Specific crystal chemical interactions between carcinogenic aromatic compounds and cholesterol.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and aromatic amines exercise a highly specific influence on the crystallization of cholesterol. The strength of these non-covalent, presumably epitaxial interactions correlates with the carcinogenic activity of these substances. The presented results are in support of the assumption that a specific process of adsorption and crystallization with cholesterol of the plasma membrane takes place during the initial phase of the carcinogenesis by aromatic compounds.