Generation of Reactive Intermediates from 2-Nitrofluorene that Bind Covalently to DNA, RNA and Protein in Vitro and in Vivo in the RAT
2-Nitrofluorene (2-NF) is an air pollutant that is found in appreciable concentrations in urban air due to the exhaust of especially Diesel engines. Like many other nitroaromatics, it is a direct acting mutagen in bacteria that contain nitroreductase activity: this enzyme converts the nitro-aromatics to reduced products, notably the hydroxylamines, that can interact directly with DNA and can cause mutations. 2-NF is a carcinogen in the rat, especially in the forestomach, where it causes tumors upon oral administrationl–4. As yet it is unclear which metabolite(s) is (are) responsible for the mutagenic and carcinogenic activity of 2-NF.
We study the effects of fissioning nuclei mass- and energy-distributions on the formation of fragments for fission induced by high energy probes. A Monte Carlo code called CRISP was used for obtaining mass distributions and spectra of the fissioning nuclei for reactions induced by 660 MeV protons on 241 Am and on 239 Np, by 500 MeV protons on 208 Pb, and by Bremsstrahlung photons with end-point energies at 50 MeV and 3500 MeV on 238 U. The results show that even at high excitation energies, asymmetric fission may still contribute significantly to the fission cross section of actinide nuclei, while it is the dominante mode in the case of lead. However, more precise data for high energy fission on actinide are necessary in order to allow definite conclusions.