Comparative genotoxicity of TEMPO and three of its derivatives in mouse lymphoma cells

TEMPO and its derivatives are stable free radical nitroxides widely used in the field of chemistry, biology, and pharmacology. TEMPO was previously found to be mutagenic and to induce micronuclei in mammalian cells. In the present study, we investigated and quantified the genotoxicity of four structurally similar nitroxides, TEMPO and three of its derivatives (4-hydroxy-TEMPO, 4-oxo-TEMPO, and 4-methoxy-TEMPO), using the mouse lymphoma assay (MLA) and Comet assay in L5178Y Tk+/- cells. The results showed that all tested nitroxides were cytotoxic and mutagenic in the MLA, both in the presence and absence of S9, with metabolic activation significantly enhancing the cytotoxicity and/or mutagenicity. In addition, the four nitroxides caused DNA strand breakage. The mutagenicity and DNA damaging dose-responses of the test articles were compared using the PROAST benchmark dose (BMD) software package. The potency ranking of the four nitroxides for mutagenicity was different from the ranking of ...