32P-adduct assay: short- and long-term persistence of 2-acetylaminofluorene-DNA adducts and other applications of the assay.

32P-Postlabeling techniques have been developed to detect and measure adducts formed by covalent binding of carcinogens of known or unknown origin with DNA (and RNA). The assay is applicable to various classes of chemical carcinogens and permits detection of many adducts at attomole (10(-18) mol) level using microgram amounts of DNA. Here, we demonstrate the application of the assay for the analysis of short- and long-term persistence of 2-acetylaminofluorene-DNA adducts in rat liver in vivo and also outline examples illustrating the applicability of the procedure to different experimental problems.