Abstract
A peculiarity of nitrosamines is the high degree of cell and organ specificity in inducing tumors. There is substantial evidence that the initiation of the carcinogenesis process by carcinogens of this group is linked to the metabolic competence of the target tissue or cell to convert these carcinogens into mutagenic metabolites and to the binding of those metabolites to cellular DNA. Alkylation occurs in the DNA at the N‐1, N‐3, and N‐7 positions of adenine; the N‐3, N‐7, and O^6^ of guanine; the N‐3, and O^2^ of cytosine; and the N‐3, O^4^, and O^2^ of thymine; and the phosphate groups. The initial proportion of each DNA adduct depends upon the alkylating agent used. The various DNA adducts are lost to a variable extent from DNA in vivo by spontaneous release of bases and Or by specific DNA repair processes. Studies conducted in vitro and in vivo indicate that alkylation at the oxygen atoms of DNA bases is more critical than alkylation at other positions in the mutagenesis and carcinogenesis induced by N‐nitroso compounds. In particular, tissues in which tumors occur more frequently after a pulse dose of nitrosamine are those in which O^6^‐alkylguanine persists longest in DNA, presumably resulting in an increased probability that a miscoding event (mutation) will take place during DNA synthesis. The more rapid removal of O^6^‐methylguanine from the DNA of liver (as compared with cxtrahepatic tissues) of rats has been associated with the absence of tumor production in this organ by a single dose of dimethylnitrosamine; however, a significant incidence of liver tumors is observed if the same dose is given 24 hr after partial hepatectomy, and tumors arc induced by such a dose of dimethyl‐nitrosamine in the liver of hamsters, which has a low capacity to remove O^6^‐methylguanine from its DNA. These data also indicate that the rate of disappearance of 7‐methylguanine from the liver or cxtrahepatic tissues is independent of the dose of dimethylnitrosamine; whereas O^6^‐methylguanine is lost from DNA more rapidly after a low dose of this nitrosamine. It has been shown that in liver the removal of O^6^‐methylguanine, but not of other DNA adducts, from DNA can be affected by pretreating the animals with N‐nitroso compounds. The modulation of DNA repair processes observed after a single dose and after chronic treatment with nitrosamines is discussed in relation to the tissue‐specific carcinogenic effect of this group of carcinogens.