Inhibition of the formation of benzo[a]pyrene adducts to DNA in A549 lung cells exposed to mixtures of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

•The carcinogenic potency of PAHs correlates with the induction of CYP450 genes in A549 cells.•The most carcinogenic PAHs inhibit the formation of B[a]P adducts in binary mixtures.•A synergistic effect is for gene induction observed in A549 exposed to complex mixtures.•Both EROD activity and DNA adducts formation are inhibited by complex mixtures in A549 cells.•These results questions the risk assessment strategies based on additivity of effects.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous pollutants, which exhibit carcinogenic properties especially in lungs. In the present work, we studied the effect of mixtures of 12 PAHs on the A549 alveolar cells. We first assess the ability of each PAH at inducing gene expression of phase I metabolization enzymes and at generating DNA adducts. A good correlation was found between these two endpoints. We then exposed cells to either binary mixtures of the highly genotoxic benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) with each PAH or complex mixtures of all studied PAHs mimicking by real emissions including combustion of wood, cigarette smoke, and atmospheres of garage, silicon factory and urban environments. Compared to pure B[a]P, both types of mixtures led to reduced CYP450 activity measured by the EROD test. A similar trend was observed for the formation of DNA adducts. Surprisingly, the complex mixtures were more potent than B[a]P used at the same concentration for the induction of genes coding for CYP. Our results stress the lack of additivity of the genotoxic properties of PAH in mixtures. Interestingly, an opposite synergy in the formation of B[a]P adducts were observed previously in hepatocytes. Our data also show that measurement of the metabolic activity rather than quantification of gene expression reflects the actual bioactivation of PAHs into DNA damaging species.

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