DNA interstrand cross-link induced by estrogens as well as their complete and synergic carcinogenesis

Abstract

The estrogens show negative activity in Ames test, but estrodiol and diethylstilbestrol in estrogens both are carcinogens based upon animal experiments and epidemiological investigation. It is concluded from the di-region theory, a mechanism conception put forward by one of the present authors, that the carcinogenesis of estrogens is switched on by the covalent cross-link between complementary DNA bases induced by them. We verified for the first time by the DNA alkaline elution method that both estrodiol and diethylstilbestrol cause covalent cross-link between DNA-protein and DNA interstrands after metabolic activation with dosage correlation, but neither the non-carcinogens cholesterol nor pyrene can lead to these sorts of cross-link in the same condition. It has been known that there is a synergetic effect between estrogen and pollution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Although non-carcinogenic pyrene alone cannot induce cross-link, its addition with equal molar quantity to estrodiol culture causes synergically the total and DNA interstrand cross-link ratios to be respectively four and three times more than the ones in the cultivation with estrodiol only. It is shown that not only the estrodiol set off the formation of pyrene bi-radicals, but also the pyrene radicals arouse conversely the production of estrodiol bi-radicals.