ames) test and the chromosomal aberration test in human lymphocytes (both performed according to the current OECD Guidelines) was generated for all three isomers. Furthermore, an in vitro gene mutation test in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells (HPRT locus assay) was conducted with 2,4'-MDA. The results indicate differences regarding the genotoxic mechanism and potential, respectively, between the three structures and suggest that the no-threshold assumption for 4,4'-MDA may not be appropriate for 2,2'- and 2,4'-MDA.

The Need for, and the Role of the Toxicological Chemist in the Design of Safer Chemicals

During the past several decades, there has been an ever increasing emphasis for designers of new commercial (nonpharmaceutical) chemicals to include considerations of the potential impacts a planned chemical may have on human health and the environment as part of the design of the chemical, and to design chemicals such that they possess the desired use efficacy while minimizing threats to human health and the environment. Achievement of this goal would be facilitated by the availability of individuals specifically and formally trained to design such chemicals. Medicinal chemists are specifically trained to design and develop safe and clinically efficacious pharmaceutical substances. No such formally trained science hybrid exists for the design of safer commercial (nonpharmaceutical) chemicals. This article describes the need for and role of the "toxicological chemist," an individual who is formally trained in synthetic organic chemistry, biochemistry, physiology, toxicology, environmental science, and in the relationships between structure and commercial use efficacy, structure and toxicity, structure and environmental fate and effects, and global hazard, and trained to integrate this knowledge to design safer commercially efficacious chemicals. Using examples, this article illustrates the role of the toxicological chemist in designing commercially efficacious, safer chemical candidates.

Effects of benzo[a]pyrene, aromatic amines, and a combination of both on CYP1A1 activities in RT-4 human bladder papilloma cells

The interaction of arylamines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) is of particular interest in the etiology of bladder cancer. The aim of this study was to (1) examine the metabolic capacity of RT-4 human bladder papilloma cells and (2) investigate the influence of aromatic amines on the induction of cytochrome P-450 1A1 (CYP1A1) activity and their effects on benzo[a]pyrene (BaP)-induced CYP1A1 activities. Cells were incubated for 24 h with different concentrations of BaP, 1- or 2-naphthylamine (NA), 2-, 3-, or 4-aminobiphenyl (ABP), and binary mixtures consisting of 1 µM BaP and different concentrations of each arylamine. Changes in CYP1A1 activities were measured at concentrations with no or only low cytotoxicity and accompanied by specific protein detection. Several phase I and II enzymes relevant to metabolism of PAH and arylamines were present in RT-4 cells. Concentration-dependent elevation in CYP1A1 activities accompanied by increasing protein levels was found after treating cells with BaP and 1- or 2-NA. The majority of synergistic effects in binary mixtures were less than additive. In contrast, concentration-dependent inhibition was observed for 2-, 3-, and 4-ABP and in both the presence and absence of BaP. Our results suggest that RT-4 cells represent a reliable model cell line to study arylamine- and PAH-induced effects in vitro and that BaP-induced CYP1A1 activities are modulated by aromatic amines. In general, the direction of the effect depends upon the aromatic amine, rather than being unidirectional for aromatic amines.

1-[3-Aminobenzisoxazol-5′-yl]-3-trifluoromethyl-6-[2′-(3-(R)-hydroxy-N-pyrrolidinyl)methyl-[1,1′]-biphen-4-yl]-1,4,5,6-tetrahydropyrazolo-[3,4-c]-pyridin-7-one (BMS-740808) a highly potent, selective, efficacious, and orally bioavailable inhibitor of blood coagulation factor Xa

Attempts to further optimize the pyrazole factor Xa inhibitors centered on masking the aryl aniline P4 moiety. Scaffold optimization resulted in the identification of a novel bicyclic pyrazolo-pyridinone scaffold which retained fXa potency. The novel bicyclic scaffold preserved all binding interactions observed with the monocyclic counterpart and importantly the carboxamido moiety was integrated within the scaffold making it less susceptible to hydrolysis. These efforts led to the identification of 1-[3-aminobenzisoxazol-5'-yl]-3-trifluoromethyl-6-[2'-(3-(R)-hydroxy-N-pyrrolidinyl)methyl-[1,1']-biphen-4-yl]-1,4,5,6-tetrahydropyrazolo-[3,4-c]-pyridin-7-one 6f (BMS-740808), a highly potent (fXa Ki=30 pM) with a rapid onset of inhibition (2.7x10(7) M-1 s-1) in vitro, selective (>1000-fold over other proteases), efficacious in the AVShunt thrombosis model, and orally bioavailable inhibitor of blood coagulation factor Xa.

A quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) study of mutagenicity in several series of organic chemicals likely to be activated by cytochrome P450 enzymes

The results of quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) studies on six series of compounds exhibiting indirect mutagenic activity are reported. These findings demonstrate the importance of frontier orbital energies and, in some cases, frontier orbital electronic populations to overall mutagenicity in diverse polyaromatic hydrocarbons, benzidines and aminobiphenyls, benzonitrofurans, nitrogenous cooked-food mutagens, benzanthracenes, and chrysenes. The correlations between structural parameters and mutagenic potency vary from R=0.81 to R=0.97, and these findings are discussed in the context of possible molecular mechanisms of mutagenicity. In particular, it is generally regarded that cytochrome P450-mediated activation of polyaromatic hydrocarbons and their amino derivatives plays an important role in mutagenic activity. In this respect, it is apparent that enzymes of the cytochrome P4501 (CYP1) family are closely associated with the metabolic activation of polyaromatic mutagens and carcinogens via the generation of reactive intermediates (usually electrophilic in nature) that attack DNA. The findings presented in this study indicate that QSAR analyses on several series of compounds are consistent with the known evidence of procarcinogen activation mechanisms, particularly for polyaromatic hydrocarbons and their heterocyclic/amino derivatives, pointing to the importance of frontier orbital energy values in particular.

Growth inhibition of intestinal bacteria and mutagenicity of 2-, 3-, 4-aminobiphenyls, benzidine, and biphenyl

2-Aminobiphenyl (2-ABP), 3-aminobiphenyl (3-ABP) and 4-aminobiphenyl (4-ABP), but not benzidine (Bz) and biphenyl (Bp), were found to be inhibitory to the growth of human intestinal bacteria Bifidobacterium infantis ATCC 15697, B. bifidium ATCC 11863, Clostridium perfringens ATCC 13124, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, E. coli ATCC 35218, Enterobacter cloacae ATCC 13047 and Salmonella typhimurium TA98, TA100, YG1041 at 10-200 microg/ml in culture broth. Bacteroides distasonis ATCC 8503, B. fragilis ATCC 25285, B. theataiotaomicron ATCC 29741, C. paraputrificum ATCC 26780, C. clostridiiforme ATCC 25537, Lactobacillus acidophilus ATCC 4356 and Enterococcus faecium ATCC 19434 were not inhibited by the above mentioned compounds in concentrations up to 200 microg/ml. The Ames Salmonella/microsome assay was employed to test the mutagenicity of the above-mentioned compounds using strains TA98 and TA100 in the presence and absence of Aroclor 1254-induced rat S9 mix. It was found that 4-ABP was mutagenic to both TA98 and TA100, and Bz was mutagenic to TA98 in the presence of rat S9 mix. 2-Aminobiphenyl, 3-ABP, and Bp were not mutagenic to both strains tested. 2-Aminobiphenyl and 3-ABP are chemical isomers of 4-ABP and are as strong as 4-ABP in inhibiting the growth of intestinal bacteria but not as mutagenic as 4-ABP. Evidence suggested that the mechanism of growth inhibition is not involved with the interaction of DNA that causes mutations, but rather on the electron transport system of these organisms.

Using base-specific Salmonella tester strains to characterize the types of mutation induced by benzidine and benzidine congeners after reductive metabolism

Although benzidine (Bz), 4-aminobiphenyl (ABP), 3,3'-dichlorobenzidine HCl (DCBz), 3,3'-dimethylbenzidine (DMBz), 3,3'-dimethoxybenzidine (DMOBz) and the benzidine congener-based dye trypan blue (TB) produce primarily frameshift mutations in Salmonella typhimurium, the base-substitution strain TA100 also responds to these compounds when S9 is present. Performing DNA sequence analysis, other investigators have shown that ABP induces frameshift, base-pair and complex mutations. Also, it was found that an uninduced hamster liver S9 preparation with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, FMN, NADH and four times glucose 6-phosphate gave a stronger mutagenic response than the conventional plate incorporation with rat S9 activation mixture for all the compounds tested. Using the base-specific tester strains of S. typhimurium (TA7001-TA7006) with the above reductive metabolic activation system, we surveyed these compounds for the ability to produce specific base-pair substitutions after reductive metabolism. Bz was weakly mutagenic in TA7005 (0.04 revertants/microg). ABP was mutagenic in TA7002 (1.4 revertants/microg), TA7004 (0.6 revertants/microg), TA7005 (2.98 revertants/microg) and TA7006 (0.4 revertants/microg). DCBz was weakly mutagenic in TA7004 (0.01 revertants/microg). It was concluded that benzidine induced some CG->AT transversions in addition to frameshift mutations. ABP induced TA->AT, CG->AT, and CG->GC transversions as well as GC->AT transitions. DCBz induced only GC->AT transitions. Because DMBz, DMOBz and TB were not mutagenic in this base-substitution mutagen detection system, their mutagenic activity was attributed strictly to frameshift mechanisms.

Transformation of mutagenic aromatic amines into non-mutagenic species by alkyl substituents. Part I. Alkylation ortho to the amino function

Alkyl-substituted derivatives of 2-aminonaphthalene (2-AN) 1, 2-aminofluorene (2-AF) 6 and 4-aminobiphenyl (4-ABP) 11 were synthesized and the mutagenic activity of these compounds determined in Salmonella typhimurium strains TA98 and TA100 with and without S9 mix. In the case of the ortho-substituted 4-aminobiphenyls 12-15 (3-alkyl=ethyl, iso-propyl, n-butyl, tert-butyl) the substituent with the strongest steric demand (3-tert-butyl) shows the strongest influence on the decrease of mutagenicity if compared with the parent compound. In the series of the bis-ortho-disubstituted compounds 16-18 (3,5-dimethyl-, 3,5-diethyl- and 3,5-diisopropyl-4-aminobiphenyl) generation of non-mutagenic species occurs already with the introduction of two ethyl groups. For the 4-aminobiphenyl derivatives 12-15 and 16-18, as well as for the 1-alkylated 2-aminofluorenes 7-10 and the 1-alkylated 2-aminonaphthalenes 2-5 a smaller mutagenicity was observed if compared with predicted mutagenicities as calculated by the QSAR equations of Debnath et al. (Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 19 (1992) 37). The largest differences resulted in the cases of the tert-butyl substituted compounds. Only with smaller alkyl groups like ethyl the QSAR predictions and the experimentally determined mutagenicities come close to each other. Thus, these results show that appropriate alkyl substitution reduces (eliminates) mutagenicity, secondly, it is necessary to introduce steric parameters to predict the mutagenicity of such compounds correctly.

Consumption of tea modulates the urinary excretion of mutagens in rats treated with IQ. Role of caffeine

The present study was undertaken to investigate whether the consumption of green tea and black tea influences the excretion of mutagens and promutagens in rats treated orally with the food carcinogen 2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline (IQ). Rats were maintained on aqueous extracts (2.5%, w/v) of green tea, black tea or decaffeinated black tea as their sole drinking liquid. After 4 weeks, the animals received, by gastric intubation, a single dose of IQ (5 mg/kg), and urine was collected for 48 h. Direct and indirect mutagenicity, in the presence of an activation system derived from Aroclor 1254-treated rats, was determined in the urine samples using the Ames mutagenicity assay. Consumption of green tea and black tea, but not of decaffeinated black tea, markedly decreased the urinary excretion of mutagens and promutagens. In a further study, supplementation of decaffeinated black tea with caffeine suppressed the excretion of mutagens and promutagens in the urine of rats pretreated with IQ. It is concluded that both green tea and black tea modulate the bioactivation and metabolism of IQ, and that caffeine is largely responsible for this effect.

The use of computers in the safety evaluation of drugs and other chemicals

The toxicity and carcinogenicity of drugs and other chemicals is, in most cases, mediated by highly reactive intermediates which are generated following metabolism catalysed by the enzymic apparatus of the exposed organisms. These reactive intermediates readily interact covalently with vital cellular components to provoke toxicity and carcinogenicity. The ubiquitous cytochrome P450-dependent mixed-function oxidases are the most important enzyme system in the activation of chemicals. This enzyme system comprises a number of families, each of which contains one or more subfamilies. The CYPIA and CYP2E subfamilies are the most closely associated with the production of reactive intermediates and, consequently, the manifestation of toxicity and carcinogenicity. A computer based molecular structure procedure (COMPACT) has been developed which, via a calculation of the molecular and electronic structure of the chemical, determines whether the chemical will interact with either of these two cytochrome P450 subfamilies and hence be metabolised to form reactive intermediates that manifest toxicity. As the basal levels of these two subfamilies are generally low, the ability of a chemical to induce them selectively, on repeated administration, is an important determinant of its toxic and carcinogenic potential. This inductive capability may be determined in short-term studies (ENACT) using only a small number of animals. Thus the combination of COMPACT and ENACT provides a rapid and inexpensive means for the preliminary screening of chemicals for toxicity and carcinogenicity before undertaking the long-term and expensive rodent lifetime bioassays.

Molecular modelling of cytochrome CYP1A1: a putative access channel explains differences in induction potency between the isomers benzo(a)pyrene and benzo(e)pyrene, and 2- and 4-acetylaminofluorene

The present studies were undertaken to provide a rationale for the observation that benzo(a)pyrene and 2-acetylaminofluorene induce the hepatic CYP1A1 protein, whereas their non-carcinogenic isomers benzo(e)pyrene and 4-acetylaminofluorene are, at best, relatively very weak inducers. Using amino acid sequence alignment, a molecular model of the CYP1A1 was constructed by analogy to CYP101, the bacterial protein for which the 3-dimensional structure is known from X-ray crystallographic analysis. The putative structure of the active site of the CYP1A1 protein shows the presence of two phenylalanine residues preferentially aligned in parallel orientation, presumably functioning as a 'sieve' for planar molecules, the established substrates of CYP1A1. The molecular dimensions of this putative access channel show a width and depth of 8.321 and 3.261 A, respectively. The width of 4-acetylaminofluorene, 8.794 A, and benzo(e)pyrene, 9.153 A, precludes their passage through this channel access in contrast to benzo(a)pyrene and 2-acetylaminofluorene having a width of 7.150 and 5.283 A, respectively, explaining their difference in CYP1A1 induction potential.

Relative stabilities of nitrenium ions derived from polycyclic aromatic amines. Relationship to mutagenicity

The relative energetics of arylamine N-hydroxylation and N-O heterolysis (ArNH2----ArNHOH----ArNH+) for condensed systems of two, three and four rings were calculated using semiempirical AM1 molecular orbital theory. The overall thermodynamics of N-hydroxylation were almost insensitive to the structure of the amine while differences in the energetics of nitrenium ion formation varied from 0 to 35 kcal mol-1. Limited correlations between the latter and the experimental TA98 and TA100 mutagenicities of the amines are presented.

Different inhibition and induction profiles of hepatic drug metabolism in rats and dogs by two structurally related pyridyl diazinone cardiotonic agents

ICI 153,110 and ICI 170,777, two pyridyl diazinone cardiotonic agents, produced a different profile of effects on hepatic microsomal mixed function oxidase enzymes following multiple oral dosing to rats and dogs; these differences may be related to the molecular dimensions of the two molecules. ICI 153,110 significantly increased levels of total P450, ethoxycoumarin O-deethylase and ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase in rat microsomes, indicating an induction profile (P448) similar to that of beta-naphthoflavone. This was supported by gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) of microsomal proteins; a similar type of induction was observed in dog microsomes. In contrast, ICI 170,777 produced no changes indicating enzyme induction in either rat or dog. Instead, ICI 170,777 appeared to inhibit specifically the activity of aldrin epoxidase in the rat. Inhibitory activity was also indicated in the rat by prolongation of pentobarbitone sleeping time following single oral doses of either ICI 153,110 or ICI 170,777. The time-course of this effect appeared to correlate more closely with the profile of circulating metabolites, although both parent compounds were found to produce type II spectral changes on interaction with control rat microsomes. The molecular dimensions (area/depth2) of the compounds supported the finding that only ICI 153,110 should interact with or induce P448 isozymes.

Induction of the P-450 I family of proteins by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: possible relationship to their carcinogenicity

The hypothesis has been put forward that mutagenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons which induce the P-450 I family of cytochromes, the major enzyme system responsible for their activation, are likely to be carcinogenic. In order to test this hypothesis, rats have been pretreated with a number of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons of different mutagenic and carcinogenic potency and hepatic P-450 I activity was monitored using chemical probes such as the O-deethylation of ethoxyresorufin and metabolic activation of Glu-P-1 to mutagens, and immunologically employing polyclonal antibodies against purified rat P-450 I A1. All compounds studied enhanced P-450 I activity and induced P-450 I apoproteins but the extent of induction was very markedly different. The results are discussed with reference to the mutagenicity of these chemicals in the Ames test and their carcinogenicity in the classical mouse skin model. A relationship appears to exist between carcinogenicity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and their ability to induce hepatic P-450 I activity.