Aflatoxin
B1 (AFB1), a mycotoxin produced
by Aspergillus flavus, is oxidized
by cytochrome P450 enzymes to aflatoxin B1-8,9-epoxide,
which alkylates DNA at N7-dG. Under basic conditions,
this N7-dG adduct rearranges to yield the trans-8,9-dihydro-8-(2,6-diamino-4-oxo-3,4-dihydropyrimid-5-yl-formamido)-9-hydroxy
aflatoxin B1 (AFB1–FAPY) adduct. The
AFB1–FAPY adduct exhibits geometrical isomerism
involving the formamide moiety. NMR analyses of duplex oligodeoxynucleotides
containing the 5′-XA-3′, 5′-XC-3′, 5′-XT-3′,
and 5′-XY-3′ sequences (X = AFB1–FAPY;
Y = 7-deaza-dG) demonstrate that the equilibrium between E and Z isomers is controlled by major groove hydrogen
bonding interactions. Structural analysis of the adduct in the 5′-XA-3′
sequence indicates the preference of the E isomer
of the formamide group, attributed to formation of a hydrogen bond
between the formyl oxygen and the N6 exocyclic amino group
of the 3′-neighbor adenine. While the 5′-XA-3′
sequence exhibits the E isomer, the 5′-XC-3′
sequence exhibits a 7:3 E:Z ratio
at equilibrium at 283 K. The E isomer is favored
by a hydrogen bond between the formyl oxygen and the N4-dC exocyclic amino group of the 3′-neighbor cytosine. The
5′-XT-3′ and 5′-XY-3′ sequences cannot
form such a hydrogen bond between the formyl oxygen and the 3′-neighbor
T or Y, respectively, and in these sequence contexts the Z isomer is favored. Additional equilibria between α and β
anomers and the potential to exhibit atropisomers about the C5–N5 bond do not depend upon sequence. In each
of the four DNA sequences, the AFB1–FAPY adduct
maintains the β deoxyribose configuration. Each of these four
sequences feature the atropisomer of the AFB1 moiety that
is intercalated above the 5′-face of the damaged guanine. This
enforces the Ra axial conformation for
the C5–N5 bond.