The chemistry of lipid peroxidation metabolites: crosslinking reactions of malondialdehyde.

Malondialdehyde reacts readily with amino acids to form adducts containing vinylogous amidine linkages. Crosslinking reactions between nucleic acid bases and amino acids induced by malondialdehyde also have been investigated. The physical data obtained for the adducts provide structural information on the possible mode of crosslinking of proteins and nucleic acids induced by this lipid metabolite.