title: Use of chromosome painting for detecting stable chromosome aberrations induced by melphalan in mice.
abstract: Chromosomal aberrations are a measure of genomic instability, which is known to play a key role in the initiation and promotion of carcinogenesis. Stable reciprocal translocations are of particular importance since they are often involved in neoplastic transformation and tumor cell clonal evolution. In this study, chromosome painting analysis was used to test for stable aberrations induced in the bone marrow of C57BL/6J and FVB mice exposed for 4 weeks to 2 or 4 mg/kg of melphalan (MLP), a chemotherapeutic agent with carcinogenic potential. To compare the chemical-induced damage in different tissues, chromosome aberrations were also analyzed by chromosome painting in the spleen of C57BL/6J mice. At the 2 mg/kg dose, MLP induced comparable levels of chromosome-type aberrations in bone marrow cells of both mouse strains and in splenocytes of C57BL/6J mice. At 4 mg/kg, no further increase in aberrations was detected in bone marrow, while a dose-effect relationship was found in spleen cells. This different response may result from a negative selection against highly damaged bone marrow cells during mitotic proliferation. The results indicate that chromosome painting is a useful tool for detecting stable chromosome aberrations in somatic cells exposed to MLP and possibly to other genotoxic chemical carcinogens.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Rome Roma Tre, Rome, Italy. sgura@uniroma3.it
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sgura
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Stronati
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gullotta
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pecis
authors.forename: Serena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cinelli
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lascialfari
authors.forename: Caterina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tanzarella
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pacchierotti
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations / Q000139:chemically induced*; D020223:Chromosome Painting / Q000379:methods*; D020732:Cytogenetic Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D008558:Melphalan / Q000633:toxicity*; D051379:Mice; D008817:Mice, Mutant Strains; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology
chemical_list: D008558:Melphalan