The basic chemical principles underlying the harmful effects of environmental agents are not fully understood. Our investigations on the molecular mechanisms of the biological effects of environental agents provide necessary basic information to fill the gaps in the present state of knowledge. The information obtained from these studies will allow more rapid and efficient design of ways to enhance the beneficial effects and minimize the health hazards of environmental agents. There are five projects included in this proposal. Their titles are: """"""""Oxidation of Biological Systems and Biomolecules"""""""", """"""""Dioxetane Chemiluminescence of Polyaromatic Hydrocarbon Metabolites in Microsomal Extracts and Whole Cells"""""""", """"""""Mode of Action of Water and Wastewater Disinfectants"""""""", """"""""Effects of Ultrasound on Nucleic Acids"""""""" and """"""""New Approaches to Singlet Oxygen for Biological Studies"""""""". These projects deal with wide range of agents and substrates, but the basic reactions are very similar - a direct or indirect reaction with nucleic acids that may result in mutagenesis or carcinogenesis. All five projects involve four stages of operation: 1) established procedures for the separation, isolation and characterization of major reaction products; 2) developing methods for the synthesis of the identified products in sufficient quantities for stages 3 and 4; 3) examining the apparent biological effects of each product in vitro and in vivo and 4) studying the molecular mechanisms of the biological phenomena. A project may emphasize any one of these stages, depending on the level of development that has been reached. The ultimate goal of all five projects is to reach a greater understanding of the molecular mechanisms responsible for the biological effects of environmental agents.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
Type
Research Program Projects (P01)
Project #
3P01ES002300-05S1
Application #
3095843
Study Section
Environmental Health Sciences Review Committee (EHS)
Project Start
1985-03-01
Project End
1986-08-31
Budget Start
1985-03-01
Budget End
1985-08-31
Support Year
5
Fiscal Year
1985
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Johns Hopkins University
Department
Type
Schools of Public Health
DUNS #
045911138
City
Baltimore
State
MD
Country
United States
Zip Code
21218
Seed, J L; Specht, K G; Dahl, T A et al. (1989) Singlet oxygen induced mutagenesis of benzo[a]pyrene derivatives. Photochem Photobiol 50:625-32
Chedekel, M R; Zeise, L (1988) Sunlight, melanogenesis and radicals in the skin. Lipids 23:587-91
Ahene, A B; Chedekel, M R; Koch, W H et al. (1988) Analysis and quantification of pheomelanins by radioimmunoassay. Pigment Cell Res 1:326-31
Specht, K G; Kittler, L; Midden, W R (1988) A new biological target of furocoumarins: photochemical formation of covalent adducts with unsaturated fatty acids. Photochem Photobiol 47:537-41
Dahl, T A; Midden, W R; Hartman, P E (1988) Some prevalent biomolecules as defenses against singlet oxygen damage. Photochem Photobiol 47:357-62
Dahl, T A; Midden, W R; Hartman, P E (1988) Pure exogenous singlet oxygen: nonmutagenicity in bacteria. Mutat Res 201:127-36
Dahl, T A; Midden, W R; Hartman, P E (1987) Pure singlet oxygen cytotoxicity for bacteria. Photochem Photobiol 46:345-52
Koch, W H; Chedekel, M R (1987) Photochemistry and photobiology of melanogenic metabolites: formation of free radicals. Photochem Photobiol 46:229-38
Koch, W H; Chedekel, M R (1987) Photogeneration of free radicals from eumelanogenic intermediates and metabolites. Biochim Biophys Acta 924:458-66
Thompson, A; Nigro, J; Seliger, H H (1986) Efficient singlet oxygen inactivation of firefly luciferase. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 140:888-94

Showing the most recent 10 out of 16 publications