Isoprene,
the 2-me
thyl analogue of 1,3-bu
tadiene, is ubiqui
tous in
the environmen
t, wi
th major con
tribu
tions
to
to
tal isoprene emissions s
temming from na
tural processes despi
te
the compound being a bulk indus
trial chemical. Addi
tionally, isoprene is a combus
tion produc
t and a major componen
t in cigare
tte smoke. Isoprene has been classified as
possibly carcinogenic to humans (group 2B) by IARC and as
reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen by
the Na
tional Toxicology Program. Isoprene, like bu
tadiene, requires me
tabolic ac
tiva
tion
to reac
tive epoxides
to exhibi
t i
ts carcinogenic proper
ties. The mode of ac
tion has been pos
tula
ted
to be
tha
t of a geno
toxic carcinogen, wi
th
the forma
tion of promu
tagenic DNA adduc
ts being essen
tial for mu
tagenesis and carcinogenesis. In roden
ts, isoprene-induced
tumors show unique poin
t mu
ta
tions (A鈫扵
transversions) in
the K-
ras pro
tooncogene a
t codon 61. Therefore, we inves
tiga
ted adduc
ts formed af
ter
the reac
tion of 2鈥?deoxyadenosine (dAdo
) with the two monoepoxides of isoprene, 2-ethenyl-2-methyloxirane (IP-1,2-O) and propen-2-yloxirane (IP-3,4-O), under physiological conditions. The formation of N1-2鈥?deoxyinosine (N1-dIno) due to the deamination of N1-dAdo adducts was of particular interest, since N1-dIno adducts are suspected to have high mutagenic potential based on in vitro experiments. Major stable adducts were identified by HPLC, UV-spectroscopy, and LC-MS/MS and characterized by 1H NMR and 1H,13C HSQC and HMBC NMR experiments. Adducts of IP-1,2-O that were fully identified are R,S-C1-N6-dAdo, R-C2-N6-dAdo, and S-C2-N6-dAdo; adducts of IP-3,4-O are S-C3-N6-dAdo, R-C3-N6-dAdo, R,S-C4-N6-dAdo, S-C4-N1-dIno, R-C4-N1-dIno, R-C3-N1-dIno, S-C3-N1-dIno, and C3-N7-Ade. Both monoepoxides formed adducts on the terminal and internal oxirane carbons. This is the first study to describe adducts of isoprene monoepoxides with dAdo. Characterization of adducts formed by isoprene monoepoxides with deoxynucleosides and subsequently with DNA represent the first step toward evaluating their potential for being converted into a mutation or as biomarkers of isoprene metabolism and exposure.