The use of liver cell cultures in mutagenesis studies

A sensitive cell-mediated assay has been developed for testing the mutagensis of liver carcinogens. Mutagenesis was detected in Chinese hamster V79 cells that were cocultivated with hepatocytes isolated after collagenase/hyaluronidase digestion of rat liver slices. Mutations were characterized by resistance to ouabain and 6-thioguanine. Seven of the nitrosamines, which are potent liver carcinogens, exhibited a mutagenic response. Mutagensis with the carcinogens could be detected at micromolar doses. The polyaromatic hydrocarbon benzo(a)pyrene, which is not a liver carcinogen, but can cause fibrosarcomas, was not mutagenic in this assay, but was mutagenic in a fibroblast-mediated assay. The liver carcinogen, aflatoxin B1, which usually does not induce fibrosarcomas, exhibited an inverse situation; it was mutagenic for V79 cells in the presence of liver cells but not in the presence of fibroblasts. We suggest that the use of various cell types, including hepatocytes prepared by the slicing method for carcinogen metabolism, and mutable V79 cells offers a sensitive assay for determining the mutagenic potential of chemical carcinogens, and may also allow a study of their organ specificity.