Correlation between transformation potential and inducible enzyme levels of hamster embryo cells

When benzo(a)pyrene was used to evaluate the transformability of 129 hamster embryo cell preparations from pooled or individual embryos, approximately 50% of the cultures were transformable. A transformable and a non-transformable cell culture were further tested with other carcinogens (3-methylcholanthrene [MCA], benzyl chloride, ethyl-p-toluenesulfonate, 2-naphthylamine, and aflatoxin B1). The transformable culture responded to all of the carcinogens while the non-transformable culture always gave negative results. Aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase (AHH) and epoxide hydrase (EH) levels were compared in the two cell cultures using beta-naphthoflavone (BNF), benz(a)anthracene (BA), sodium phenobarbital (PB) or MCA as microsomal enzyme-inducing agents. It was found that AHH levels and the degree of induction following treatment of the cells with BNF or BA were consistently higher in the transformable than in the non-transformable cells following treatment with either BNF, BA, PB or MCA. Inducible AHH and EH levels might, therefore, be useful as predictors of the transformation potential of hamster embryo cell cultures.