2-Amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline (IQ) promotes mouse hepatocarcinogenesis by activating transforming growth factor-β and Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathways.

The purposes of the present study were to investigate the modifying effects of 2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline (IQ), a genotoxic carcinogen produced during cooking of proteinrich foods, and elucidate underlying mechanisms in a two-stage hepatocarcinogenesis mice model. Six-week-old B6C3F1 mice were subjected to two-thirds partial hepatectomy at the beginning of the study, followed by an intraperitoneal injection of diethylnitrosamine on day 1. Starting 1 week later, they were fed diets containing IQ at doses of 30, 100, or 300 ppm for 39 weeks. A dosedependent trend for increase in eosinophilic altered foci as well as eosinophilic hepatocellular adenomas was observed, along with significant elevation in the incidence of hepatocellular carcinomas in the 100- and 300-ppm IQ groups as compared with initiation control group. Furthermore, IQ elevated the protein expression levels of Wnt1, transforming growth factor-b (TGF-b), TGF-b receptors 1 and 2 (TbR1 and TbR2), and phosphorylated c-Jun (p-c-Jun), while suppressing those of E-cadherin and p21 WAF1/Cip1 . Moreover, translocation of b-catenin to the nuclei as well as upregulated nuclear expression of c-Myc and cyclin D1, which are downstream targets of b-catenin and p-c-Jun, were detected at 100 and 300 ppm. These findings suggest that IQ exerts dosedependent promoting effects on mice hepatocarcinogenesis by activating TGF-b and Wnt/b-catenin signaling pathways and inhibiting cell adhesion.