The frequency of micronuclei with X chromosome increases with age in human females.
The rate of micronuclei counted on lymphocyte cultures from five healthy female donors, 27-80 years old, increased with age. Using pXBR1 probe, specific for the alphoid DNA of the X chromosome, the presence of this chromosome was investigated by FISH (fluorescence in situ hybridization) in both micronuclei and metaphases. Both X aneuploidy and frequency of X chromosome per micronuclei increased with age. However, this overinvolvement of X chromosome was not sufficient to explain the overall increase of micronuclei with age, suggesting that autosomes are also involved. Thus, the higher increase of X than autosome aneuploidy in lymphocytes may result from both an excess of X chromosome losses and a better survival of cells with a monosomy X.
Richard
F
F
URA 620 CNRS, Institut Curie, Section de Biologie, Paris, France.
Muleris
M
M
Dutrillaux
B
B
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000235:genetics*; D000782:Aneuploidy; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D015342:DNA Probes; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D016014:Linear Models; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000648:ultrastructure; D048629:Micronuclei, Chromosome-Defective / Q000473:pathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009006:Monosomy; D011336:Probability; D014960:X Chromosome / Q000473:pathology*
D015342:DNA Probes