Binding of benzo[α]pyrene to DNA investigated by tritium displacement

Abstract

The distribution of tritium in generally-labelled benzo[a]pyrene is determined for positions 1, 4–5, and 6 by transformation into its 1-acetyl-,[4,5,b]quinoxalino-, and 6-nitro-derivatives; the extent of loss of tritium from the same hydrocarbon on binding to DNA either photochemically in vitro or metabolically in vivo shows that these processes are not associated with the K-region of the hydrocarbon, but are most likely to result from covalent substitution at position 6 or 1.