Presence of benzo[a]pyrene metabolizing activities in isolated rat liver nucleoli

A benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) hydroxylase activity and epoxide hydrolase (EH) activity have been found in rat liver nucleoli obtained from untreated (C) and 3-methylcholanthrene (3-MC) pretreated rats. A comparison of the enzyme activities was made in rat nuclei and nucleoli. Light and electron microscopic observations of nucleolar preparations did not reveal significant contamination either by intact nuclei or by nuclear membranes, and glucose 6-phosphatase, a marker of microsomal activity, was not detected in our nucleolar preparations. NADPH cytochrome c-reductase could be measured in C and 3-MC nuclei and very low but detectable activity was found in the nucleoli. Nucleolar preparations revealed significant hydroxylating activity, which was inducible by 3-MC in nuclei but not in nucleoli. The presence of EH in nucleoli was demonstrated with phenanthrene 9,10-oxide and B[a]P 4,5-oxide, but the nucleolar activities were lower than those obtained using intact nuclei. The addition of 1,1,1-trichloropropene 2,3-oxide completely inhibited EH activity. Furthermore the presence of covalently-bound metabolites of B[a]P formed in isolated nucleoli was demonstrated by cytofluoromicroscopy.