Differential binding of chromium(VI) and chromium(III) complexes to salmon sperm nuclei and nuclear DNA and isolated calf thymus DNA.

The binding of CrCl3.6H2O, Cr(NO3)3.9H2O, [Cr(L-His)2] (NO3)3.H2O, [Cr(L-Cys)(L-His)].3.5H2O, [Cr(L-His)(D-Pen)].H2O, Na[Cr(L-Cys)2].2H2O, K2[Cr(GS)2].3H2O, Na2-CrO4.4H2O, and Na2Cr2O7.2H2O to salmon sperm nuclei and nuclear DNA was determined. The Cr(III)-amino acid complexes and Cr(VI) exhibited significantly lower Cr-nuclei and Cr-DNA binding levels relative to the inorganic complexes CrCl3.6H2O and Cr(NO3)3.9H2O. The binding of CrCl3.6H2O, Cr(NO3)3.9H2O and Na2Cr2O7.2H2O to salmon sperm nuclei and nuclear DNA in the presence of rat lung cytosol was determined under the same conditions. For those complexes studied in both buffer and cytosol, the Cr-DNA binding levels for Cr(III) complexes were higher in buffer than in cytosol, while a relatively higher binding level was observed for Cr(VI) in cytosol than in buffer. Slightly lower nuclear protein levels were present in Cr(VI) incubations than in Cr(III) incubations with nuclei both in the presence and the absence of cytosol. The relative binding of CrCl3.6H2O, Cr(NO3)3.9H2O, Cr(L-His)23.H2O, [Cr(L-Cys) (L-His)].3.5H2O, [Cr(L-His)(D-Pen)].H2O, Na[Cr(L-Cys)2].2H2O and Na2CrO4.4H2O to isolated calf thymus DNA in buffer was also determined. Positively charged, labile inorganic Cr(III) complexes, CrCl3.6H2O and Cr(NO3)3.9H2O, exhibited higher binding to DNA than [Cr(L-His) (D-Pen)].H2O, and no binding to DNA was observed with Cr(VI) and the other neutral, positively and negatively charged, inert Cr(III)-amino acid complexes. Although labile aquo chromium(III) complexes are quite reactive with DNA, the reactivity of chromium(III), formed upon intracellular reduction of carcinogenic chromium(VI), toward DNA will be diminished by complexation with cellular proteins, peptides and amino acids.