Analysis of highly polar DNA adducts formed in SENCAR mouse epidermis following topical application of dibenz[a,j]anthracene.

The formation of DNA adducts in mouse epidermis has been examined following topical application of dibenz[a,j]anthracene (DB[a,j]A) and its metabolites, i.e., DB[a,j]A-3,4-diol, DB[a,j]A-3,4-10, 11-bis-diol, DB[a,j]A-3,4-8,9-bis-diol, 10-OH-DB[a,j]A-3,4-diol, or 11-OH-DB[a,j]A-3,4-diol, using a 32P-postlabeling assay. At initiating doses (400-1600 nmol), DB[a,j]A produced at least 23 DNA adduct spots, including four less polar (derived from the bay-region syn- and anti-diol-epoxides) and 19 highly polar DNA adducts. DB[a, j]A-3,4-diol produced 13 DNA adduct spots, four less polar and nine highly polar DNA adducts, and DB[a,j]A-3,4-10,11-bis-diol produced nine highly polar DNA adducts. Eight and seven of the highly polar DNA adducts generated by DB[a,j]A-3,4-diol and DB[a,j]A-3,4-10, 11-bis-diol, respectively, migrated in the chromatography system like the highly polar DNA adducts produced by the parent compound. Sufficient amounts of radioactivity were associated with highly polar adduct spots 11, 13, and 22 to confirm their chromatogaphic identity in DNA samples from DB[a,j]A-, DB[a,j]A-3,4-diol-, and DB[a, j]A-3,4-10,11-bis-diol-treated mice. 10-OH-DB[a,j]A-3,4-diol and 11-OH-DB[a,j]A-3,4-diol did not produce any highly polar DNA adducts that could be detected under our experimental conditions. At an initiating dose of 400 nmol, DB[a,j]A, DB[a,j]A-3,4-diol, and DB[a, j]A-3,4-10,11-bis-diol produced 22.4 +/- 13.0, 15.6 +/- 10.1, and 5. 5 +/- 0.3 (mean +/- SD) adducts/10(9) nucleotides, of which 77, 65, and 100%, respectively, represented highly polar DNA adducts. At the same dose of 400 nmol per mouse, DB[a,j]A and its 3,4-diol were able to initiate papillomas in SENCAR mouse skin (3.08 +/- 1.89 and 3.48 +/- 2.72 papillomas per mouse, respectively, after 16 weeks of promotion with 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol 13-acetate), while the 3, 4-10,11-bis-diol of DB[a,j]A was inactive as a tumor initiator. A quantitative correlation (r = 0.935; p = 0.0196) between levels of less polar DNA adducts and tumor-initiating activity of DB[a,j]A, DB[a,j]A-3,4-diol, and anti-DB[a,j]ADE was observed. This study demonstrates that the highly polar DNA adducts formed from DB[a,j]A in mouse epidermis arise primarily from the DB[a,j]A-3,4-10, 11-bis-diol. However, the contribution of this metabolite to the tumor-initiating activity of DB[a,j]A appears to be small.