Mammalian cell mutagenesis of the DNA adducts of vinyl chloride and crotonaldehyde.

Vinyl chloride and crotonaldehyde are known mutagens and carcinogens that, through their reaction with DNA, form specific deoxyguanosine adducts. To investigate the mutagenic potential of a subset of the possible deoxyguanosine lesions, site-specific adducts of vinyl chloride and crotonaldehyde were synthesized, inserted into a shuttle vector, and replicated in mammalian cells. Mutation yields of the DNA adducts of vinyl chloride and crotonaldehyde were found to be 2% and 5-6%, respectively, thus suggesting that these adducts could contribute to the overall genotoxicity and carcinogenicity associated with exposure to these chemicals.