Site of action of aflatoxin on human liver cells in culture.

Abstract

THE hepatotoxic activity of a number of metabolic compounds produced by fungi, particularly the aflatoxins formed by strains of the Aspergillus flavus-oryzae group, is now fully established. The addition of aflatoxin to human diploid and heteroploid embryo lung cell cultures by Legator and Withrow1 resulted in suppression of mitosis. Legator, Zuffante and Harp2 used heteroploid embryo lung cells and found that both crude aflatoxin and aflatoxin B1 suppressed the synthesis of DNA. Zuckerman and Fulton3 demonstrated the cytotoxicity of aflatoxin B1 on human embryo liver cells in tissue culture. We now report further investigations of the site of action of aflatoxin B1 in human liver cells as well as the results of titration of three aflatoxin fractions.