Conformations of complexes derived from the interactions of two stereoisomeric bay-region 5-methylchrysene diol epoxides with dna

The reaction mechanisms of two isomeric bay-region diol epoxides of 5-methylchrysene (trans-l,2-dihydroxy-anti-3,4-epoxy-l,2,3,4-tetrahydro-5-methylchrysene (DE-I) and trans-7,8-dihydroxy-anti-9,10-epoxy-7,8,9,10-tetrahydro-5-methylchrysene (DE-II) with double-stranded DNA in aqueous solutions were studied utilizing kinetic flow dichroism and fluorescence techniques. As in the case of the previously studied benzo(a)pyrene-7,8-diol-9,10-oxide isomers (BaPDE), both DE-I and DE-II rapidly form intercalation-type complexes (association constants K = 2700 and 1500 M^−l respectively in a neutral 5mM phosphate solution). The physically bound diol epoxide molecules react on time scales of minutes to form predominantly tetraols; a greater fraction (6±1%) of DE-I than of DE-II (2-3%) molecules react with the DNA to form covalent products. The DE-II isomer is characterized by a greater reactivity than DE-I, and the rates of reaction are markedly accelerated in the presence of DNA in both cases. The linear dichroism spectra of the covalent adducts reveal that the conformations of both types of adducts are similar, with the long axes of the phenanthrenyl chromophores tilted, on the average, at angles of 38-52° with respect to the average orientations of the transition moments (at 260 nm) of the DNA bases. The conformations of the covalently bound DE-I