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The induction of tumors with chemicals and the production of transgenic animals are two experimental approaches to study oncogene involvement in carcinogenesis. The combination of both strategies offers an excellent model system to study tumor development. This study analyzes the potential cooperation of N-methylnitrosourea (MNU) treatment and N-ras proto-oncogene overexpression in tumorigenesis in transgenic mice. The overexpression of the N-ras proto-oncogene in these animals is associated with development of mammary tumors and lymphomas. After MNU treatment we analyzed tumor incidence and latency, levels of transgene expression, and pattern of ras mutations in codons 12, 13, and 61 of H-, K-, and N-ras genes in both tumor types. Transgenic mice treated with MNU had significantly (P < 0.001) shorter latency of appearance of mammary tumors [8.6 +/- 3.0 (SD) months] than phosphate-buffered saline-treated transgenics (12.8 +/- 2.3 months). All mammary tumors overexpressed the N-ras transgene and lacked ras mutations. Moreover, MNU-treated transgenics had an incidence and latency of lymphomas similar to that of MNU-treated nontransgenic mice. No significant differences in incidence of point mutations (K-ras codon 12 or 13 and N-ras codon 61) in lymphomas were seen between these two groups. All lymphomas overexpressed the N-ras transgene, except for those carrying a K-ras point mutation. Overexpression of the N-ras proto-oncogene cooperates with non-ras genes mutated by MNU in mouse mammary carcinogenesis. Conversely, N-ras proto-oncogene overexpression does not show cooperation with MNU in lymphomagenesis in our system. This study suggests that proto-oncogene overexpression may be a mechanism of activation of the ras pathway, alternative to point mutation. Similarly to actions for ras genes activated by point mutation, overexpression of the N-ras protooncogene predisposes to tumorigenesis and cooperates with a carcinogen in tumorigenesis. The possibility that ras overexpression plays a role in human breast tumorigenesis requires active investigation.

The conversion of a normal cell into a metastatic tumor is thought to occur in a stepwise progression of genetic changes that affect both growth control and interactions with the extracellular environment. The development of invasiveness allows tumor cells to escape from their primary site. We have investigated transgenic mice that develop both invasive intestinal neuroendocrine tumors and noninvasive tumors of the pancreatic beta-cells. Visual inspection and gene expression studies indicate that the beta-cell tumors rarely metastasize. In contrast, intestinal tumors that first appear in submucosal areas metastasize with high frequency to the lymph nodes and liver. No evidence of preneoplastic mucosal lesions was seen in the intestine, indicating that invasiveness is acquired early in the tumorigenic progression of these cells. Comparison of intestinal and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors in transgenic mice suggests that an early requirement for invasiveness may contribute to metastatic potential.

Reaction of acrylic acid (AA) at pH 7.0 and 37 degrees C for 40 days with 2'-deoxyadenosine (dAdo), 2'-deoxycytidine (dCyd), 2'-deoxyguanosine (dGuo) and thymidine (dThd) resulted in the formation of 2-carboxyethyl (CE) adducts via Michael addition. The alkylated 2'-deoxynucleoside adducts isolated (percent yield after 40 days) were 1-CE-dAdo (5%), N6-CE-dAdo (11%) (via Dimroth rearrangement of 1-CE-dAdo), 3-CE-dCyd (7.5%), 7-CE-Gua (4%), 7,9-bis-CE-Gua (0.9%) (formed by reaction of AA with depurinated 7-CE-Gua during the course of the reaction) and 3-CE-dThd (0.5%). The products isolated following in vitro reaction of AA with calf thymus DNA at pH 7.0 and 37 degrees C for 40 days were (nmol/mg DNA) 1-CE-Ade (9.9), N6-CE-Ade (8.2), 7-CE-Gua (7.2) and 3-CE-Thy (1.9). Compound 3-CE-Cyt was not detected. Thus the adducts formed following in vitro reaction of AA with DNA are identical to those formed by in vitro reaction of the carcinogen beta-propiolactone (BPL) with DNA as reported in an earlier paper. Structures were assigned on the basis of identical UV spectra, Rf values on paper chromatograms and Rt values on HPLC as marker compounds prepared from reactions of BPL with 2'-deoxynucleosides and 2'-deoxynucleotides-5'-monophosphoric acids. AA was assayed for carcinogenic activity by s.c. injection (20 mumol, once a week for 52 weeks) in female Hsd: (ICR)Br mice. Two mice with sarcomas at the site of application were observed out of 30 mice. Malignancies were not observed in solvent and no-treatment controls. The bioassay results reported in this paper and elsewhere in the same strain of mice suggest that AA is a weak carcinogen in female Hsd:(ICR)Br mice.

4a alpha-Phorbol-9,9a-didecanoate, 4a alpha-phorbol-9-myristate-9a-acetate, and phorbol-9-myristate-9a-acetate-3-aldehyde were tested for skin tumor-promoting activity by using 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene as the initiating agent. There were 30 female ICR/Ha mice/group, and tests were continued for 434 to 461 days. 4a alpha-Phorbol-9,9a-didecanoate and 4a alpha-phorbol-9-myristate-9a-acetate were devoid of tumor-promoting activity. Phorbol-9-myristate-9a-acetate-3-aldehyde resulted in 10 mice with papillomas, 2 of which also bore squamous carcinomas of the skin. The positive control group, in which phorbol myristate acetate was used as promoting agent, resulted in 30 mice bearing multiple papillomas and 15 bearing squamous carcinomas of the skin. The effects of structural and stereochemical changes on tumor-promoting activity suggest that a primary interaction of the phorbol ester series is binding at specific sites on the plasma membrane.

Two-stage carcinogenesis experiments on mouse skin (female ICR/Ha Swiss mice) were done by initiating mice at three age levels (6, 44, and 56 weeks) and promoting after a 2-week interval. In another series, mice were initiated at age 6 weeks, and three time intervals (2, 36, and 56 weeks) were used between initiation and promotion. The initiating agent was 7, 12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene and the promoting agent was phorbol myristate acetate in all experiments. The results showed a general decrease in tumor production with increasing age at the time of promotion. However, the initiating effect persisted even when the interval between initiation and promotion was 56 weeks.

Four bifunctional and one trifunctional alpha-chloro ethers were tested for carcinogenicity. These compounds were bis-1,2-(chloromethoxy)ethane (Compound I), bis-1,4-(chloromethoxy)butane (Compound II), bis-1,6-(chloromethoxy) hexane (Compound III), bis-1,4-(chloromethoxy)-p-xylene (Compound IV), and tris-1,2,3-(chloromethoxy)propane (Compound V). trans-1,4-Dichlorobutene-2 (Compound VI) was tested along with the five alpha-chloro ethers. All six compounds were tested in female ICR/Ha Swiss mice for 502 to 569 days, depending on survival, by skin application or s.c. and i.p. injection. There were 30 or 50 mice/group. The i.p. and s.c. injections were given once weekly at 0.1 or 0.3 mg of compound dissolved in 0.05 ml tricaprylin for Compounds I to V and 0.05 mg/0.05 ml tricaprylin for Compound VI for the duration of the tests. The skin applications, three times weekly, were at doses of 0.3 or 1.0 mg/0.1 ml cyclohexane for the alpha-chloro ethers and 1.0 mg/0.1 ml acetone for Compound VI. Vehicle and no treatment controls were carried out together with the test compounds. Significance values (p) were calculated for all the compounds tested. Three compounds, I, IV and V, gave notable tumor incidences by all three routes of administration. Compounds II, III, and VI were either inactive by one or more routes of administration or gave low tumor yields.

Six epoxides of structurally related chloroalkenes were examined for their carcinogenicity by chronic testing in female ICR/Ha Swiss mice, 30/group. Repeated skin application three times weekly or s.c. injection once weekly were used for the life spans of the mice. The epoxides were: cis-1-chloropropene oxide, trans-1-chloropropene oxide, cis-1,3-dichloropropene oxide, trans-1,3-dichloropropene oxide, trichloroethylene oxide (TCEO), and tetrachloroethylene oxide (PCEO). In mouse skin, cis-1-chloropropene oxide, trans-1-chloropropene oxide, cis-1-,3-dichloropropene oxide, and trans-1,3-dichloropropene oxide induced statistically significant incidences of squamous carcinomas of the skin; TCEO did not cause any skin tumors; and PCEO resulted in three mice with benign skin tumors and one with a squamous carcinoma of the skin. Repeated s.c. injection of the four propene oxides induced statistically significant incidences of local tumors, mostly fibrosarcomas. This was not the case with TCEO and PCEO. The data are consistent with the carcinogenicity findings on the parent chloropropenes and suggest that the epoxides function as their activated carcinogenic intermediates. The essentially negative findings with TCEO and PCEO suggest further studies on the carcinogenicity of trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene.

The goal of these experiments in female Hsd:(ICR)Br mice was to determine whether the direct-acting SN1 alkylating carcinogen isopropyl methanesulfonate (IMS) is carcinogenic and to compare its effects with those of the direct-acting SN2 methyl homologue, methyl methanesulfonate (MMS). The compounds were administered by topical application and s.c. injection. Analysis at the 288th day of mice receiving s.c. injections of IMS and MMS was the subject of a previous report (A. Segal et al., Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med., 183: 132-135, 1986). The s.c. and topical application experiments were terminated at the 450th day and the final results are reported in this paper. In mice treated by s.c. injection with IMS, thymic lymphomas were observed in at least 20 of 32 mice, the first at the 40th day, and neoplasms were not observed at the injection site. Of the 30 MMS-treated mice, 11 developed sarcomas at the injection site and one thymic lymphoma was observed. In mice treated topically with IMS, thymic lymphomas were observed in 20 of 30 treated mice, the first at the 102nd day, and squamous cell carcinomas at the injection site were observed in 9 mice. Neither squamous cell carcinomas nor thymic lymphomas were observed in 30 mice following topical application of MMS. The direct-acting SN2 aklylating carcinogen beta-propiolactone was also administered by topical application. At the 450th day, at the same dose used for MMS (40 mumol/application), papillomas of the skin were observed in 25 of 30 treated mice, squamous cell carcinomas of the skin were seen in 17 mice, and one thymic lymphoma was observed. The results suggest that the rapid induction of thymomas by IMS may be related to its ability to alkylate exocyclic oxygen atoms in DNA of hemopoietic cells and also to a sensitivity of these cells to such lesions.

Phorbolol myristate acetate (PHMA) had been previously prepared from the potent mouse skin tumor promoter phorbol myristate acetate (PMA) by sodium borohydride reduction of the C-5 carbonyl group in PMA to a secondary alcohol. PHMA was shown to have an inflammatory effect in mouse skin equal to that of PMA. 2,3-Dihydrophorbol myristate acetate (DPMA), a new compound, was prepared from the 3-aldehyde of PMA by catalytic hydrogenation. DPMA exhibited no detectable inflammatory effect in mouse skin. Both DPMA and PHMA were tested on the dorsal skins of female ICR/Ha Swiss mice (30/group) for 433 and 380 days, respectively, in separate experiments. The tumor-promoting activity of both compounds was reduced significantly, compared with that of equimolar doses of PMA. For each treatment the number of mice with tumors per total number of tumors was: DPMA, 9/17; PMA, 29/553 at 10 microgram/mouse; PMA, 30/317; PHMA, 24/69 at 2.5 microgram/mouse. The results suggest that specific binding requirements influence the tumor-promoting and hyperplastic activity of PMA and its closely related derivatives in mouse skin.

The flame retardants tris(2,3-dibromopropyl)phosphate, tetrakis(hydroxymethyl)phosphonium chloride, and polyvinyl bromide were tested for carcinogenic activity by skin application 3 times weekly in random-bred female ICR/Ha Swiss mice for 420 to 496 days. Tris(2,3-dibromopropyl)phosphate at two dose levels (30 mg and 10 mg/application) induced benign and malignant tumors of the skin, forestomach, and oral cavity (tongue and gingiva) in a statistically significant number of mice (30/group). A statistically significant incidence of papillary tumors of the lung was observed at both dosages, and the higher dose also resulted in one mouse with a tubular adenoma of the kidney. Tetrakis(hydroxymethyl)phosphonium chloride (2 mg/application, 60 mice) and polyvinyl bromide (0.1 ml latex suspension/application, 30 mice) were inactive. Polyvinyl bromide was also injected s.c. into another group of female ICR/Ha Swiss mice once weekly for 48 weeks, and the mice were observed for a total of 60 weeks. Liposarcomas were induced in 19 of 30 mice, which was ascribed to physical carcinogenesis. Appropriate solvent and no-treatment control groups were included.