Prof. Steven R Tannenbaum

Professor Tannenbaum's laboratory has conducted extensive research on the chemistry and structural analysis of biological polymers, including proteins, nucleic acids, and polysaccharides. A particular interest is and has been the measurement of chemical modification of protein side chains and nucleic acid bases. State-of-the-art instrumentation has enabled us to make quantitative measurements at the sub-femtomole level.

The Quantification of Human Exposure to Carcinogens -- Some environmental chemicals pose risks to human health. The accurate assessment of these risks requires quantitative data on human exposure. Such data are currently estimated from measurements of the chemicals in air, water or food. Direct measurements in human blood, urine, or tissues have generally not been attempted, since the compounds involved are usually short-lived and present in low levels. We have developed an analytical approach for the quantitation of toxicologically significant compounds by monitoring their reaction products to human proteins. The proposed method is applicable to many carcinogens, mutagens, and other reactive chemicals. The results allow more accurate assessments of human risk, and more precise epidemiological investigations of the links, for example, between exposure to carcinogens and human cancer.

The basis of this research is as follows. Compounds such as carcinogens are toxic often because they react within the body to modify the genetic material (DNA). The same electrophiles that react with DNA also react with proteins. Since DNA is repaired and proteins are not, the protein serves as a template for carcinogen exposure. Measurement of protein adducts is therefore a useful approach for human biomonitoring and investigation of the effect of metabolic polymorphisms.

Detection of protein adducts in human requires analytical tools that are both sensitive and specific. The laboratory specializes in the application of mass spectrometry and laser fluorescence methods to these problems.