Isolation of methylcarbamoyl-adducts of adenine and cytosine following in vitro reaction of methyl isocyanate with calf thymus DNA.

Methylisocyanate (MIC) is the direct-acting acylating compound involved in the Bhopal, India disaster which occurred on December 3rd, 1984. The accidental release of MIC resulted in at least 2000 deaths, thousands of injuries and exposure of at least 200,000 people to varying amounts of MIC. We have studied how MIC reacts with 2'-deoxyribonucleosides at pH 7.0 and 37 degrees C for 1 h. MIC acylates exocyclic amino groups resulting in the following methylcarbamoyl (MC) adducts: N6-MC-Ade (0.5% yield) and N4-MC-dCyd (6%). No adducts were detected with dThd and dGuo. UV, NMR and mass spectrometry were employed to spectroscopically characterize these adducts. MIC was reacted with calf thymus DNA (pH 7.0, 37 degrees C, 1 h) and yielded N6-MC-Ade (0.3 nmol/mg DNA) and N4-MC-dCyd (2.0 nmol/mg DNA). The inability of others to observe genetic mutations by MIC in Salmonella and Drosophila is consistent with the exocyclic adducts at N4 of Cyt and N6 of Ade where normal hydrogen bonding can occur after rotation of the methylcarbamoyl group anti to the Watson-Crick side of the molecule assuming that MIC binds to DNA within the intact cell.