A PAH metabolite-binding subdomain in human albumin

A major focus of our research is the characterization and quantitation of carcinogen-protein adducts. This was done in the past primarily by electron-capture NICI-GC-MS of derivatized adduct moieties following their hydrolytic release from the proteins. The actual analyses were thus carried out on small molecules identical to or structurally similar to the original carcinogen. Most experiments, in addition, were carried out with carcinogens of known human exposure that had been shown to form stable adducts with hemoglobin or albumin. More recently, the combination of electrospray ionization with tandem mass spectrometry has allowed the detection and characterization of adducted peptides. This technique can potentially reveal the presence of unknown carcinogen-protein adducts and, in some cases, allow characterization of the carcinogen-binding site on the protein.