Determination of benzidine--DNA adduct formation in CHO, HeLa, L5178Y, TK6 and V79 cells.

Using 32P-postlabelling, evidence of DNA adduct formation was sought in six mammalian cell lines, namely Chinese hamster ovary (CHO), human cervical carcinoma (HeLa S3), mouse lymphoma L5178Y tk +/- and L5178Y wild-type, human lymphoblastoid TK6 and Chinese hamster V79, following treatment with benzidine (BZD) in the presence of S-9. Adduct formation was also determined in calf thymus DNA reacted in vitro with N-hydroxy-N'-acetyl-BZD, and in liver DNA from mice given a single intraperitoneal injection of BZD. DNA adducts were detected in the calf thymus DNA sample and in mouse liver DNA, but not in DNA from any of the six cell lines. The absence of adduct formation is consistent with the lack of mutagenicity of BZD in CHO, and V79 and in L5178Y cells at the hprt locus, and in TK6 cells at the tk and hprt loci. These results also suggest that the observed mutagenicity of BZD at the tk locus in L5178Y cells may be due to a mechanism(s) not involving covalent binding to DNA.