Characterization of 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene-adenine nucleoside adducts.

Chromatographic comparisons were made between radioactive adducts derived from the DNA of cells treated with [3H]7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene and adducts derived from calf thymus DNA or nucleotides which had been treated in vitro with the synthetic syn 3,4-dihydrodiol 1,2-epoxide of this same carcinogen. This confirmed that three of the adducts formed in cells were derived from reaction of this particular dihydrodiol epoxide with deoxyadenosine while a fourth adduct was derived from its reaction with deoxyguanosine. After reaction of the dihydrodiol epoxide with polyadenylic acid, two ribonucleoside adducts were characterized by spectroscopic methods and were shown to have arisen from the cis opening of the epoxide ring at C1 by the amino group of adenine residues.