Examining the Potential Formation of Ternary DNA Complexes with Chromium‑Cysteine, Chromium-Ascorbate, and Chromium-Glutathione and Implications for Their Carcinogenicity.

The mutagenic and carcinogenic properties of chromium(VI) complexes have been ascribed to the formation of ternary Cr(III)-small molecule-DNA complexes. As part of these laboratories' efforts to establish the structure and properties of discrete binary and ternary adducts of Cr(III) and DNA at a molecular level, the properties of Cr(III)-cysteine-DNA, Cr(III)-ascorbate-DNA, and Cr(III)-glutathione-DNA complexes formed from Cr(III) were examined. These studies determined the composition of previously described "pre-reacted" chromium cysteinate and chromium glutathione. Neither of these complexes nor "chromium ascorbate" form ternary complexes with DNA as previously proposed. In fact, these Cr(III) compounds do not measurably bind to DNA and cannot be responsible for the mutagenic and carcinogenic properties ascribed to ternary Cr(III)-cysteine-DNA and Cr(III)-ascorbate-DNA adducts. The results of biological studies where "ternary adducts" of Cr(III), cysteine, glutathione, or ascorbate and DNA were made from "pre-reacted" chromium cysteinate or chromium glutathione or from "chromium ascorbate" must, therefore, be interpreted with caution.