INVIVO AUTORADIOGRAPHY AND NITROSOHEPTAMETHYLENEIMINE CARCINOGENESIS IN HAMSTERS

Abstract

Quantitative autoradiograms were made in vivo in European hamsters with the use of [14C]nitrosoheptamethyleneimine (260 .mu.Ci/animal; time between administration of nitrosamine and killing of animals, 6 h). In this species the lung is the principal target. Radioactivity was found in the Clara cells of the bronchial epithelium and in the nitrosoheptamethyleneimine-induced tumors which derive from these cells. Tumors are not induced in the liver, which can metabolize this compound, and labeing is found principally in the cytoplasm. In the target cells there is a high degree of labeling in both the cytoplasm and the nuclei.