muconaldehyde and Cell-Transformation--Neoplastic

(trans,trans)-Muconaldehyde, a putative metabolite of benzene, should be expected to have mutagenic properties by virtue of its twin alpha,beta-unsaturated carbonylic function. It displayed definitely mutagenic properties in S. typhimurium TA100 without metabolic activation and with a 5-fold concentration of tester organisms in the preincubation assay and induced SOS response in E. coli. It induced micronucleus formation and morphological transformation in a dose-dependent manner in Syrian hamster embryofibroblasts. No DNA single-strand breaks or interstrand cross-links could be detected using the alkaline elution technique; however, strand-break generation by subsequent gamma-irradiation was found to be increased.

Topics: Aldehydes; Animals; Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; Cricetinae; DNA; DNA Damage; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Escherichia coli; In Vitro Techniques; Mice; Micronuclei, Chromosome-Defective; Mutagenicity Tests; Salmonella typhimurium