Abstract
The incidence of serious photochemical smog events is steadily growing in urban environments around the world. The electrophilic metabolites of 1-nitronaphthalene (1-NN), a common air pollutant in urban areas, have been shown to bind covalently to proteins. 1-NN specifically targets the airway epithelium, and the toxicity is synergized by prior long-term ozone exposure in rat. In this study we investigated the formation of 1-NN protein adducts in the rat airway epithelium in vivo and examined how prior long-term ozone exposure affects adduct formation. Eight adducted proteins, several involved in cellular antioxidant defense, were identified. The extent of adduction of each protein was calculated, and two proteins, peroxiredoxin 6 and biliverdin reductase, were adducted at high specific activities (0.36-0.70 and 1.0 nmol adduct/nmol protein). Furthermore, the N-terminal region of calreticulin, known as vasostatin, was adducted only in ozone-exposed animals. Although vasostatin was adducted at relatively low specific activity (0.01 nmol adduct/nmol protein), the adduction only in ozone-exposed animals makes it a candidate protein for elucidating the synergistic toxicity between ozone and 1-NN. These studies identified in vivo protein targets for reactive 1-NN metabolites that are potentially associated with the mechanism of 1-NN toxicity and the synergistic effects of ozone.