Chemical dosimetry of ethyl nitrosourea in the mouse testis

[3H-Et]Nitrosourea was administered to male (101 X C3H) mice by i.p. injection at exposure levels of 10 mg/kg or 100 mg/kg. At intervals from 1 h to 6 days following treatment, the ratio of O6-ethylguanine to N7-ethylguanine in testis DNA averaged 1.13 following the 100 mg/kg exposure and 0.72 following the 10 mg/kg exposure. The amount of O6-ethylguanine recovered after the 100 mg/kg exposure was 40% greater than predicted from a linear extrapolation of the amount of O6-ethylguanine recovered after the 10 mg/kg exposure. We suggest that the high (100 mg/kg) exposure to ethyl nitrosourea results in depletion of the O6-alkylguanine acceptor protein within the testis and permits O6-ethylguanine to persist at higher levels than would be predicted from lower exposure data. W.L. Russell et al. (1982), W.L. Russell (1984) have found that specific-locus mutation frequencies induced in mouse spermatogonial stem cells are 5.8-fold greater after a single 100 mg/kg exposure to ethyl nitrosourea than after 10 weekly exposures to 10 mg/kg. The finding that the corresponding ratio for O6-ethylguanine formed in the testis is only 1.4 may be interpreted in a number of possible ways. If O6-ethylguanine is an important lesion for producing specific-locus mutations, then its formation in the stem cells must be at least 4-fold greater than that for the whole testis as the ENU exposure goes from 10 to 100 mg/kg: alternatively, the rate of repair of this lesion by the stem cells must decrease at least 4-fold relative to the average testicular cell. Other explanations for the difference in mutation response of the stem cells to acute vs. chronic ethyl nitrosourea-exposures include the possibility that other DNA lesions may be responsible for many of the mutations or that two hits on the DNA may be required to produce an effect.