Frontier orbital energies, hydrophobicity and steric factors as physical QSAR descriptors of molecular mutagenicity. A review with a case study: MX compounds

A review on QSARs (Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships) in modell ing molecular mutagenicity is given. The importance of hydrophobicity, fron tier orbital (HOMO and LUMO) energies and steric factors as physical descri ptors of mutagenicity is emphasized. In addition, some possible connections between QSAR models and the general electrophilic theory of genotoxic acti vity are discussed. As a detailed example, QSARs for the Ames Salmonella ty phimurium TA100 mutagenicity of halogenated hydroxyfuranones including MX, one of the most potent bacterial mutagens ever identified, are discussed an d a plausible mechanism for their mutagenic activity is proposed. (C)1999 E lsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.