Mass spectral analyses of hydroxymethylvinyl ketone-hemoglobin adducts formed after in vivo exposure of Sprague-Dawley rats to 3-butene-1,2-diol.

3-Butene-1,2-diol (BDD), a known in vivo metabolite of 1,3-butadiene, is oxidized to a reactive Michael acceptor, hydroxymethylvinyl ketone (HMVK). Previously, we characterized the formation of three HMVK-amino acid monoadducts when HMVK was incubated in vitro with N-acetyl-l-cysteine, l-valinamide, and N-acetyl-l-lysine (NAL) at physiological conditions. One HMVK-NAL cyclic diadduct (cyclic diadduct 1) also formed by sequential Michael addition reactions of two HMVK molecules with the epsilon-amino group of NAL followed by enolization and cyclization. Loss of a water molecule and autoxidation convert cyclic diadduct 1 to a more stable cyclic diadduct 2. In the present study, we used multiple mass spectrometry techniques to investigate the formation of HMVK adducts with nucleophilic residues of Hb in vivo after dosing Sprague-Dawley rats with 25 and 200 mg/kg BDD. Trypsin-digested globin peptides with mass shifts consistent with the presence of HMVK monoadducts and cyclic diadducts were detected by LC/electrospray-quadrupole time-of-flight/MS with all rats given BDD. Use of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization/Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance provided further evidence for the formation of HMVK monoadducts and cyclic diadducts, and use of LC/MS/MS provided unequivocal evidence for adduction of HMVK with Cys125 of globin beta chains. Because BDD can also be oxidized to 1,2-dihydroxy-3,4-epoxybutane (EBD), the formation of N(2)-(2,3,4-trihydroxybutyl) (THB)-Hb adducts was also investigated in rats given BDD, and several peptides modified by THB were detected. However, because HMVK incubations with red blood cells in vitro also led to the detection of THB-Hb adducts, the THB adducts formed in vivo could be attributed to formation of HMVK, EBD, or both. Collectively, the results provide new insights into the reaction of HMVK with proteins.