[Study of mutagenesis of two procarcinogens in human amnion cells using a shuttle vector pWB1]

Using 2 x 10(-5) mol/ml beta-NF (beta-naphthoflavone) to induce FL cells to express cytochrome P450 isozymes at a reasonable level, we have studied the mutagenesis of two procarcinogens, aflatoxin B1 and benzo (alpha)pyrene, at four different doses. Except for their top doses, all other doses induced mutation in target gene SupF carried by plasmid pWB1 at the frequency of 10(-4), which is higher than the spontaneous mutation frequency (7.61 x 10(-6)). Aflatoxin B1 demonstrated normal effect-dose relationship. Meanwhile no mutant was detected in their correspondent negative controls. All the results suggest that shuttle vector pWB1 can be conveniently used for detection of procarcinogens and study of their mutagenesis mechanisms in human cells.