Quantitation of carcinogen-DNA adducts by a standardized high-sensitive enzyme immunoassay

A highly sensitive competitive enzyme immunoassay has been developed, allowing accurate determination of DNA containing the adducts N-(deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-N-acetyl-2-amino-fluorene, N-(deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-2-aminofluorene, 1-[6-(2,5-diamino-4-oxopyrimidinyl-N6-deoxyriboside)]-3-(2-fluo renyl)urea or trans-(7R)-N2-[10-(7 beta,8 alpha,9 alpha-trihydroxy-7,8, 9,10-tetrahydrobenzo[a]pyren)yl]deoxyguanosine. Standard amounts of the carcinogen-modified DNA preparations (25 fmol/500 ng) were coated on the wells of microtitre plates. Various amounts of the modified DNA preparations were used as inhibitors and added before binding of the antibodies (dilution 1:10(6). As second antibody, goat anti-rabbit IgG coupled to alkaline phosphatase was used. The amount of enzyme was determined with 4-methylumbelliferyl phosphate as substrate (Van der Laken et al., 1982). The 50% inhibition values of the standard curves are in the range of 2-16 fmol for the enzyme immunoassays. It is possible to add up to 50 micrograms of unknown DNA to the wells, allowing for comparison with the same quantity of modified DNA. This extends the limit of detection to 1-6 adducts per 10(8) nucleotides. The sensitivity of the assay seems sufficient to demonstrate exposure of humans to known chemical carcinogens.