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U.S. Department of Energy
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Studies on the mutagenic mechanisms of the potent environmental carcinogen, benzo[a]pyrene

Thesis/Dissertation ·
OSTI ID:7071229
Environmental chemicals that cause cancer have previously been shown to become chemically linked to the genetic substance, DNA, to give DNA adducts. These adducts appear foreign to the cell and mutations occur when the DNA is being duplicated during cell replication. Mutations in proto-oncogenes can change a normal cell into a cancerous cell. Benzo[a]pyrene is one example of a potent mutagen/carcinogen found ubiquitously in the environment: For example, in the soot from internal combustion engines and power plants, in cigarette smoke, and on charred meat. Benzo[a]pyrene is an indirect-acting mutagen/carcinogen, which must be metabolized inside the body to its ultimate mutagen/carcinogen, the corresponding (+)-anti-diol epoxide ((+)-anti-B[a]PDE) which forms many adducts in DNA. By using a newly developed forward mutation assay (ES87/pUB3) mutations induced by (+)-anti-B[a]PDE were isolated and characterized. SOS induction was shown to enhance frameshift and base pairing mutagenesis; G:C->T:A mutations were preferentially enhanced (approximately twelve-fold). Nearest neighbor analysis was performed assuming a guanine (underlined) was being mutated; SOS enhanced (+)-anti-B[a]PDE base pairing mutagenesis in 5[prime]-(A/T)G-3[prime] sequences more than in 5[prime]-G(A/T)-3[prime] sequences, and in 5[prime]-G(C/G)-3[prime] sequences more than in 5[prime]-G(A/T)-3[prime] sequences. Sequence content affected mutagenesis quantitatively where hot-spots for (+)-anti-B[a]PDE was heated prior to transformation into ES87 cells, an approximately two-fold decrease in mutation frequency was observed. In general, heating did not affect mutagenic specificity. Models are proposed to explain these results. Freeze/thawing pUB3 adducted with (+)-anti-B[a]PDE, also caused both an approximately two-fold decrease in mutation frequency and changes similar to those caused by heating.
Research Organization:
Boston Univ., MA (United States)
OSTI ID:
7071229
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English