期刊名称:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN:0027-8424
电子版ISSN:1091-6490
出版年度:1973
卷号:70
期号:8
页码:2281-2285
DOI:10.1073/pnas.70.8.2281
语种:English
出版社:The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要:18 Carcinogens, including aflatoxin B1, benzo(a)pyrene, acetylaminofluorene, benzidine, and dimethylamino-trans-stilbene, are shown to be activated by liver homogenates to form potent frameshift mutagens. We believe that these carcinogens have in common a ring system sufficiently planar for a stacking interaction with DNA base pairs and a part of the molecule capable of being metabolized to a reactive group: these structural features are discussed in terms of the theory of frameshift mutagenesis. We propose that these carcinogens, and many others that are mutagens, cause cancer by somatic mutation. A simple, inexpensive, and extremely sensitive test for detection of carcinogens as mutagens is described. It consists of the use of a rat or human liver homogenate for carcinogen activation (thus supplying mammalian metabolism) and a set of Salmonella histidine mutants for mutagen detection. The homogenate, bacteria, and a TPNH-generating system are all incubated together on a petri plate. With the most active compounds, as little as a few nanograms can be detected.