© 1993 Oxford University Press
research-article |
Modulation of c-myc Gene Expression in Rat Livers by Aflatoxin B1 Exposure and Age1

*Division of Toxicology, Whitaker College of Health Sciences and Technology, Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
Division of Oncology, Sandoz Research Institute East Hanover, New Jersey 07936
Received July 31, 1992; accepted November 4, 1992
A single dose of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) caused a rapid and transient induction in c-myc mRNA levels in livers derived from adult male Fischer 344 rats. The inducibility of c-myc expression by AFB1 increased with age as c-myc mRNA levels from untreated livers declined from 18-fold in 29-day-old animals to 1-fold in 39-day-old animals, relative to untreated 43-day-old control animals. A dose-dependent increase in c-myc mRNA was found when 53- and 76-day-old rats were administered various AFB1 doses whereas 29-day-old animals exhibited essentially no change in c-myc mRNA levels for the doses examined. Rats were treated with multiple doses of AFB1 to induce hepatoccllular carcinomas. C-myc mRNA levels were measured in rat liver samples taken during and subsequent to chronic AFB1 exposure. Characterization of the c-myc induction response at the time of AFB1 exposure revealed that a transient elevation of c-myc mRNA occurred during each (5-day) dosing period for the first 3 weeks, consistent with the acute exposure studies. RNA prepared from hepatocellular carcinomas exhibited elevated levels of c-myc mRNA compared to vehicle-treated control animals. Examination of tumors isolated from the 28-day-old animals showed that the increased c-myc mRNA observed was not the result of gene amplification or gene rearrangement. A comparison of tumor data showed that the 28-day-old animals had a 100% liver tumor incidence while the 38-day-old rats had a 20% liver tumor incidence. The presence of elevated c-myc mRNA in young 28-day-old animals may signify a developmental susceptibility to the hepatocarcinogenic effects of AFB1.