Ref ID : 1984
T.W. Schultz and A.P. Bearden; Structure-Toxicity relationships for selected Naphthoquinones to Tetrahymena pyriformis. Bull.Environ.Contam.Toxicol. 61:405-410, 1998
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Naphthoquinones are reactive compounds that contain conjugated carbonyl groups. Based on their interaction with cellular components, quinones may act in various ways. However, recent investigations have identified soft electrophilic addition to biological nucleophiles such as proteins and nucleic acids, to a lesser extent, redox cycling oxidation as the most likely mechanisms of quinone toxicity in Tetrahymena (Schultz et al. 1997). This purpose of this study was to examine the aquatic toxicity of selected naphthoquinones. To this end, the specific aims were to: (1) determine the biological response to each quinone in the T. pyriformis population growth impairment assay; (2) compare the observed toxicity to that predicted by the baseline toxicity model for neutral organics, and (3) examine toxic potency QSARs developed with selected molecular descriptor data. In summary, naphthoquinones can act via the redox cycling and/or a soft electrophilic mechanism of toxic action. Selection of the most prevalent mechanism is one-electron redox potential-dependent.