Genotoxic Effect of Dicyclopropanated 5-Vinyl-2-Norbornene.

Dicyclopropanated 5-vinyl-2-norbornene (dcpVNB) is a strained polycyclic hydrocarbon compound with a high energy content, which makes it promising for the development of propellant components based on it. In this work, the genotoxic properties of dcpVNB were studied using whole-cell -biosensors based on and . It was shown that the addition of dcpVNB to bacterial cells leads to the appearance of DNA damage inducing the SOS response and Dps expression with slight activation of the OxyR-mediated response to oxidative stress. The highest toxic effect of dcpVNB is detected by the following -biosensors: pColD-lux, pDps, pNK-DinC, and pNK-MrgA, in which the genes of bacterial luciferases are transcriptionally fused to the corresponding promoters: P, P, P, and P. It was shown that -biosensors based on and are almost equally sensitive to dcpVNB, which indicates the same permeability to this compound of cell wall of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The activation of P after dcpVNB addition maintains even in mutant strains, which means that the P induction is only partially determined by the OxyR/S regulon. Comparison of specific stress effects caused by dcpVNB and 2-ethyl(bicyclo[2.2.1]heptane) (EBH), characterized by the absence of cyclopropanated groups, shows that structural changes in hydrocarbons could significantly change the mode of toxicity.