Sulfotransferase-mediated activation of 7,8,9,10-tetrahydro-7-ol, 7,8-dihydrodiol, and 7,8,9,10-tetraol derivatives of benzo[a]pyrene.

Some hydroxymethyl-substituted polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons have been shown to be converted to electrophilic, mutagenic, or tumorigenic sulfuric acid ester metabolites by cytosolic sulfotransferase activity in rodent liver. Likewise, certain types of aromatic compounds with a secondary alcoholic functional group at the benzylic position undergo metabolic activation through sulfonation. Enzymatic oxidation of benzo[a]pyrene produces such secondary alcohols as dihydrodiol and tetraol derivatives as primary metabolites. Sulfo conjugation of the benzylic hydroxy group of each of these metabolites is expected to generate an electrophilic sulfuric acid ester capable of covalently binding to DNA, which may contribute to mutagenesis and carcinogenesis by benzo[a]pyrene. Although the model benzo-ring secondary benzyl alcohol, 7-hydroxy-7,8,9,10-tetrahydrobenzo[a]pyrene, covalently bound to DNA and also exerted mutagenicity in the presence of rodent hepatic cytosols and 3'-phosphoadenosine 5'-phosphosulfate, no such sulfotransferase-dependent activation was observed with dihydrodiol or tetraol derivatives of benzo[a]pyrene. Thus, it seems likely that appearance of the adjacent non-benzylic hydroxy functional group(s) in latter metabolites hinders the benzylic sulfonation in these molecules.