POLYAMINES AND THEIR POTENTIAL TO BE ANTIMUTAGENS

In order to determine the antimutagenic potential of polyamines, modif ied Ames tests were performed. Polyamines spermine, spermidine and put rescine all showed antimutagenic potential against EMS-induced reversi ons. In addition, the polyamines spermidine and putrescine showed pote ntial to reduce the number of spontaneous revertants in modified Ames tests. Since spermidine and putrescine have the potential to reduce sp ontaneous mutations, we decided to perform DNA fidelity assays. DNA fi delity assays confirmed that putrescine has the potential to reduce th e mutation frequency. However, spermidine had no effect. This suggests that putrescine may play a vital role in DNA synthesis and possibly b e the active compound that plays a role in affecting EMS-induced mutat ions in the modified Ames tests. This is possible since all cells have the potential to convert spermine and spermidine to putrescine. Howev er, since the DNA fidelity assay is an in vitro assay, the enzymes req uired for the conversion of spermine and spermidine to putrescine are absent. The possibility of conversion and the rate of conversion need further study.