Charlotte M. Witmer - Böcker

Much of organic chemistry is based on the ability of suitably structured chemicals to bind together through the formation of covalent bonds. Biochemistry is replete with exam­ ples of enzymatically catalyzed reactions in which normal body constituents can be linked through covalent bonds during the process of intermediary metabolism. The finding that xenobiotic chemicals that enter the body from the environment, are metabolized to highly reactive species, and then covalently react with cellular macromolecules to induce toxic and carcinogenic effects was an observation that spawned the research featured in the Fifth International Symposium on Biological Reactive Intermediates (BRI V). The group of investigators that became fascinated with this process and its signifi­ cance in terms of human health began their discussions in Turku, Finland (J 975), and continued them at Guildford, England (1980), College Park, Maryland (1985), Tucson, Arizona (1990), and Munich, Germany (1995). Among the results were a series of reports listed below, as well as the book for which this serves as the Preface. • Jollow, DJ., Kocsis, J.J., Snyder, R. and Vainio, H. (eds), Biological Reactive Intermediates: Formation, Toxicity and Inactivation, Plenum Press, NY, 1975. • Snyder, R., Park, D.V., Kocsis, J.J., Jollow, D.V., Gibson, G.G. and Witmer, C.M. (eds), Biological Reactive Intermediates II: Chemical Mechanisms and Biological Effects, Plenum Press, N.Y., 1982.

This volume contains the proceedings of the third in a series of conferences entitled, The International Symposium on Biological Reactive Intermediates. The first was held at the University of Turku in Finland, in 1975, the second at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom, in 1980 and the most recent at the University of Maryland in the United States, in 1985. The significance of these conferences has been emphasized by the rapid growth of mechanistic toxicology over the last decade. These conferences were initially stimulated by the attempt to uncover the significance behind the observations that the toxicity of carcinogenic responses produced by many chemicals was associated with the observation that their metabolism led to the formation of chemcially reactive electrophiles which covalently bound to nucleophilic sites in cells such as proteins, nucleic acid or fats. Recently, newer concepts have arisen which have necessitated the expansion of subjects covered by the conference. For example, the application of newer knowledge of the role of active oxygen species in reactive metabolite formation, the concept of suicide substrates, examination of the function of glutathione in cells, application of immunological techniques and molecular biological probes to the solution of toxicological problems all had an impact on the study of the biological reactive intermediates.

The finding that chemicals can be metabolically activated to yield reactive chemical species capable of covalently binding to cellular macromolecules and the concept that these reactions could initiate toxicological and carcinogenic events stimulated a meeting by a small group of toxicologists at the University of Turku, in Finland, in 1975 (Jollow et al. , 1977). The growing interest in this field of research led to subsequent symposia at the University of Surrey, in England in 1980 (Snyder et al. , 1982), and the University of Maryland in the U. S. A. in 1985 (Kocsis et al. , 1986). The Fourth International Symposium on Biological Reactive Intermediates was hosted by the Center for Toxicology at the University of Arizona and convened in Tucson, Arizona, January 14-17, 1990. Over 300 people attended. There were 60 platform presentations by invited speakers, and 96 volunteer communications in the form of posters were offered. These meetings have grown from a small group of scientists working in closely related areas to a major international series of symposia which convene every five years to review, and place in context, the latest advances in our understanding of the formation, fate and consequences of biological reactive intermediates. The Organizing Committee: Allan H. Conney, Robert Snyder (Co-chairman), and Charlotte M. Witmer (Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ), David J. Jollow Co­ chairman) (Medical University, South Carolina, Charleston, SC), 1. Glenn Sipes (Co­ chairman) (University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ), James J. Kocsis and George F.