Mutagenicity of 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural in V79 Cells Expressing Human SULT1A1: Identification and Mass Spectrometric Quantification of DNA Adducts Formed

5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), a heterocyclic product of the Mallard reaction, is a ubiquitous food contaminant. It has demonstrated hepatocarcinogenic activity in female mice. This effect may originate from sulfo conjugation of the benzylic alcohol yielding 5-sulfooxymethylfurfural (SMF), which is prone to react with DNA via nucleophilic substitution. Indeed, we showed that HMF induces gene mutations in Chinese hamster V79 cells engineered for the expression of human (h) sulfotransferase (SULT)1A1 but not in parental V79 cells. In order to identify potential DNA adducts, we incubated DNA samples with SMF or HMF in aqueous solution. Modified DNA was digested and surveyed by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) for adducts that may be formed by nucleosides either via nucleophilic substitution at the electrophilic carbon atom of SMF or via imine formation with the aldehyde group present in HMF and SMF. The most abundant adducts formed from SMF, N-6-((2-formylfuran-5-yl)methyl)-2'-deoxyadenosine (N-6-FFM-dAdo) and N-2((2-formylfuran-5-yl)methyl)-2'-deoxyguanosine (N-2-FFM-dGuo), were synthesized, purified, and characterized by H-1 NMR Imine adducts were only detected when DNA was incubated with very high levels of HMF following reduction of the imines to corresponding secondary amines by NaBH3CN. Sensitive techniques based on LC-MS/MS multiple reaction monitoring for the quantification of the adducts in DNA samples were devised using isotope-labeled [N-15(5)]N-6-FFM-dAdo and [C-13(10),N-15(15)]N-2-FFM-dGuo as internal standards. Both 5-methylfurfuryl adducts were detected in DNA from V79-hSULT1A1 treated with HMF but not in DNA from V79 control cells. Considering the lack of other known mutagenic metabolites, we hypothesize that the hepatocarcinogenic potential of HMF originates from the formation of mutagenic SMF.