Methylcholanthrene

Methylcholanthrene [56-49-5] M 268.4, m 179-180 . Crystd from benzene and diethyl ether. CARCINOGEN. 

Nakajima T, Wang RS, Murayama N, et al. 1990b. Three forms of trichloroethylene-metabolizing enzymes in rat liver induced by ethanol, phenobarbital, and 3-methylcholanthrene. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 102 546-552. 

The hepatic microsomal a-hydroxylase activity for NPYR is inducible in rats by pretreatment with Aroclor, and in hamsters by pretreatment with Aroclor, 3-methylcholanthrene, phenobarbi-tal, and ethanol (10,15,19). In contrast, pretreatment of rats with 3-methylcholanthrene or phenobarbital causes no change or a slight decrease in microsomal NPYR o-hydroxylase activity (19). 

A recent series of experiments which may be related to this concept has been reported by Prehn and Lawler (29) They treated 10 strains of mice with two different dose levels (5% and 0.05%) of 3-methylcholanthrene and observed that the rank order of susceptibility, as measured by the average number of tumor-free days, was reversed on going from the higher to the lower dose. They suggested differential stimulation of immune response as an explanation of their results but it is also possible that different dose-responses, as suggested by Druckrey s equation (equation 5), may be important. 

Note Bi, biphenyl Nap, naphthalene Phe, phenanthrene Anth, anthracene Hu, fluoranthene Pyr, pyrene Chr, chrysene BaAnth, benz[a]anthracene BaPyr, benzo[a]pyrene BbFlu, benzo[h]fluoranthene DBaAnth, dibenz[a,/i]anthracene 3-Me-Chol, 3-methylcholanthrene. 

Little PJ, MO James, JB Pritchard, JR Bend (1984) Benzo(a)pyrene metabolism in hepatic microsomes from feral and 3-methylcholanthrene-treated southern flounder, Paralichthys lethostigma. J Environ Pathol Toxicol Oncol 5 309-320. 

Cerniglia CE, RH Dodge, DT Gibson (1982d) Fungal oxidation of 3-methylcholanthrene formation of proximate carcinogenic metabolites of 3-methylcholanthrene. Chem-Biol Interactions 38 161-173. 

Portal infusion of NAPQl into rats and mice produces necrosis in the periportal region (unpublished results quoted by Nelson, 1990). Studies of cultured hepatocytes sensitized to paracetamol by the induction of cytochrome P450 by 3-methylcholanthrene have shown that paracetamol-induced cytotoxicity was dependent on ROM generation (Gerson et al., 1985). 

Table I. Optical Purity of the Dihydrodiol Metabolites Formed in the Metabolism of Benzo[a]pyrene by Liver Microsomes from Untreated, Phenobarbital (PB)-, 3-Methylcholanthrene (3MC)-, and Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs, Aroclor 1254)-Treated Rats...

It was recently reported that. >97% of BaP 4,5-epoxide metabolically formed from the metabolism of BaP in a reconstituted enzyme system containing purified cytochrome P-450c (P-448) is the 4S,5R enantiomer (24). The epoxide was determined by formation, separation and quantification of the diastereomeric trans-addition products of glutathione. Recently a BaP 4,5-epoxide was isolated from a metabolite mixture obtained from the metabolism of BaP by liver microsomes from 3-methylcholanthrene-treated Sprague-Dawley rats in the presence of the epoxide hydrolase inhibitor 3,3,3-trichloropropylene oxide, and was found to contain a 4S,5R/4R,5S enantiomer ratio of 94 6 (Chiu et. al., unpublished results). However, the content of the 4S,5R enantiomer was <60% when liver microsomes from untreated and phenobarbital-treated rats were used as the enzyme sources. Because BaP 4R,5S-epoxide is also hydrated predominantly to 4R,5R-dihydro-... 

BA trans-3.4-dihvdrodiol cannot be separated from BA trans-8.9-dihydrodiol in several HPLC conditions (27-29). Quantification of BA trana-3,4-dihydrodiol by HPLC can only be accomplished after converting the 3,4-dihydrodiol to its diacetate (25.26). The BA trans-3.4-dihydrodiol formed in BA metabolism by liver microsomes from pheno-barbital-treated rats was determined to have a 3R,4R/3S,4S enantiomer ratio of 69 31 (30). Recently we have determined the optical purity of the BA trans-3.4-dihvdrodiol formed in the metabolism of BA by three liver microsomes prepared from untreated rats and rats that had been pretreated with an enzyme inducer. As shown in Table II, cytochrome P-450 isozymes contained in liver microsomes from 3-methylcholanthrene- or phenobarbital-treated rats had similar stereoselectivity toward the 3,4-double bond of BA. BA trans-3.4-dihydrodiol is formed via the 3,4-epoxide intermediate (31). 

In contrast to the metabolism of BA and BaP, the 5,6-dihydrodiols formed in the metabolism of DMBA by liver microsomes from untreated, phenobarbital-treated, and 3-methylcholanthrene-treated rats are found to have 5R,6R/5S,6S enantiomer ratios of 11 89, 6 94, and 5 95, respectively (7.49 and Table II). The enantiomeric contents of the dihydrodiols were determined by a CSP-HPLC method (7.43). The 5,6-epoxide formed in the metabolism of DMBA by liver microsomes from 3MC-treated rats was found to contain predominantly (>97%) the 5R,6S-enantiomer which is converted by microsomal epoxide hydrolase-catalyzed hydration predominantly (>95%) at the R-center (C-5 position, see Figure 3) to yield the 5S,6S-dihydrodiol (49). In the metabolism of 12-methyl-BA, the 5S,6S-dihydrodiol was also found to be the major enantiomer formed (50) and this stereoselective reaction is similar to the reactions catalyzed by rat liver microsomes prepared with different enzyme inducers (unpublished results). Labeling studies using molecular oxygen-18 indicate that 5R,68-epoxide is the precursor of the 5S,6S-dihydrodiol formed in the metabolism of 12-methyl-BA (51). 

In the liver8 of rats pretreated with 3-methylcholanthrene, >70% of the total cytochromes P-450 is cytochrome P-450c (P-448) (52). 

The finding that BaP is highly stereoselectively metabolized to dihydrodiols and bay-region 7,8-dihydrodiol-9,10-epoxides (summarized in Figure 1) by liver microsomes from 3-methylcholanthrene-treated rats led Jerina et a . (48) to propose a model of the substrate binding site for cytochrome P-450c (Figure 7) which... 

Methods for the synthesis of the biologically active dihydrodiol and diol epoxide metabolites of both carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are reviewed. Four general synthetic routes to the trans-dihydrodiol precursors of the bay region anti and syn diol epoxide derivatives have been developed. Syntheses of the oxidized metabolites of the following hydrocarbons via these methods are described benzo(a)pyrene, benz(a)anthracene, benzo-(e)pyrene, dibenz(a,h)anthracene, triphenylene, phen-anthrene, anthracene, chrysene, benzo(c)phenanthrene, dibenzo(a,i)pyrene, dibenzo(a,h)pyrene, 7-methyl-benz(a)anthracene, 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene, 3-methylcholanthrene, 5-methylchrysene, fluoranthene, benzo(b)fluoranthene, benzo(j)fluoranthene, benzo(k)-fluoranthene, and dibenzo(a,e)fluoranthene. 

Although benz(a)anthracene (BA) is generally considered noncarcino-genic (27), it is a weak tumor initiator when administered with a phorbol ester promoter (28). More importantly, BA is a convenient model for the highly potent carcinogenic PAH 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)-anthracene and 3-methylcholanthrene (27), both of which are BA derivatives but which offer more serious synthetic problems. 

Methylcholanthrene (3-MC) is a potent carcinogen, intermediate in activity between DMBA and BP (27,77). It was first prepared in 1925 by Wieland from desoxycholic acid (89). Biological studies have tentatively identified the 9,10-dihydrodiol (24a) and/or its 1- or 2-hydroxy derivatives (24b and 24c) and the corresponding diol and triol epoxides (25 -c) as the proximate and ultimate carcinogenic forms, respectively, of 3-MC (90-93). 

Fluoranthenes. With the exception of 3-methylcholanthrene, much less work has been undertaken on nonalternant PAHs. Several recent studies have reported on the major metabolites and mutagenicity of various fluoranthenes (181-185), but little is known about the DNA adduct which they form. Some studies on dibenzo[a,e]fluoranthene showed that several adducts are formed by microsomal incubations (185) and additional studies will be required to provide complete structural elucidation of the products formed. 

Two other polycyclic hydrocarbons, 3-methylcholanthrene and 7,12-dimethylbenzanthracene are oxidized during arachidonate metabolism (21,26). Hydroxymethyl compounds that do not arise from arene oxides appear to be the products formed from 7,12-dimethylbenzanthracene. ... 

Recently, the mechanism of 6-nitro-BaP ring hydroxylation has been elucidated by using 3-deutero-6-nitro-BaP (144). When incubated with 3-methylcholanthrene-induced rat liver microsomes, this deuterated analogue yielded the same metabolite profile previously observed with 6-nitro-BaP. Spectroscopic analysis of 3-hydroxy-6-nitro-BaP and 6-nitro-BaP-3,9-hydroquinone indicated that 30% of the deuterium label had migrated to carbon 2, presumably via an NIH shift. Therefore, it appears that 6-nitro-BaP-2,3-oxide is a common intermediate for these two metabolites. 

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