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Mutations and deletions in p53 are the most common genetic lesions in human cancer,and an extraordinarily high incidence of lung cancer occurs in smokers suffering from Li-Fraumeni syndrome, which is characterized by germ-line inactivation of one p53 allele. In contrast, p53 mutations are infrequent in lung tumors formed in A/J mice. Moreover, despite the dominant role of cigarette smoke in the epidemiology of human lung cancer, it is very difficult to reproduce the lung tumorigenicity of this complex mixture in animal models. We used a transgenic mouse with a dominant-negative p53 mutation to examine the effects of a mutant p53 on smoke-induced lung carcinogenesis in mice. p53 mutant (UL53-3 x A/J)F(1) mice of both genders and their wild-type (wt) littermate controls were exposed whole-body to environmental cigarette smoke (ECS) for up to 9.5 months. Untreated mutant mice of both genders underwent an early stimulus of bronchial cell proliferation, and an age-related formation of DNA adducts in lung and heart. In males, there was an age-related increase of micronucleated normochromatic erythrocytes in peripheral blood and an impairment of body weight gain. These findings underscore a physiological protective role of p53 in wt A/J mice. The response of wt and mutant mice to ECS was similar in terms of oxidative DNA damage in lung and heart, proliferation of the bronchial epithelium, and levels of p53 oncoprotein, as assessed after exposure for 28 days. In contrast, ECS-exposed mutant mice underwent a lower induction of apoptosis in bronchial epithelium, a greater formation of DNA adducts in lung and heart, and a more intense cytogenetic damage, shown by a higher frequency of micronuclei in pulmonary alveolar macrophages and in peripheral blood normochromatic erythrocytes. Interestingly, at the end of the experiment, DNA adducts were not repaired in either wt or mutant mice after discontinuing exposure to ECS for 1 week. A weak but significant increase of lung tumor incidence and multiplicity was induced in p53 mutant (UL53-3 x A/J)F(1) mice after exposure to ECS for either 5 months, followed by recovery in air for 4.5 months, or 9.5 continuative months. Conversely, no tumorigenic effect was observed in their wt littermate controls, carrying a 99.9% A/J background and 5% FVB genome. This contrasts with the weakly positive results obtained in previous studies using wt A/J mice. Thus, in agreement with the results of previous lung tumorigenicity studies performed with the smoke carcinogens benzo(a)pyrene and 4-(methylnitrosoamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone, (UL53-3 x A/J)F(1) mice carrying a mutant p53 transgene appear to be more sensitive to ECS than the corresponding wt littermate controls. These findings provide evidence that p53 mutations play a role in smoke-related carcinogenesis not only in humans but also in A/J mice.

Chemoprevention opens new perspectives in the prevention of cancer and other chronic degenerative diseases associated with tobacco smoking, exploitable in current smokers and, even more, in exsmokers and passive smokers. Evaluation of biomarkers in animal models is an essential step for the preclinical assessment of efficacy and safety of potential chemopreventive agents. Groups of Sprague Dawley rats were exposed whole body to a mixture of mainstream and sidestream cigarette smoke for 28 consecutive days. Five chemopreventive agents were given either with drinking water (N-acetyl-L-cysteine, 1 g/kg body weight/day) or with the diet (1,2-dithiole-3-thione, 400 mg; Oltipraz, 400 mg; phenethyl isothiocyanate, 500 mg; and 5,6-benzoflavone, 500 mg/kg diet). The monitored biomarkers included: DNA adducts in bronchoalveolar lavage cells, tracheal epithelium, lung and heart; oxidative damage to pulmonary DNA; hemoglobin adducts of 4-aminobiphenyl and benzo(a)pyrene-7,8-diol-9,10-epoxide; micronucleated and polynucleated alveolar macrophages and micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes in bone marrow. Exposure of rats to smoke resulted in dramatic alterations of all investigated parameters. N-Acetyl-L-cysteine, phenylethyl isothiocyanate, and 5,6-benzoflavone exerted a significant protective effect on all alterations. 1,2-Dithiole-3-thione was a less effective inhibitor and exhibited both a systemic toxicity and genotoxicity in alveolar macrophages, whereas its substituted analogue Oltipraz showed limited protective effects in this model. Interestingly, combination of N-acetyl-L-cysteine with Oltipraz was the most potent treatment, resulting in an additive or more than additive inhibition of smoke-related DNA adducts in the lung and hemoglobin adducts. These results provide evidence for the differential ability of test agents to modulate smoke-related biomarkers in the respiratory tract and other body compartments and highlight the potential advantages in combining chemopreventive agents working with distinctive mechanisms.

Molecular dosimetry techniques were exploited in order to assess the efficacy of experimental chemoprevention assays and to evaluate the involvement of DNA alterations, not only in cancer but also in other chronic degenerative diseases. In agreement with other protective effects previously observed in the same animal models, the thiol N-acetylcysteine (NAC) totally prevented or significantly reduced the formation of carcinogen-DNA adducts in three experimental systems in rats. Thus, as assessed by 32P postlabeling, supplement of the diet with NAC decreased both deoxyguanosine-C8-aminofluorene adducts (butanol enrichment) and deoxyguanosine-N2-acetylaminofluorene adducts (nuclease P1 enrichment) formed in rat liver following dietary administration of 2-acetylaminofluorene for 3 weeks. DNA adducts were detected by synchronous fluorescence spectrophotometry in rat liver, lung, heart, and testis following a daily i.t. instillation of benzo(a)pyrene for 3 consecutive days. The whole-body exposure of rats to mainstream cigarette smoke for 40 consecutive days resulted in the appearance of DNA adducts in heart, lung, and aorta, whereas no adduct was detected by synchronous fluorescence spectrophotometry in liver, brain, and testis. Multiple DNA adducts in the aorta were also measured by 32P postlabeling. Administration of NAC by gavage inhibited the formation of DNA adducts in all organs of rats treated with benzo(a)pyrene or exposed to cigarette smoke. It is of interest that a single chemopreventive agent can display a broad-spectrum protective ability. The selective localization of DNA adducts in different organs depends on pharmacokinetics, metabolic capacity, DNA repair efficiency, and cell proliferation rate. Whereas inhibition by NAC of DNA adducts in testis can be correlated with its demonstrated ability to prevent dominant lethal mutations, we raise the hypothesis that DNA adducts in lung, heart, and aorta may be pathogenetically associated with lung cancer, cardiomyopathies, and arteriosclerosis, respectively. In order to explore the involvement of molecular and biochemical alterations in human arteriosclerosis, we started an extensive collaborative project and report here preliminary data showing the presence of DNA adducts in aorta smooth muscle cells obtained from arteriosclerotic patients.