Ellipticine is an antineoplastic agent, the mode of action of which is considered to be based on DNA intercalation and inhibition of topoisomerase II. We found that ellipticine also forms the cytochrome P450 (CYP)-mediated covalent DNA adducts. We now identified the ellipticine metabolites formed by human CYPs and elucidated the metabolites responsible for DNA binding. The 7-hydroxyellipticine, 9-hydroxyellipticine, 12-hydroxyellipticine, 13-hydroxyellipticine, and ellipticine N 2 -oxide are generated by hepatic microsomes from eight human donors. The role of specific CYPs in the oxidation of ellipticine and the role of the ellipticine metabolites in the formation of DNA adducts were investigated by correlating the levels of metabolites formed in each microsomal sample with CYP activities and with the levels of the ellipticine-derived deoxyguanosine adducts in DNA. On the basis of this analysis, formation of 9-hydroxyellipticine and 7-hydroxyellipticine was attributable to CYP1A1/2, whereas production of 13-hydroxyellipticine and ellipticine N 2 -oxide, the metabolites responsible for formation of two major DNA adducts, was attributable to CYP3A4. Using recombinant human enzymes, oxidation of ellipticine to 9-hydroxyellipticine and 7-hydroxyellipticine by CYP1A1/2 and to 13-hydroxyellipticine and N 2 -oxide by CYP3A4 was corroborated. Homologue modeling and docking of ellipticine to the CYP3A4 active center was used to explain the predominance of ellipticine oxidation by CYP3A4 to 13-hydroxyellipticine and N 2 -oxide.

Many studies using mammalian cellular and subcellular systems have demonstrated that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, including benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), are metabolically activated by cytochrome P450s (CYPs). In order to evaluate the role of hepatic versus extra-hepatic metabolism of BaP and its pharmacokinetics, we used the hepatic cytochrome P450 reductase null (HRN) mouse model, in which cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase, the unique electron donor to CYPs, is deleted specifically in hepatocytes, resulting in the loss of essentially all hepatic CYP function. HRN and wild-type (WT) mice were treated intraperitoneally (i.p.) with 125 mg/kg body wt BaP daily for up to 5 days. Clearance of BaP from blood was analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection. DNA adduct levels were measured by (32)P-post-labelling analysis with structural confirmation of the formation of 10-(deoxyguanosin-N(2)-yl)-7,8,9-trihydroxy-7,8,9,10-tetrahydrobenzo[a]pyrene by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis. Hepatic microsomes isolated from BaP-treated and untreated mice were also incubated with BaP and DNA in vitro. BaP-DNA adduct formation was up to 7-fold lower with the microsomes from HRN mice than with that from WT mice. Most of the hepatic microsomal activation of BaP in vitro was attributable to CYP1A. Pharmacokinetic analysis of BaP in blood revealed no significant differences between HRN and WT mice. BaP-DNA adduct levels were higher in the livers (up to 13-fold) and elevated in several extra-hepatic tissues of HRN mice (by 1.7- to 2.6-fold) relative to WT mice. These data reveal an apparent paradox, whereby hepatic CYP enzymes appear to be more important for detoxification of BaP in vivo, despite being involved in its metabolic activation in vitro.

3-Nitrobenzanthrone (3-nitro-7H-benz [de]anthracen-7-one, 3-NBA) is a potent mutagen and suspected human carcinogen identified in diesel exhaust and air pollution. We compared the ability of human hepatic cytosolic samples to catalyze DNA adduct formation by 3-NBA. Using the 32 P-postlabeling method, we found that 12/12 hepatic cytosols activated 3-NBA to form multiple DNA adducts similar to those formed in vivo in rodents. By comparing 3-NBA-DNA adduct formation in the presence of cofactors of NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1) and xanthine oxidase, most of the reductive activation of 3-NBA in human hepatic cytosols was attributed to NQO1. Inhibition of adduct formation by dicoumarol, an NQO1 inhibitor, supported this finding and was confirmed with human recombinant NQO1. When cofactors of N,Oacetyltransferases (NAT) and sulfotransferases (SULT) were added to cytosolic samples, 3-NBA-DNA adduct formation increased 10-to 35-fold. Using human recombinant NQO1 and NATs or SULTs, we found that mainly NAT2, followed by SULT1A2, NAT1, and, to a lesser extent, SULT1A1 activate 3-NBA. We also evaluated the role of hepatic NADPH:cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase (POR) in the activation of 3-NBA in vivo by treating hepatic POR-null mice and wild-type littermates i.p. with 0.2 or 2 mg/kg body weight of 3-NBA. No difference in DNA binding was found in any tissue examined (liver, lung, kidney, bladder, and colon) between null and wild-type mice, indicating that 3-NBA is predominantly activated by cytosolic nitroreductases rather than microsomal POR. Collectively, these results show the role of human hepatic NQO1 to reduce 3-NBA to species being further activated by NATs and SULTs. (Cancer Res 2005; 65(7): 2644-52)