Mechanism of oxidative DNA damage induced by metabolites of carcinogenic naphthalene.

Naphthalene is a carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, to which humans are exposed as an air pollutant. Naphthalene is metabolized in humans to reactive intermediates such as 1,2-hydroxynaphthalene (1,2-NQH), 1,4-NQH, 1,2-naphthoquinone (1,2-NQ), and 1,4-NQ. We examined oxidative DNA damage by these naphthalene metabolites using P-labeled DNA fragments from human cancer-relevant genes.