α-乙酰氧基-N-亚硝基吡咯烷的解离及其致癌代谢机理的理论研究

用ab initio方法, 在MP2/6-31G**水平下讨论了α-乙酰氧基-亚硝基吡咯烷(α-Acetoxy-NPYR)在各种条件下的解离反应机理, 并对形成终致癌物B, C, D的代谢机理进行研究. 发现在OH^－和H₂O作用下的解离都遵循羟基进攻羰基机理, OH^－作用下是一个经四面体中间体阴离子的无位垒过程, H₂O作用下有相对高的活化能(165.36 kJ/mol). H₃O^＋作用下是先形成阳离子产物的S_N1过程, 并没有发现遵循两种综合的解离情形. 同时, 羟基化产物异构化为终致癌物B, C, D是一个相对容易进行的过程.     

The geometry and electronic structure of Aristolochic acid: possible implications for a frozen resonance

Molecular mutagens and carcinogens are structures which carry chemical and electronic properties that disturb and interact with the genomic machinery. Principally, a rule of thumb for carcinogens is that carcinogens are expected to introduce covalent irreversible bonding to one or several types of DNA bases, causing errors in the reading frame for the polymerases. 8‐methoxy‐6‐nitrophenanthro[3,4‐d][1,3]dioxole‐5‐carboxylic acid, better known as Aristolochic acid (AA1) is a recognized carcinogen which causes urotherial cancer and is found in certain plants. Its structure is particularly interesting given that it is closely related to phenanthrene in its polycyclic arrangement, and has four functional groups, a carboxyl‐, a nitro‐, a methoxy‐ and a dioxolane group. In this work, the structure of AA1 has been resolved at the MPWPW91 density functional theory method in combination with Aug‐cc‐pVDZ basis sets. A geometry analysis shows that in AA1 the carboxyl group's torsion is caused by steric strain from the nitro group, which elevates the molecular plane of the first phenanthrene ring with 0.1Å. The wavefunction analysis of AA1 shows that the ring deformation enhances a double π‐bond localization in the first ring, adjacent to the dioxalane group, and results in a decrease of ring aromaticity and induces a potentially frozen resonance. Intermolecular and intramolecular interactions were characterized by atoms in molecules and reduced density gradient analysis. This study brings novel information on the geometry and electronic structure of AA1, which are important for the further knowledge of its transformation in vivo and in situ. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Formation from Fuel and Additives Combustion

A study has been made of the effect of additives to the fuel of a turbulent diffusion flame on the formation of soot and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Fuels containing a polystyrene thickener doped with benzene proved to have many advantages over unthickened fuels. Most significant were an increase in the burning time and the flash point. Nevertheless, polystyrene and benzene additives to a considerable extent increased the formation of soot and PAHs. The analysis of PAHs in this study was made by capillary gas chromatography (GC) and capillary gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). A total of 42 individual compounds were characterized by their retention indices and mass spectra.     

CuAg nanoparticles formed in situ on electrochemically pre‐anodized screen‐printed carbon electrodes for the detection of nitrate and nitrite anions

CuAg nanoparticles (CuAgNPs) were electrochemically formed in situ on pre‐anodized, screen‐printed carbon electrodes (SPCEs) that possessed many oxygen‐containing functional groups capable of adsorbing metal ions, namely Cu²⁺ and Ag⁺. Pre‐anodization was achieved using continuous cyclic voltammetry in the range of potential 0.3–2.0 V under a scan rate of 50 mV/s. Cu²⁺ and Ag⁺ ions were adsorbed on the pre‐anodized SPCE by immersing the electrode in solutions containing both metal ions, and then CuAgNPs were formed in situ via electrochemical reduction in a deaerated, neat NaClO₄ solution after the electrode was ultrasonicated to remove physically adsorbed metal ions. Although CuNPs showed higher activity than AgNPs toward both nitrate (NO₃⁻) and nitrite (NO₂⁻) ions, the instability of CuNPs hindered the application, so CuAgNPs were employed to achieve a compromise between sensitivity and stability. The SPCE/anodized/CuAgNP electrodes showed activity toward the electrochemical reduction of NO₃⁻ and NO₂⁻, respectively, with the limit of detection (LOD) of 15.6 μM (0.97 ppm) and 11.1 μM (0.51 ppm), which is sufficient to fit the allowed values (50 and 3 ppm, respectively) in drinking water as suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO).     

Crystal Structures of trans-Tetrahydrotetrols of Benzo[a]pyrene and Chrysene: A Possible Structure-Activity Relationship in Quasi-Planar Bay-Region Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons

The molecular structures of two racemic trans-tetrahydrotetrols formed by hydrolysis of the (±)anti-7,8-dihydroxy-9,10-epoxy-7,8,9,10-tetrahydro derivatives of the strong carcinogen benzo[a]pyrene and the weak carcinogen chrysene have been determined by X-ray crystallographic methods.³ Focusing on the (+)isomers, the stereochemical features of the two tetrols are discussed in detail to determine structural differences, which can be related to the different biological activity of their parent hydrocarbons, since they provide a model for the hydrocarbon moiety in the major PAH-DNA adduct. As a result of this study, a tentative correlation can be stated between biological activity of quasi-planar bay-region PAHs and the presence of structural features, which can decrease the steric hindrance of the aromatic skeleton and the other hydroxy groups on the pseudo-axial O4, which mimics the position of the covalent bond to DNA. The significant structural features seem to be an out-of-plane distortion with a negative torsion angle at the bay region and a half chair conformation of the saturated ring distorted toward the envelope with C8 at the tip as in BPT, in addition to the axial and pseudo-axial conformations of the hydroxy groups at C9 and C10 due to the near bay region. They may be considered generated by trans-opening of the oxirane ring in an anti-diol epoxide biologically active because it is highly strained. The strains, derived from the activation of bay-region PAHs with a negative torsion angle, seem greater in an anti-diol epoxide relative to the syn-isomer. Thus, when the strains are released, the derived trans-tetrol occurs with structural features, which seem to better fit the target. As a consequence, the presence of a methyl group at a bay region should increase the biological activity of a PAH, imposing greater strains to the structure of the anti-diol epoxide.     

The impact of the nucleoside oxidation on the susceptibility to chemical carcinogens studied by first principle and semiempirical quantum chemistry methods

The B3LYP/aug-cc-pvdz and AM1-CI quantum chemistry calculations were used for estimation of adiabatic and vertical ionization potential values of 22 hydroxyl radical modified purine and pyrimidine model nucleosides. Most of studied derivatives are characterized by higher values of IP compared to canonical guanosine, which is known to be the main target for oxidizing agents and chemical carcinogens in cellular DNA. However, three derivatives, namely fapy-guanosine, 8-oxoguanosine and 2-oxoadenosine are characterized by lower IP values than canonical guanosine. Thus, 6,8-diketo- and 6-enol-8-keto-tautomer of 8-oxoguanosine, 6-enol- and 6-keto tautomers of fapy-guanosine as well as 2-keto form of 2-oxoadenosine may be potential hot spot centers for chemical carcinogens. The IEFPCM calculations confirm above conclusion even in the polar environment.     

Theoretical Study on the Reaction of Thymine with Iodomehane in the Water Phase

The reaction mechanisms of carcinogenic methylating agent iodomethane (MeI) with keto and enol tautomers of thymine (K- and E-thymine) were studied by using the B3LYP/6-311+G (d, p) method in water phase. The solvent effects were examined using the polarizable continuum model (PCM). Specifically, PCM single-point calculations at the same level of theory were performed in acetone and CCl4 that represent a range in nonpolarity. The calculated results show that the reaction of K-thymine with MeI is a two-step mechanism, whereas that of E-thymine is a one-step mechanism. Our calculations reveal that K-thymine is appreciably more stable than the enol form in the water phase or in the two solvents. The K- and E-form reaction barriers are 135.6 and 222.1 kJ/mol, respectively in water phase. These findings indicate that the reactions mentioned above could not occur efficiently in biological media in the absence of catalyst. Our conclusions are in agreement with the previous studies on the reactions of guanine with methyl chloride and methyl bromide.     

Molecular Structure of 5-Methylchrysene-7,8-dihydro-7,8-trans-(e,e)-diol

The crystal structure of the weak carcinogen 5-methylchrysene-7,8-dihydro-7,8-trans-(e,e)-diol is reported. This molecule contains a distorted bay region as a result of the presence of the 5-methyl group as found in 5-methylchrysene and 5,6- and 5, 12-dimethylchrysene. One torsion angle in this bay region is 20. The two hydroxyl groups of this molecule form hydrogen bonds throughout the crystal along theb direction. This is similar to the packing in other crystal structures of dihydrodiols of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, each hydroxyl group both receiving and donating one hydrogen bond.     

A Novel Method for Mutagenicity Test of Carcinogen by using a Series Piezoelectric Quartz Crystal Bactrial Growth Sensor

ABSTRACT

A new method for mutagenicity testing of carcinogens is proposed in this paper. Mutagenic activity is examined through monitoring of the growth situation of Salmonella typhimurium TA98 strain with a series piezoelectric quartz crystal (SPQC) sensor. This method needs no immobilization and preincubation of microorganism, and is simple and rapid. It can be applied to detect mutagen directly. When it was used to study the mutagenicity of dimethyl sulfate, the test time was 4 h at 37°C. There was a good linear relationship between frequency shift and the dose of mutagen in the range 2.5-20 μg/mL and the regression equation was ∠F = 53.82 + 3.81C. Some experimental conditions are also discussed in detail.     

Immunoassays using capillary electrophoresis laser induced fluorescence detection for DNA adducts

Human DNA is exposed to a variety of endogenous and environmental agents that may induce a wide range of damage. The critical role of DNA damage in cancer development makes it essential to develop highly sensitive and specific assays for DNA lesions. We describe here ultrasensitive assays for DNA damage, which incorporate immuno-affinity with capillary electrophoresis (CE) separation and laser induced fluorescence (LIF) detection. Both competitive and non-competitive assays using CE/LIF were developed for the determination of DNA adducts of benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide (BPDE). A fluorescently labeled oligonucleotide containing a single BPDE adduct was synthesized and used as a fluorescent probe for competitive assay. Binding between this synthetic oligonucleotide and a monoclonal antibody (MAb) showed both 1:1 and 1:2 complexes between the MAb and the oligonucleotide. The 1:1 and 1:2 complexes were separated by CE and detected with LIF, revealing binding stoichiometry information consistent with the bidentate nature of the immunoglobulin G antibody. For non-competitive assay, a fluorescently labeled secondary antibody fragment F(ab′)₂ was used as an affinity probe to recognize a primary antibody that was specific for the BPDE-DNA adducts. The ternary complex of BPDE-DNA adducts with the bound antibodies was separated from the unbound antibodies using CE and detected with LIF for quantitation of the DNA adducts. The assay was used for the determination of trace levels of BPDE-DNA adducts in human cells. Analysis of cellular DNA from A549 human lung carcinoma cells that were incubated with low doses of BPDE (32 nM–1 μM) showed a clear dose–response relationship. BPDE is a potent environmental carcinogen, and the ultrasensitive assays for BPDE-DNA adducts are potentially useful for monitoring human exposure to this carcinogen and for studying cellular repair of DNA damage.