Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are formed during incomplete combustion. Domestic wood burning and road traffic are the major sources of PAHs in Sweden. In Stockholm, the sum of 14 different PAHs is 100-200 ng/m(3) at the street-level site, the most abundant being phenanthrene. Benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) varies between 1 and 2 ng/m(3). Exposure to PAH-containing substances increases the risk of cancer in humans. The carcinogenicity of PAHs is associated with the complexity of the molecule, i.e., increasing number of benzenoid rings, and with metabolic activation to reactive diol epoxide intermediates and their subsequent covalent binding to critical targets in DNA. B[a]P is the main indicator of carcinogenic PAHs. Fluoranthene is an important volatile PAH because it occurs at high concentrations in ambient air and because it is an experimental carcinogen in certain test systems. Thus, fluoranthene is suggested as a complementary indicator to B[a]P. The most carcinogenic PAH identified, dibenzo[a,l]pyrene, is also suggested as an indicator, although it occurs at very low concentrations. Quantitative cancer risk estimates of PAHs as air pollutants are very uncertain because of the lack of useful, good-quality data. According to the World Health Organization Air Quality Guidelines for Europe, the unit risk is 9 X 10(-5) per ng/m(3) of B[a]P as indicator of the total PAH content, namely, lifetime exposure to 0.1 ng/m(3) would theoretically lead to one extra cancer case in 100,000 exposed individuals. This concentration of 0.1 ng/m(3) of B[a]P is suggested as a health-based guideline. Because the carcinogenic potency of fluoranthene has been estimated to be approximately 20 times less than that of B[a]P, a tentative guideline value of 2 ng/m(3) is suggested for fluoranthene. Other significant PAHs are phenanthrene, methylated phenanthrenes/anthracenes and pyrene (high air concentrations), and large-molecule PAHs such as dibenz[a,h]anthracene, benzo[b]fluoranthene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, and indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene (high carcinogenicity). Additional source-specific indicators are benzo[ghi]perylene for gasoline vehicles, retene for wood combustion, and dibenzothiophene and benzonaphthothiophene for sulfur-containing fuels.

Cancer risk assessment, indicators, and guidelines for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the ambient air.

Previous studies have identified allelic variants of the human glutathione transferase (GST) Pi gene and showed that the two different encoded proteins with isoleucine (GSTP1-1/I-105) or valine (GSTP1-1/V-105) at position 105, respectively, differ significantly in their catalytic activities with model substrates. Moreover, recent epidemiological studies have demonstrated that individuals differing in the expression of these allelic variants also differ in susceptibility to tumour formation in certain organs, including such in which polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) may be etiological factors. In the present study the catalytic efficiencies (kcat/Km) of these GSTP1-1 variants were determined with a number of stereoisomeric bay-region diol epoxides, known as the ultimate mutagenic and carcinogenic metabolites of PAH, including those from chrysene, benzo[a]pyrene and dibenz[a,h]anthracene. In addition, GSTP1-1 mutants in which amino residue 105 is alanine (GSTP1-1/A-105) or tryptophan (GSTP1-1/W-105) have been constructed and characterized. GSTP1-1/V-105 was found to be more active than GSTP1-1/I-105 in conjugation reactions with the bulky diol epoxides of PAH, being up to 3-fold as active towards the anti- and syn-diol epoxide enantiomers with R-absolute configuration at the benzylic oxiranyl carbon. Comparing the four enzyme variants, GSTP1-1/A-105 generally demonstrated the highest kcat/Km value and GSTP1-1/W-105 the lowest with the anti-diol epoxides. A close correlation was observed between the volume occupied by the amino acid residue at position 105 and the value of kcat/Km. With the syn-diol epoxides, such a correlation was observed with alanine, valine and isoleucine, whereas tryptophan was associated with increased kcat/Km values. The mutational replacement of isoleucine with alanine or tryptophan at position 105 did not alter the enantio selectivity of the GSTP1-1 variants compared with the naturally occurring allelic variants GSTP1-1/I-105 and GSTP1-1/V-105. Since the amino acid at position 105 forms part of the substrate binding site (H-site) the effect of increasing bulkiness is expected to cause restricted access of the diol epoxide and proper alignment of the two reactants for efficient glutathionyl

Differences in the catalytic efficiencies of allelic variants of glutathione transferase P1-1 towards carcinogenic diol epoxides of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

Among environmental pollutants, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD; dioxin) is one of the most potent tumor promoters and teratogens known. The molecular mechanisms responsible for the biological activity of TCDD, however, remain largely unknown. In this report, we show that the first observable effects of TCDD in cultured murine hepatoma cells are a rapid, transient increase in Ca2+ influx and a minor but significant elevation of activated, membrane-bound protein kinase C. These changes are then followed by induction of the immediate early proto-oncogenes c-fos, jun-B, c-jun, and jun-D, and by large increases in AP-1 transcription factor activity. Induction of these changes by TCDD is delayed compared with that by phorbol esters, although the magnitude of the effects caused by both treatments is similar, and both induction processes can be blocked by staurosporine, a protein kinase C inhibitor. In cultured cells, proto-oncogene induction by TCDD appears to be independent of the presence o...

Dioxin induces expression of c-fos and c-jun proto-oncogenes and a large increase in transcription factor AP-1.

The first occupation-associated cancers to be recognized were the sooty warts (cancers of the scrotum) suffered by chimney sweeps in 18th century England. In the 19th century, high incidences of skin cancers were noted among fuel industry workers. By the early 20th century, malignant skin tumors were produced in laboratory animals by repeatedly painting them with coal tar. The culprit in coal tar that induces cancer was finally isolated in 1933 and determined to be benzo[a]pyrene (BP), a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon. A residue of fuel and tobacco combustion and frequently ingested by humans, BP is metabolized in mammals to benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide (BPDE), which forms covalent DNA adducts and induces tumor growth. In the 70 yr since its isolation, BP has been the most studied carcinogen. Yet, there has been no crystal structure of a BPDE DNA adduct. We report here the crystal structure of a BPDE–adenine adduct base-paired with thymine at a template–primer junction and complexed with the lesion-bypass DNA polymerase Dpo4 and an incoming nucleotide. Two conformations of the BPDE, one intercalated between base pairs and another solvent-exposed in the major groove, are observed. The latter conformation, which can be stabilized by organic solvents that reduce the dielectric constant, seems more favorable for DNA replication by Dpo4. These structures also suggest a mechanism by which mutations are generated during replication of DNA containing BPDE adducts.

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Crystal structure of a benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide adduct in a ternary complex with a DNA polymerase

Mitochondrial DNA damage and its consequences for mitochondrial gene expression

Fifteen years ago, we proposed bay-region diol epoxides as the reactive metabolites responsible for the tumorigenic activity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (Jerina and Daly, 1976; Jerina et al, 1976; Jerina and Lehr, 1977) In the intervening period, extensive studies from several laboratories have provided substantial evidence that over a dozen hydrocarbons are activated by this pathway (Jerina et al, 1984; Lehr et al, 1985; Thakker et al, 1985) Examples have been forthcoming from a variety of structural types including benz- and dibenzanthracenes and acridines, benz- and dibenzpyrenes, chrysenes, and benzo[c]phenanthrene To date, there are no known examples of carcinogenic alternant polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons for which a bay-region diol epoxide is not an ultimate carcinogen Although a number of mechanistically attractive alternatives to bay-region diol epoxides exist (Watabe et al, 1989; Cavalieri and Rogan, 1985; Miller et al, this volume), the extent of their contribution to the overall carcinogenicity of the hydrocarbons remains to be established

Alexander W. Wood

Papers

Covalent Bonding of Bay-Region Diol Epoxides to Nucleic Acids