4-(Methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (NNAL) is a metabolite of the tobacco specificcarcinogen 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK). NNAL is present in the bloodand urine of people exposed to tobacco products and has carcinogenic activity in rodents similarto that of NNK. DNA adducts specific to NNAL have not been previously identified. Metabolicactivation of NNAL by
-methyl hydroxylation, a pathway known to occur in rodent and humanmicrosomes, would produce pyridylhydroxybutylating agents that could react with DNA. Weinvestigated this possibility in the present study by allowing 4-(acetoxymethylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNALCH
2OAc) to react with dGuo and DNA. Products were identifiedby HPLC with UV detection, liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry(LC/ESI-MS) and LC/ESI-tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS/MS). In the dGuo reactions,selected ion monitoring for
m/
z 417, corresponding to pyridylhydroxybutylated dGuo, showedseveral peaks. One adduct was identified as 7-[1-hydroxy-1-(3-pyridyl)but-4-yl]dGuo (
21) byneutral thermal hydrolysis, which converted it to 7-[1-hydroxy-1-(3-pyridyl)but-4-yl]Gua (
22)and 4-hydroxy-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol (
16). Adduct
22 was identified by comparison of its LC/ESI-MS and LC/ESI-MS/MS properties to those of standard
22. Two other adducts,
O6-[1-hydroxy-1-(3-pyridyl)but-4-yl]dGuo (
17) and
N2-[1-hydroxy-1-(3-pyridyl)but-4-yl]dGuo (
19), wereidentified by comparison of their LC/ESI-MS and LC/ESI-MS/MS properties to those of standard
17 and
19. Further evidence for the identity of
17 and
19 was obtained by mild acid hydrolysis,which converted them to the corresponding Gua bases
18 and
20, identified by comparison tosynthetic standards. Neutral thermal hydrolysis of DNA that had been reacted with NNALCH
2OAc produced
22, identified by comparison to a standard. Adducts
17 and
19 were identifiedin enzyme hydrolysates of this DNA by comparison to standards. Thus, DNA that had beenallowed to react with NNALCH
2OAc contained adducts
17,
19, and
21. The results of thisstudy provide markers for investigating the role of specific NNAL-DNA adducts in carcinogenesis by NNAL and NNK.