Molecular models of induced DNA premutational damage and mutational pathways for the carcinogen 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide and its metabolites

The carcinogen 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide (4NQO) and its metabolites undergo intercalative or covalent binding with DNA. Recent evidence indicates that the latter binding pattern is probably facilitated by an initial weaker intercalative interaction that can align potentially reactive sites on a 4NQO-metabolite and adjacent stacked bases. In the present study, we have proposed numerous possible covalent reaction products between 4NQO and its metabolites with DNA mini-helices based on chemical properties and key 'short-contacts' after energy-minimization in 21 different intercalative-like complexes. It is known from numerous experimental studies that 90% of the quinoline-bound DNAs in vivo involve guanine with the remaining 10% apparently involving adenine residues. The results of the present study suggest that this trend is not due to the greater affinity of the quinolines for guanine, but instead results from secondary processes involving the preferential formation of apurinic sites at aralkyl-adenine residues over that of aralkyl-guanine residues. In addition, observed mutational patterns can be rationalized in terms of the proposed reaction-products. The role of DNA repair mechanisms in the removal and correction of the different proposed reaction products are discussed. The binding pattern of several other aromatic carcinogens are similar to those depicted in the present work for the 4NQO-metabolites; hence the present study may be of some general significance.