ETIOLOGY PROGRAM AREA

Program Coordinators: Dr. I. Bernard Weinstein, United States
Dr. Takashi Sugimura, Japan
Principal Advisors: United States
Dr. Thomas L. Benjamin
Dr. Hidesaburo Hanafusa
Dr. Warren Nichols
Dr. Robert Miller

Japan
Dr. Shozo Takayama
Dr. Hiroto Shimojo
Dr. Susumu Nishimura
Dr. Takeshi Hirayama

ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT

SEMINARS

Seminar on "Biochemical Epidemiology"
Honolulu, Hawaii, February 10 to February 12, 1981
Organizers: Dr. Allan H. Conney
Dr. Susumu Nishimura
Participants: United States-8; Japan-15; United Kingdom-1

Seminar on "Interspecies Correlations in Chemical Carcinogenesis"
Tokyo, Japan, March 19 to March 21, 1981
Organizers: Dr. Shozo Takayama
Dr. Curtis C. Harris
Participants: United States-8; Japan-11; United Kingdom-1


EXCHANGE OF SCIENTISTS

Dr. Hirota Fujiki, National Cancer Center Research Institute, Section of Studies on Metastases, Tokyo
Dates: February 8 to March 6, 1981
Host Scientist: Dr. Richard E. Moore, Professor, Department of Chemistry University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii
Subject: Isolation and purification of a new potential tumor promoter Lyngbyatoxin A from the marine blue-green algae Lyngbya majuscula.

Dr. Yoshio Okada, Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Osaka
Dates: October 27 to November 22, 1980
Host Scientists: Dr. Hidesaburo Hanafusa, Rockefeller University, New York, New York
Dr. Thomas L. Benjamin, Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
Subject: Selective introduction of macromolecules into living mammalian cells via Sendai virus fusion.

Dr. Takemi Yanagimoto, The Institute of Statistical Mathematics, Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture, Tokyo
Dates: September 15 to October 5, 1980
Host Scientist: Dr. William J. Blot, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
Subject: Statistical methods for the bioassay for carcinogenicity of chemicals in the environment.

Dr. Hiroyuki Shimizu, Aichi Cancer Center Research Institute, Division of Epidemiology, Nagoya
Dates: October 1, 1979 to September 30, 1980
Host Scientist: Brian E. Henderson, M.D., Professor and Chairman, Department of Community and Family Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
Subjects: Epidemiologic studies of lung cancers of specific histologic types; and a case-control study of prostate cancer in Japanese living in Los Angeles County.

Dr. Nobuo Yamaguchi, The Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo
Dates: August 7 to October 18, 1980
Host Scientists: Dr. David M. Livingston, Division of Medical Oncology, Sidney Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts;
Dr. Thomas L. Benjamin, Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
Subject: Construction of SV40 virus mutants with a deletion of a tandem repeat sequence.

Dr. Hiroshi Yasue, Laboratory of Viral Oncology, Aichi Cancer Center, Nagoya
Dates: August 28 to November 27, 1980
Host Scientist: Dr. Eiichi Ohtsubo, Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology, School of Basic Health Sciences, State University of New York at Stonybrook, New York
Subject: Studies on the amplification of adenovirus DNA after its integration into cellular DNA utilizing recombinant DNA techniques to clone the junction between viral and cellular DNA.

Dr. Thomas L. Benjamin, Department of Pathology, Harvard University School of Medicine Boston, Massachusetts
Dates: June 3 to June 17, 1980
Host Scientists: Dr. Hiroto Shimojo, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo
Dr. Geuki Kimura, Kyushu University, Kyushu
Dr. Yohei Ito, Kyoto University, Kyoto
Dr. Yoshio Okada, Osaka University, Osaka
Subject: Discussion of ongoing studies on various oncogenicviruses including adenovirus, human papovaviruses, SV40 virus, and Shope papilloma virus.

Dr. Dezider Grunberger, Division of Environmental Sciences and Institute of Cancer Research, Columbia University, New York, New York
Dates: March 19 to March 29, 1981
Host Scientist: Dr. Susumu Nishimura, National Cancer Research Institute, Tokyo
Subject: Interactions of carcinogens with DNA and changes in the structure of phenylalanine tRNA in carcinogen-induced tumors.




EXCHANGE OF MATERIALS

Dr. Takashi Sugimura and his colleagues have continued to provide scientists in the United States with samples of very potent mutagens generated from the pyrolysates of amino acids. These have included two new highly potent mutagens, 2-amino 3-methyl-imidazo (4,5-f) quinoline (designated IQ) and 2-amino-3, 4-dimethylimidazo (4,5,f) quinoline (designated Me-IQ), which were found in broiled fish and fried ground beef. In addition, they have provided U.S. scientists with samples of a new class of tumor promoters which are indole alkaloids. These compounds include teleocidin, dihydroteleocidin, and Lyngbyatoxin. In the near future they will also be providing samples of debromoaplysiatoxin and radioactive teleocidin. All of these compounds are of considerable interest, are difficult to purify, and are not commercially available. Thus they represent invaluable materials for U. S. scientists engaged in carcinogenesis research.