Cancer Bound:

Trey Boatwright

11/3/12

Health & Medicine Blog

Cancer Bound: How some carcinogens evade removal by stabilizing the various DNA they attack

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) which is a potent atmospheric pollutant that is fused together will form aromatic rings and do not contain heteroatoms or carry substituents. As a pollutant, scientist are concerned because of some compounds have been identified as carcinogenic and mutagenic. The PAH’s are found in cooked foods, such as meat cooked at high temperatures. Grilling food or barbecuing foods are perfect examples. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons are lipophilic, which means they mix more easily with oils than water. PAH’s in the environment are found primarily in soil, sediment and oily substances, as opposed to in water or air. But once you have ingested or inhaled, the multi-ringed molecules are converted into reactive carcinogenic compounds that can bind to DNA.

If DNA is damaged, DANA messes up the genetics during cellular replication, which could possibly cause cancer. If the PAH has evades someone’s system it is the Nuclear Excision Repair (NER) job to repair the system. The PAH lesions are more resistant to repair than others. A New York University research team conducted research on the insight on the ability of certain PAH derived lesions to evade the DNA repair machinery. They found that some lesions stabilize the DNA they damage, which makes it hard for protein to be repaired. “The stability of the DNA double helix is a key feature that determines whether DNA is flagged for repair in the first place y protein called XPC. The protein patrols the genome looking for weakened areas. When it finds one, it slips a structure called beta-hairpin between the strands, marking the DNA for Nuclear Excision Repair. 

One thing that I found interesting about this article was that lesions are formed from bending the double helix out of its normal shape to form areas of damage. And I learned that there are a high percentage of pollutants found in grilled food because of the way it is being cooked. The smoke that is being formed with the cooked food is affecting the food in different ways. Body wise, humans react differently from each other. Some may get sick while others won’t.