N-Formyllysine as a Biomarker of Formaldehyde Exposure: Formation and Loss of N-Formyllysine in Nasal Epithelium in Long-Term, Low-Dose Inhalation Studies in Rats.

Exposure to both endogenous and exogenous formaldehyde has been established to be carcinogenic, likely by virtue of forming nucleic acid and proteins adducts such as N-formyllysine. To better assess N-formyllysine as a biomarker of formaldehyde exposure, we studied accumulation of N-formyllysine adducts in tissues of rats exposed by inhalation to 2 ppm [CH]-formaldehyde for 7, 14, 21, and 28 days (6 h/day) and investigated adduct loss over a 7-day postexposure period using liquid chromatography-coupled tandem mass spectrometry. Our results showed formation of exogenous adducts in nasal epithelium and to some extent in trachea but not in distant tissues of lung, bone marrow, or white blood cells, with a 2-fold increase over endogenous N-formyllysine over a 3-week exposure period.

Dosimetry of N⁶-formyllysine adducts following [¹³C²H₂]-formaldehyde exposures in rats.

With formaldehyde as the major source of endogenous N⁶-formyllysine protein adducts, we quantified endogenous and exogenous N⁶-formyllysine in the nasal epithelium of rats exposed by inhalation to 0.7, 2, 5.8, and 9.

Quantitative analysis of histone modifications: formaldehyde is a source of pathological n(6)-formyllysine that is refractory to histone deacetylases.

Aberrant protein modifications play an important role in the pathophysiology of many human diseases, in terms of both dysfunction of physiological modifications and the formation of pathological modifications by reaction of proteins with endogenous electrophiles. Recent studies have identified a chemical homolog of lysine acetylation, N(6)-formyllysine, as an abundant modification of histone and chromatin proteins, one possible source of which is the reaction of lysine with 3'-formylphosphate residues from DNA oxidation. Using a new liquid chromatography-coupled to tandem mass spectrometry method to quantify all N(6)-methyl-, -acetyl- and -formyl-lysine modifications, we now report that endogenous formaldehyde is a major source of N(6)-formyllysine and that this adduct is widespread among cellular proteins in all compartments.