Structure and torsional flexibility of the linkage between guanine and fluorene residues in the deoxyguanosine–aminofluorene and deoxyguanosine–acetylaminofluorene carcinogenic adducts

Potential energy surfaces for rotations around two central CN bonds in N-(deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-2-acetylaminofluorene (AAF–dG) and its deacetylated derivative (AF–dG) were studied using Amber 95 molecular mechanics. Both of these adducts are known to be strong mutagens and carcinogens. New Amber 95 force field parameters were derived for the linkage connecting guanine and fluorene moieties in AAF–dG and AF–dG. For this purpose, we determined ab initio MP2/cc-pVDZ//B3-LYP/6-31G* and polarized continuum model Hartree–Fock/6-31G* potential energy surfaces of smaller model systems that included the N-methylimidazole–acetylaniline and N-methylimidazole–aniline adducts. The molecular mechanics parameters were adjusted to minimize differences between the gas-phase ab initio and molecular mechanics surfaces of these model systems. The resulting parameters were transferred to AF–dG and AAF–dG. The barrier for the rotation of the fluorene residue in AF–dG was found to be less than 2 kcal/mol. Such a small barrier renders the fluorene moiety freely rotatable at room temperature. In contrast, the fluorene rotation in AAF–dG is hindered by a significantly larger barrier of 10 kcal/mol. This barrier corresponds to conformations in which the fluorene and acetyl groups lie in the same plane, and is largely due to steric repulsion. Similarly, the coplanar arrangement of guanine and the bridging amino or acetyl groups is disfavored by 5–10 kcal/mol, with AAF–dG again being the more rigid of the two molecules. Energy minima for a rotation around a bond between guanine and the bridging nitrogen are found at ±80° in AAF–dG, and at 120° and –90° for AF–dG. Overall, the fluorene–dG linkages in AF–dG and AAF–dG adducts have significantly different equilibrium structures and torsional flexibilities. These differences may be contributing factors for the observed disparity in mutagenic effects of these adducts.Electronic Supplementary Material: Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at Acknowledgements. This work was supported by the NSF REU grant no. CHE-0243825 to Loyola University Chicago. We thank to Tom Ellenberger and Shuchismita Dutta for providing us with their results prior to publication.     

Cancer protector activity of antioxidant compounds

Considering a DNA to carcinogen electron transfer mechanism for the carcinogenesis process whereas carcinogens react as a electrophilic and DNA as nucleophilic species we propose that the cancer protecting compounds will compete with the DNA for the donation of the electron for the carcinogens. In this work, theoretical calculations of several compounds with well-known protecting activity are performed. The results were treated by a multivariant analysis (principal component analysis) in order to relate the calculated electronic parameters with the protecting activities.     

Ab initio and DFT theory studies of interaction of thymine with formaldehyde

In this article, the interaction of formaldehyde (FA) with thymine is theoretically investigated by computational chemistry methods. The optimization geometries and vibrational frequencies of FA, thymine and three complexes between thymine and FA have been calculated by using the density functional theory and ab initio methods at the B3LYP/6-311G(d, p) and MP2/6-311G(d, p) levels. The NBO and AIM methods are used to analyse interaction as well. Conformers (A), (B) and (C) are cyclic structures with C–H***O and N–H***O hydrogen bonds on a common plane. The corrected complex interaction energies of cyclic structures (A), (B) and (C) at MP2/6-311G(d, p) levels are −38.41, −26.94 and −26.01 kJ/mol, respectively. The order of stability is (A) > (B) > (C).     

以Nitrosulfophenol S为化学模型物研究非氨基偶氮染料的致癌性

以Nitrosulfophenol S作为非氨基偶氮染料致癌性研究的化学模型物,用可见吸收光谱法、毛细管区带电泳法和电分析化学法等研究了该模型物在酶催化系统模型HRP/H₂O₂体系的作用下发生氧化断裂反应的过程,确定了反应的主要产物为致癌的重氮萘离子,并与DNA有效结合.讨论了断裂发生的酸度、温度及浓度条件.同时研究了体内多种生理性物质对断裂反应的抑制和激活影响.     

α-羟基化吡咯烷亚硝胺代谢及形成DNA加合物反应机理的理论研究

采用密度泛函理论, 在B3LYP/6-31G**水平上, 研究了气相和水溶剂中, α-羟基化吡咯烷亚硝胺(α-hydroxylation-NPYR, A)代谢为终致癌物重氮氢氧化物(B)、重氮烷阳离子(C)和氧离子(D), 以及C与鸟嘌呤碱基相互作用的反应机理. 化合物A代谢为终致癌物, 涉及异构化和质子化过程, 是相对容易进行的放热反应. 终致癌物C与鸟嘌呤在N7位形成DNA加合物F和G的反应, 遵循S_N2机理. 加合物G由F异构形成, 且有相对高的异构化能(气相: 244.77 kJ/mol; 水溶剂中: 234.83 kJ/mol), 这与实验上得到加合物G是主要癌变物的结果一致.     

A method for the quantification of biomarkers of exposure to acrylonitrile and 1,3-butadiene in human urine by column-switching liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry

1,3-Butadiene and acrylonitrile are important industrial chemicals that have a high production volume and are ubiquitous environmental pollutants. The urinary mercapturic acids of 1,3-butadiene and acrylonitrile—N-acetyl-S-(3,4-dihydroxybutyl)cysteine (DHBMA) and MHBMA (an isomeric mixture of N-acetyl-S-((1-hydroxymethyl)-2-propenyl)cysteine and N-acetyl-S-((2-hydroxymethyl)-3-propenyl)cysteine) for the former and N-acetyl-S-2-cyanoethylcysteine (CEMA) for the latter—are specific biomarkers for the determination of individual internal exposure to these chemicals. We have developed and validated a fast, specific, and very sensitive method for the simultaneous determination of DHBMA, MHBMA, and CEMA in human urine using an automated multidimensional LC/MS/MS method that requires no additional sample preparation. Analytes are stripped from urinary matrix by online extraction on a restricted access material, transferred to the analytical column, and subsequently determined by tandem mass spectrometry using labeled internal standards. The limits of quantification (LOQs) for DHBMA, MHBMA, and CEMA were 10 μg/L, 2 μg/L, and 1 μg/L urine, respectively, and were sufficient to quantify the background exposure of the general population. Precision within series and between series for all analytes ranged from 5.4 to 9.9%; mean accuracy was between 95 and 115%. We applied the method on spot urine samples from 210 subjects from the general population with no occupational exposure to 1,3-butadiene or acrylonitrile. A background exposure of the general population to acrylonitrile was discovered that is basically influenced by individual exposure to passive smoke as well as active smoking habits. Smokers showed a significantly higher excretion of MHBMA, whereas DHBMA levels did not differ significantly. Owing to its automation, our method is well suited for application in occupational or environmental studies. Figure Boxplots of the results from LC/ESI-MS/MS analysis of urinary excretion of CEMA reveal a strong correlation with nicotine metabolite cotinine, indicating that exposure to passive smoke as well as active smoking is the main source of exposure to acrylonitrile in the general population     

Analytical methods for estimation of organophosphorus pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables: A review

Use of pesticides has turned out to be an obligatory input to agriculture and public health. Versatile use of pesticides had resulted in contamination of all basic necessities of life, i.e. air, water and food. Among various pesticides, organophosphorus pesticides (OPPs), derivative of phosphoric acid, are the most extensively used insecticides or acaricides in many crops. Due to low persistency and high killing efficiency of OPPs, many agriculturalists regularly use this group of pesticides for various vegetables and fruits crops. The continuous use of pesticides has caused the deleterious effects to ecosystem. In response to this, a number of methods have been developed by several regulatory agencies and private laboratories and are applied routinely for the quantification and monitoring of multi pesticide residues in vegetables and crops. The present review pertains to various extraction and quantification procedures used world wide to analyze OPPs residues in various vegetables and fruits.     

Semiempirical molecular orbital theory in carcinogenesis research

It is generally believed that most chemical carcinogens exert their effects through covalent modification of the nucleic acid base sites. Significant clarification of the underlying chemistry involved in these early and critical events is available through the techniques of computational chemistry. The role of semiempirical molecular orbital theory in this area is reviewed using examples focusing on

1. (i) the conversion of precarcinogens to reactive electrophiles,

2. (ii) the regiochemistry of nucleic acid adduct formation,

3. (iii) the chemical and physical consequences of nucleic acid base modification, and

4. (iv) empirical structure activity relationships.

The symbiotic relationship that can exist between the semiempirical and ab initio molecular orbital procedures is emphasized, as is the continuing niche for the semiempirical methodology in the study of systems that are too large, or in situations that are insufficiently cost effective, for the application of ab initio methods.     

微量元素之间及微量元素与致癌物的交互作用

介绍了国内外学者当前较关注的微量元素之间及微量元素与致癌物的交互作用问题。