Acetyl coenzyme A dependent activation of N-hydroxy derivatives of carcinogenic arylamines: mechanism of activation, species difference, tissue distribution, and acetyl donor specificity.

Acetyl coenzyme A dependent activation of 2-hydroxyamino-6-methyldipyrido[1,2-a:3',2'-d]imidazole (N-OH-Glu-P-1) and 3-hydroxyamino-1-methyl-5H-pyrido [4,3-b]indole (N-OH-Trp-P-2) was investigated using cytosols from hepatic and extrahepatic tissues of various animal species in comparison with that of N-hydroxy-2-aminofluorene. N-OH-Glu-P-1 and N-OH-Trp-P-2 were metabolized to the reactive species capable of binding to transfer RNA through a putative O-acetylation process by liver cytosols. Kidney, small intestinal mucosa, lung, and bladder from hamsters and rats also mediated the reaction, although their activities were lower than that in the liver. Marked species differences in the enzymatic activities of livers were observed. Hamsters showed the highest ability in the activation for N-OH-Glu-P-1 and N-OH-Trp-P-2, followed by rats. Rabbits with a rapid acetylator phenotype, which showed a high activity in the N-acetylation of arylamines, activated N-OH-Glu-P-1 but scarcely N-OH-Trp-P-2. A rabbit with a slow acetylator phenotype, mice, guinea pigs, and a dog showed marginal or nondetectable activities with N-OH-Glu-P-1 and N-OH-Trp-P-2. A typical nonheterocyclic N-hydroxyarylamine, N-hydroxy-2-aminofluorene was also activated by the acetyl coenzyme A dependent system to an intermediate which bound to transfer RNA. However, the acetyl-CoA dependent binding of N-hydroxy-2-aminofluorene was markedly different from those observed with N-OH-Glu-P-1 and N-OH-Trp-P-2 concerning the order of activities among animal species used. In addition to short chain acyl coenzyme As, N-hydroxy-2-acetylaminofluorene also served as an acetyl donor for the activation of N-OH-Glu-P-1 and N-OH-Trp-P-2 in liver cytosol systems. The formation of N-acetyl-N-OH-Glu-P-1, however, was not detected in the cytosolic system of N-OH-Glu-P-1 with acetyl-CoA, suggesting the direct O-acetylation at the N-hydroxy group as a major pathway for the activation of N-hydroxyarylamines.