title: Sister-chromatid exchanges in human bronchial epithelial cells.
abstract: One method of assessing the genotoxic effects of exposure to environmental agents is by determining the frequency of sister chromatid exchanges in exposed cells. In the present study, a procedure for observing sister chromatid exchanges in adult human bronchial epithelial cells exposed to a carcinogen has been developed. Using this procedure, the frequencies of sister chromatid exchanges in untreated cells from two individuals were found to be 5.1 +/- 1.8 and 6.5 +/- 1.4 per metaphase (mean +/- SD). Cells from the first individual exposed to 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene at 0.5, 1 and 2 mug/ml had 7.8 +/- 2.2, 13 +/- 3.1, 18.7 +/- 3.7 sister chromatid exchanges per metaphase, respectively. This method is likely to be particularly useful for observing sister chromatid exchanges in cells that have a relatively slow growth rate in the presence of bromodeoxyuridine and for which preparation of a large number of metaphase chromosomes is difficult. In addition, the procedure provides a means of assessing genotoxic effects in the lung by examining the direct effects of pollutants on the chromosomes of the target cells for human lung cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 31301, USA.
authors.forename: I C
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Galati
authors.forename: G D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Stoner