Sulfotransferase-mediated activation of mutagens studied using heterologous expression systems

Abstract Sulfation is a common final step in the biotransformation of xenobiotics and is traditionally associated with inactivation. However, the sulfate group is electron-withdrawing and may be cleaved off heterolytically in some molecules leading to electrophilic cations which may form adducts with DNA and other important cellular structures. Since endogenous sulfotransferases do not appear to be expressed in indicator cells of standard mutagenicity tests, rat and human sulfotransferases have been stably expressed in his−Salmonella typhimurium strain TA1538 and Chinese hamster V79 cells. Using these recombinant indicator cells, sulfotransferase-dependent genotoxic activities were detected…