DNA damage of mammalian cells by the beef extract mutagen 2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline.

The beef-extract mutagen, 2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline (IQ), was shown, by alkaline elution procedures, to induce DNA damage in radiation-induced mouse leukaemia cells. The effect, which was dose related, occurred in incubations containing S-9 mix derived from polychlorinated biphenyl-induced rat liver but not in the absence of this metabolic activation system. An increased alkaline elution of DNA was also observed following IQ addition to cultures of hepatocytes from 3,3',4,4'-tetrachloroazobenzene-induced rat liver, and the DNA damage was again dose related. IQ has thus been shown to be genotoxic to mammalian cells in the presence of an effective activation system.