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. 1971 Jun;68(6):1251–1253. doi: 10.1073/pnas.68.6.1251

Molecular Characteristics of Some Carcinogenic Hydrocarbons

Ercole Cavalieri 1, Melvin Calvin 1
PMCID: PMC389165  PMID: 5288372

Abstract

The chemical reactivity and presumably the carcinogenic activity induced in aromatic hydrocarbons by hydroxylating enzymes may be due to the generation of electrophilic centers in some (benzo[a]pyrene) or nucleophilic centers in others (7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene or 3-methylcholanthrene). These centers, which are at positions complementary to the points of activation by acid-derived protons (models of the positive oxygen of the hydroxylating enzymes), may react simultaneously with corresponding cellular components.

Keywords: benzpyrene, dimethylbenzanthracene, 3-methylcholanthrene, nucleic acids

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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