Rat liver subcellular fractions catalyze aerobic binding of 1-nitro[14C]pyrene to DNA.

The recently characterized environmental mutagen and potential carcinogen 1-nitropyrene (NP) is known to bind DNA in Salmonella typhimurium, and also in anaerobic incubations catalyzed by purified xanthine oxidase. In this study we show that rat liver S9 supernatant, microsomal and cytosolic subcellular fractions are also able to catalyze the binding of 1-nitropyrene labeled with 14C to calf thymus DNA in vitro. In incubations conducted under air, S9 and microsomes from Charles River CD rats were the most active fractions, and NADPH was required for maximum activity (25-100 pmole NP bound/mg DNA/mg protein in 1 hr). S9 and microsomes had about one-fourth the activity under nitrogen, although less of this activity was NADPH-dependent. Binding in cytosolic incubations was generally low (1 to 5 pmole NP/mg DNA/mg protein in 1 hr), was somewhat enhanced under N2, and was more extensive in the absence of NADPH. Treatment of rats (Harlan Sprague-Dawley) with the inducing agents phenobarbital (PB), Aroclor 1254 (A), or 3-methylcholanthrene (3-MC) enhanced NADPH-dependent binding in aerobic S9 (2- to 5-fold) and microsomal (10- to 20-fold) incubations. The effects of induction regimen on binding assays conducted under N2 were more equivocal: 3-MC produced a 2-fold increase in binding in both S9 and microsomes, while the other two agents decreased binding from 50 to 75%. These results indicate that classic cytochrome P-450 inducers were able to stimulate activation of NP, but that this activation is not mediated solely by cytochrome P-450.