Role of DNA methylation in the activation of proto-oncogenes and the induction of pulmonary neoplasia by nitrosamines.

The relationships between DNA methylation and repair induced by the tobacco-specific nitrosamine 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) to the activation of proto-oncogenes and the induction of pulmonary neoplasia by this carcinogen is described. The formation of the O6-methylguanine (O6MG) adduct following metabolic activation of NNK appears to be a major factor in the induction of lung tumors in both rats and mice and in the activation of the K-ras oncogene in lung tumors from A/J mouse. The potent carcinogenicity of NNK in the rat lung correlated strongly with cell specificity for formation and persistence of the O6MG adduct in the Clara cells. This conclusion was supported by studies with nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), a weak carcinogen in the rodent lung. Treatment with NDMA was not associated with any pulmonary cell specificity for DNA methylation. The high affinity for activation of NNK compared to NDMA was ascribed to a difference in cytochrome P-450 isozymes involved in the activation of these two nitrosamines. In the A/J mouse, the induction of pulmonary tumorigenesis involved direct genotoxic activation of the K-ras proto-oncogene as a result of the base mispairing produced by formation of the O6MG adduct. In contrast, the induction of pulmonary tumors in the rat by NNK does not appear to involve the ras pathway. It is apparent that different molecular mechanisms are involved in the development of pulmonary tumors by NNK in the mouse and rat. The studies described in this paper illustrate the utility of performing dose-response experiments and the quantitation of DNA methylation and repair in not only target tissues but also target cell types. The fundamental knowledge gained from unraveling the mechanism of carcinogenesis by NNK could lead ultimately to the identification of factors important in the development of human lung cancer.