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A large number of chemicals and several physical agents, such as UV light and γ-radiation, have been associated with the etiology of human cancer. Generation of DNA damage (also known as DNA adducts or lesions) induced by these agents is an important first step in the process of carcinogenesis. Evolutionary processes gave rise to DNA repair tools that are efficient in repairing damaged DNA; yet replication of damaged DNA may take place prior to repair, particularly when they are induced at a high frequency. Damaged DNA replication may lead to gene mutations, which in turn may give rise to altered proteins. Mutations in an oncogene, a tumor-suppressor gene, or a gene that controls the cell cycle can generate a clonal cell population with a distinct advantage in proliferation. Many such events, broadly divided into the stages of initiation, promotion, and progression, which may occur over a long period of time and transpire in the context of chronic exposure to carcinogens, can lead to the induction of human cancer. This is exemplified in the long-term use of tobacco being responsible for an increased risk of lung cancer. This mini-review attempts to summarize this wide area that centers on DNA damage as it relates to the development of human cancer.

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Malondialdehyde and a series of acrolein derivatives substituted in the beta-position with good leaving groups react with guanine and guanine nucleosides to form two different types of adducts. The reaction with guanosine is typical. One adduct exhibits ultraviolet absorbance maxima at 253, 319, and 348 nm and is fluorescent. Its NMR spectrum exhibits three new aromatic proton resonances derived from malondialdehyde. The mass spectrum exhibits an M + 1 at 320. The spectroscopic properties are consistent with the structure, 3-beta-D-erythro-pentofuranosyl-pyrimido[1,2-alpha]purin-10(3H)-one (PyP-ribose). The second guanosine adduct is an equal mixture of diastereomers that exhibit ultraviolet maxima at 217 and 244 nm and mirror image circular dichroism spectra. The NMR spectrum and mass spectrum (M + 1 = 392) indicate the addition of two molecules of MDA to one molecule of guanosine. Two-dimensional NMR (COSY) analysis reveals the presence of propano and enal functionalities. The spectroscopic and chemical properties suggest an oxadiazabicyclo[3.3.1]nonene structure that is confirmed by X-ray crystallography. Comparison of the deoxyguanosine adducts of malondialdehyde to those of the structurally related carbonyl compounds, methyl glyoxal and acrolein, provides a structural basis to explain the unique ability of malondialdehyde to induce frameshift mutations in bacterial mutagenesis systems.

The mutagenic and genotoxic properties of 1,N6-ethenoadenine (epsilon Ade), 3,N4-ethenocytosine (epsilon Cyt), and 4-amino-5-(imidazol-2-yl)imidazole (beta) were investigated in vivo. The former two modified bases are known DNA adducts formed by the human carcinogen vinyl chloride; beta is formed by pyrimidine ring-opening of epsilon Ade. Chemically synthesized deoxyhexanucleotides containing epsilon Ade and beta, d[GCT-(epsilon A)GC], and d[GCT(beta)GC], respectively, were described previously [Biochemistry (1987) 26, 5626-5635]. epsilon Cyt was inserted into an oligonucleotide, d[GCTAG(epsilon C)], by a mild enzymatic synthetic procedure, which avoided exposure of the base to alkaline conditions. 3,N4-Etheno-2'-deoxycytidine 3',5'-bisphosphate coupled with reasonable efficiency (30-40%) to the 3'-nucleoside of an acceptor pentamer, d(GCTAG), in a reaction catalyzed by T4 RNA ligase in the presence of ATP. Each of the three modified hexanucleotides and an unmodified control were inserted into a six-base gap positioned at a known site in the genome of bacteriophage M13-NheI. A nick was placed in the DNA strand opposite that containing the single DNA lesions, enabling the formation of singly adducted single-stranded genomes by denaturation. After transfection of the adducted phage DNAs into Escherichia coli, each of the adducts was found to be genotoxic. The most toxic lesion was beta, which reduced survival of the genome by 97%. epsilon Cyt and epsilon Ade reduced survival by 90% and 65%, respectively. An examination of the surviving phage populations revealed that each of the three adducts was mutagenic. The least mutagenic lesion was epsilon Ade (0.1% of the survivors were mutant), which showed primarily A-->G transitions.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)