Effects of cytochrome P1-450 inducers on the cell-surface receptors for epidermal growth factor, phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate, or insulin of cultured mouse hepatoma cells.

Hepa-1c1c7, a mouse hepatoma cell line, was used to study the effect of cytochrome P1-450 inducers on the binding of 125I-epidermal growth factor (EGF), 125I-insulin, or [20-3H]phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate each to its specific cell-surface receptor. After a 24-h exposure to the cultured cells, several polycyclic hydrocarbon P1-450 inducers decrease the binding of EGF to EGF receptors much more than phenobarbital does. There appears to be a selectivity in the inhibitory effects: whereas EGF binding to EGF receptors is blocked, the binding of either phorbol ester or insulin each to its specific cell-surface receptors remains unaffected. The rank order of binding affinities of these chemicals to the cytosolic Ah receptor (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin much greater than benzo[a]pyrene greater than benzo[a]anthracene greater than 6-aminochrysene much greater than phenobarbital) is not correlated with their effects on EGF binding capacity. The effect of polycyclic hydrocarbons on EGF binding takes 24 h at 37 degrees C to be maximal, whereas phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate, a potent tumor-promoting compound, inhibits EGF binding in less than 30 min. Removal of benzo[a]anthracene from the growth medium after 24 h results in a gradual recovery in EGF binding, indicating that the effect is reversible. Benzo[a]pyrene and benzo[a]anthracene are relatively ineffective at decreasing EGF binding to the EGF receptors in Hepa-1 mutant clones c2 and c4, which lack a normally functioning Ah receptor and inducible aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase activity (P1-450). The very toxic metabolite (+)-7 beta,8 alpha-dihydroxy-9 alpha, 10 alpha-epoxy-7,8,9,10-tetrahydrobenzo[a]pyrene, when added directly to the growth medium of c4 cells, however, is effective at decreasing EGF binding. These data suggest that electrophilic metabolites of polycyclic aromatic compounds, formed by P1-450 induced during the exposure of Hepa-1 cells to these chemicals, are important in decreasing EGF binding to the EGF cell-surface receptor. Occupancy of the Ah receptor per se does not affect EGF binding.