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2142899 
Journal Article 
Cytochrome P-450 in a Cultured Human Lymphocyte Cell Line 
Gurtoo, HL; Marinello, AJ; Freedman, HJ; Paigen, B; Minowada, J 
1978 
Yes 
Biochemical Pharmacology
ISSN: 0006-2952
EISSN: 1873-2968 
NIOSH/00167417 
27 
22 
2659-2662 
A total of 75 stable lymphocyte cell lines were examined in permanent culture to further the study of the metabolism of environmental carcinogens. One of these cell lines, RPMI-1788, showed a significant and inducible level of aryl-hydrocarbon-hydroxylase (AHH) activity that was comparable to that of freshly cultured mitogen activated lymphocytes. The RPMI-1788 cells were suspended in RPMI-1640 medium containing heat inactivated fetal calf serum, penicillin and streptomycin. Initially, a lag period in cell growth of 12 hours was noted, followed by exponential growth until 50 to 60 hours. AHH activity was 1.6 to 3.5 fold higher than controls in the presence of several of its substrates. For induction purposes, cultured cells were exposed to dibenz(a,h)anthracene (DBA) during the last 24 hours. The difference spectra of microsomes isolated from DBA induced RPMI-1788 cells and from livers of rats pretreated with phenobarbital or 3-methylcholanthrene showed maxima at 451, 450 and 448 nanometers, respectively. Based on the spectral properties of cytochrome-P-451 in RPMI-1788 cells, the authors suggest that mechanistic, physical and biochemical information obtained from studies with rodent liver cytochrome-P-450 may not be directly applicable to man. Information on human cytochrome-P-450 should be obtained to determine various characteristics of the human metabolic response to xenobiotics. The authors conclude that RPMI-1788 will be useful in such studies, as it can provide a convenient source of human cells in quantities large enough for detailed studies on metabolism.