Defining conditions for the efficient in vitro cross-linking of proteins to DNA by chromium(III) compounds.

The formation of cross-links between bovine serum albumin and DNA in the presence of chromium(III) chloride was found to be highly pH dependent. In vitro, such lesions were only formed at acidic values of pH, but were not detected at neutral pH. Complexes of chromium(III) and GSH/GSSG similarly failed to induce DNA-protein cross-links at physiological values of pH. Our findings indicate that the cross-links generated in vitro at acidic pH may not be directly relevant to the observed formation of such lesions in cultured cells and that a physiologically relevant in vitro model for the efficient cross-linking of proteins to DNA has yet to be devised.