Relative mutagenicities of gaseous nitrogen oxides in the supF gene of pSP189.

Gaseous nitric oxide (NO), an environmental pollutant found in cigarette smoke and diesel exhaust, has been shown to generate mutations in aerobic in vitro assays. The objective of this study was to identify which oxides of nitrogen, formed in the gaseous phase from NO, possess mutagenic activity. Samples of the plasmid pSP189, in 1 M HEPES buffer, pH 7.4, were exposed to preparations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), dinitrogen trioxide (N2O3) or an air control. The gas mixtures were formed in a gas-tight syringe and were then introduced into 1 l flasks. The plasmid solution was introduced immediately afterwards. Transformation of Escherichia coli strain MBM7070 with the treated plasmids allowed analysis of mutation frequencies and the types of mutations induced in the target supF gene. The mutation frequency resulting from NO2 exposure was not different from that of the control. However, N2O3 produced a substantial number of mutations. The mutation frequency and the types of mutations were found to depend on the length of time that the gases were allowed to incubate in the syringe prior to introduction into the 1 l flasks (mutation frequency was maximal at approximately 2 min). The most prevalent mutations were AT-->GC transitions (68%), followed by GC-->AT transitions (30%), similar to previous findings when pure NO was bubbled through pSP189 solutions. These results suggest that it is N2O3, rather than NO2, that is the most likely source of mutagenic potential from gaseous nitrogen oxides.

Self-peroxidation of metmyoglobin results in formation of an oxygen-reactive tryptophan-centered radical.

In the reaction between hydrogen peroxide and metmyoglobin, the heme iron is oxidized to its ferryl-oxo form and the globin to protein radicals, at least one of which reacts with dioxygen to form a peroxyl radical. To identify the residue(s) that forms the oxygen-reactive radical, we utilized electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy and the spin traps 2-methyl-2-nitrosopropane and 3,5-dibromo-4-nitrosobenzenesulfonic acid (DB-NBS). Metmyoglobin radical adducts had spectra typical of immobilized nitroxides that provided little structural information, but subsequent nonspecific protease treatment resulted in the detection of isotropic three-line spectra, indicative of a radical adduct centered on a tertiary carbon with no bonds to nitrogen or hydrogen. Similar isotropic three-line ESR spectra were obtained by spin trapping the oxidation product of tryptophan reacting with catalytic metmyoglobin and hydrogen peroxide. High resolution ESR spectra of DBNBS/.trp and of the protease-treated DBNBS/.metMb were simulated using superhyperfine coupling to a nitrogen and three non-equivalent hydrogens, consistent with a radical adduct formed at C-3 of the indole ring. Oxidation of tryptophan by catalytic metMb and hydrogen peroxide resulted in spin trap-inhibitable oxygen consumption, consistent with formation of a peroxyl radical. The above results support self-peroxidation of a tryptophan residue in the reaction between metMb and hydrogen peroxide.

Reaction of myoglobin with hydrogen peroxide forms a peroxyl radical which oxidizes substrates.

Evidence is presented that the radical observed upon reaction of myoglobin with hydrogen peroxide is a peroxyl radical. Simulation of this spectrum gives principal values for the g tensor of gx = 2.0357, gy = 2.0082, and gz = 2.0016, which are consistent with those of a peroxyl radical. Use of molecular oxygen isotopically labeled with 17O confirmed that the radical observed was a peroxyl radical. Removal of oxygen from the incubation by use of glucose and glucose oxidase revealed two radicals, one at giso = 2.0028 and the other at giso = 2.0073. Addition of various amounts of the spin trap 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline N-oxide revealed that the spin trap and oxygen compete for the same radical site. Four model substrates, glutathione, styrene, arachidonic acid and linoleic acid, were individually added to both the aerobic and anoxic systems. Glutathione reacted with the peroxyl radical, reducing its intensity by 98%, and entirely eliminated the giso = 2.0028 line from the spectrum of the anoxic incubation. Styrene, arachidonic acid and linoleic acid reacted with the peroxyl radical, reducing its amplitude by 84, 57, and 35%, respectively, but did not decrease the amplitude of either radical species in the anoxic incubation. The giso = 2.0028 species detected in the anoxic incubation appears to be the original radical site to which molecular oxygen binds to form the peroxyl radical. This myoglobin-derived peroxyl radical species is responsible for the advent of lipid peroxidation as proposed in ischemia/reperfusion injury, as well as other reactions, as exemplified by the O2-dependent epoxidation of styrene.

Characterization of the rat hemoglobin thiyl free radical formed upon reaction with phenylhydrazine.

The characterization of the radical formed from rat hemoglobin (Hb) by methemoglobin-generating agents and trapped by 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline N-oxide (DMPO) has shown it to be a thiyl radical. The two-electron oxidation of hemoglobin forms a ferryl species with one or more free radicals located on the globin moiety. While the radical species has not been observed by use of uv-visible spectrophotometry, the species can be detected by use of electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (EPR). In previous studies, in vitro experiments have shown that the EPR signal from the rat Hb radical adduct formed by t-butyl hydroperoxide decreased following pretreatment of the oxyHb with thiol-blocking agents except for iodoacetamide. In this study the power saturation profile of the DMPO radical adduct obtained from the reaction of rat oxyHb with phenylhydrazine exhibited a pattern similar to that obtained from human oxyHb, in which the beta-93 cysteine was labeled with 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy-4-maleimide (4-maleimide-TEMPO). EPR spectra were taken at 77 K and computer simulations were performed. The calculated value for a(iso)N obtained by simulation indicates that the radical adduct is in a hydrophobic region. The value for a(iso)H has little structural significance, as the steric effect of the protein makes comparison with radical adducts in solution problematical. The value of gx from the rat Hb radical adduct was significantly higher than that obtained from bovine Hb, whose radical is not thiol-derived, as demonstrated by negative thiol-blocking agent experiments. A higher gx value is consistent with the radical adduct containing a heavy atom such as sulfur. Rat Hb was analyzed for thiol content by use of iodoacetamide, 5,5'-dithiobis-(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DTNB) and uv-visible spectrophotometry. It was found that 1.15 +/- 0.34 thiols/tetramer of Hb were reactive with DTNB, but not iodoacetamide.

Evidence against the 1:2:2:1 quartet DMPO spectrum as the radical adduct of the lipid alkoxyl radical.

It was reported that the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrum of 5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline N-oxide (DMPO)/lipid alkoxyl radical exhibited a quartet with 1:2:2:1 relative intensity that is identical to that of DMPO/hydroxyl radical (K. M. Schaich and D. C. Borg, 1990, Free Radicals Res. Commun. 9, 267-278). We repeated these EPR experiments using HPLC separation of radical adducts and isotope substitution. We found that the HPLC/EPR chromatogram of the radical adduct with a 1:2:2:1 quartet obtained by the reduction of methyl linoleate hydroperoxide (MLOOH) with Fe2+ exhibited identical retention time to that of the DMPO/OH radical adduct obtained from the Fenton reaction in two different solvent systems. Upon performing the same reaction in 17O-enriched water, the 17O-hyperfine coupling constants due to DMPO/17OH were identified. Ultimately, approximately 80-90% of the total DMPO/OH is derived from water by an iron-dependent nucleophilic addition reaction. Initially, a water-independent mechanism also significantly contributes to DMPO/OH formation. Regardless of its mechanism of formation, the 1:2:2:1 quartet radical adduct of DMPO formed during the reduction of MLOOH by Fe2+ is in fact DMPO/OH.

The myoglobin-derived radical formed on reaction of metmyoglobin with hydrogen peroxide is not a tyrosine peroxyl radical.

The reductive cleavage of hydrogen peroxide by metmyoglobin produces a protein-derived, motionally restricted free radical detectable by the spin-trapping EPR technique. In order to determine if the detected radical was a peroxyl radical, 17O2 and anoxic conditions were employed. The EPR spectra of the metmyoglobin-derived radical adduct detected under nitrogen incubations were identical to those of the oxygenated systems in both intensity and form. No additional hyperfine couplings were detected in the EPR spectrum when 17O2 was used. Both of these results indicate that a peroxyl radical derived from molecular oxygen was not found. Additionally, spectra of spin trapped metmyoglobin from four different mammalian species were examined. No significant difference was seen among any of the species, even though one of the species, sperm whale, has one more tyrosine residue than the others.

Fluorescence postlabeling assay of cis-thymidine glycol monophosphate in X-irradiated calf-thymus DNA.

DNA damage was induced by irradiating calf-thymus DNA with a GE Maxitron-250 as an X-ray source. The use of nitrous oxide as a scavenger of solvated electrons in the irradiation process, resulted in essentially a monoreactant system of the biologically important hydroxyl radical. A novel approach combining the enzymatic digestion of the irradiated DNA to nucleoside 5' monophosphates and fluorescence postlabeling was applied to detect a specific modified nucleotide induced by ionizing radiation, namely the 5,6-dihydroxy-5,6-dihydrothymine lesion. This modification, often referred to as the glycol lesion, is polar and is generated mainly as the cis stereoisomers. In order to demonstrate the detection of this lesion in DNA by fluorescence labeling, the lesion was first produced chemically in a DNA model compound d(CGTA). The modified oligomers were isolated intact by HPLC and characterized by NMR as cis stereoisomers of glycol derivatives of d(CGTA). The major isomer of the modified d(CGTA) was enzymatically digested to yield 5' monophosphates. The digest was chromatographed by HPLC to enrich the modified nucleotide. The fraction containing the modified nucleotide was labeled with dansyl chloride. The fluorescent labeled nucleotide was chromatographed by HPLC. The same overall procedure was applied to DNA X-irradiated in aqueous solution. With a conventional fluorescence detector, HPLC analysis of the fluorescence labeled nucleotides detected 1 modified nucleotide/10(6) normal nucleotides from 100 micrograms DNA. The two cis glycol lesions were detected in the irradiated DNA by co-chromatography with fluorescent labeled markers. The initial assay of the modified oligomer demonstrated that the same stereoisomer of cis glycol was induced as a major modified nucleotide by both chemical oxidation and ionizing radiation.

Synthesis and application of fluorescent labeled nucleotides to assay DNA damage.

A facile method was developed to covalently attach a fluorophore to the 5'-phosphate of a nucleic acid. The procedure, illustrated by coupling 5'-dNmp (N = A,C,G,T) with 5-dimethylaminonaphthalene 1-sulfonyl chloride, commonly known as Dansyl chloride, involves 5'-phosphoramidation with ethylenediamine (EDA) followed by conjugation of the free aliphatic amino group of the phosphoramidate with Dansyl chloride. This method is also applicable to multi-incorporation of fluorescent labels in the nucleic acids. The reaction of 5'-Amp with a polyamine such as poly L-lysine (PLL, mol. wt., 4000) resulted in a phosphoramidate with multiple amino groups, which after isolation and conjugation with fluorescamine gave dAmp with multilabeled fluorophores. A condition was devised to separate the four dansylated mononucleotides of DNA, conjugated via ethylenediamine linker, by reverse phase HPLC. The elution profile could be monitored with a variable wavelength detector at 254 nm and 340 nm corresponding to the absorption of the nucleotides and the dansyl moiety, respectively. The detection limit was 2 nmol at 254 nm. The use of a fluorescence detector enhanced the detection sensitivity to a sub-picomole level (200 fmol). Samples of a DNA model, d(pCpGpTpA) and calf-thymus DNA were digested enzymatically to 5'-mononucleotides and labeled with Dansyl chloride. HPLC analysis of the dansylated digests from these samples, both before and after irradiation, suggests that the combination of enzymatic digestion and fluorescence postlabeling could be a novel approach to assay DNA damage.