Dimethylnitrosamine-demethylase: molecular size-dependence of repression by polynuclear hydrocarbons. Nonhydrocarbon repressors.

Studies with 58 polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons have shown that to repress demethylation of dimethylnitrosamine (DMN) in rat liver, the hydrocarbons must satisfy specific requirements of molecular geometry regarding size, shape, and coplanarity. Expressing the molecular size of these planar compounds by the two-dimensional area occupied, the size for maximal repressor activity ranges between about 85 and 150 A2. In addition to being within the correct molecular size range the hydrocarbons must have an elongated-rather than compact-molecular shape; circularly shaped and/or highly symmetrical hydrocarbons, such as coronene, triphenylene, ovalene, and tetrabenzonaphthalene, have very low activity or are inactive, in spite of being in the optimum size range.

The carcinogenicity of two diazadibenzopyrenes.

1,12-Diazadibenzo(a,i)pyrene (I), an isostere of the extremely potent carcinogen dibenzo(a,i)pyrene, also displays carcinogenicity although to a considerably lesser degree than the latter compound. While dibenzo(a,h)pyrene is known to be distinctly less active than dibenzo(a,i)pyrene, surprisingly 4,11-diazadibenzo(a,h)pyrene (II) shows a greater activity than I. Another hexacyclic diaza-hydrocarbon, 4,12-diazadibenzo(g,p)chrysene (III), which is devoid of a meso-phenanthrenic region, proved totally inactive.