In spite of its pioneer use in detecting mutational processes, Drosophila has yet an important role in studies aiming to detect and quantify the induction of DNA damage. Here we describe two assays, one detecting primary damage (the Comet assay) and the other detecting somatic mutation and recom ...
The Tradescantia micronucleus assay is being used since almost 50 years for the detection of genotoxins (including carcinogens) in the environment. A large database on the effects of individual compounds and of complex environmental mixtures (soil, air and water) has accumulated. In co ...
The unscheduled DNA synthesis test is a short-term genotoxicity assay that allows identification of substances that induce DNA repair in liver cells of treated animals. This endpoint can be assessed by determining the uptake of radiolabelled nucleotide after excision-repair in cel ...
Comet assay is a quick and versatile technique for assessing DNA damage in individual cells. It allows the detection of DNA single- and double-strand breaks, as well as the presence of alkali-labile sites and cross-links. Here we describe the protocols for the single-cell gel electrophoresis ( ...
Human biomonitoring studies aim to identify potential exposures to environmental, occupational, or lifestyle toxicants in human populations and are commonly used by public health decision makers to predict disease risk. The Comet assay measures changes in genomic stability and is ...
Rapid industrialization and pursuance of a better life have led to an increase in the amount of chemicals in the environment, which are deleterious to human health. Pesticides, automobile exhausts, and new chemical entities all add to air pollution and have an adverse effect on all living organi ...
DNA damage through endogenous and environmental toxicants is a constant threat to both a human’s ability to pass on intact genetic information to its offspring as well as somatic cells for their own survival. To counter these threats posed by DNA damage, cells have evolved a series of highly choreo ...
The phosphorylation of histone H2AX at serine 139 (γ-H2AX) is one of the first steps of DNA damage response and its detection is widely used as a sensitive marker for DNA double-strand breaks induced by ionizing radiation or other genotoxic agents. Immuno-stained phosphorylated histone can be ...
The rodent micronucleus assay has been most widely and frequently used as a representative in vivo assay system to assess mutagenicity of chemicals, regardless of endpoint of mutagenicity. The micronucleus has been developed to assess induction of structural and numerical chromoso ...
Human peripheral lymphocytes (HPL) are non-cycling primary cells (G0 cells). They are easily collectable by venipuncture. In the presence of suitable culture media and stimulants in vitro HPL enter the cell cycle and divide mitotically. Metaphase-like stages can be arrested using the sp ...
Chromosome aberration tests are used to evaluate the clastogenicity of chemical and physical agents, that is, the capacity of these agents to cause breaks in chromosomes and produce microscopically visible fragments or structural rearrangements. Aberrations are scored in metap ...
Chromosome damage is a very important indicator of genetic damage relevant to environmental and clinical studies. Detailed descriptions of the protocols used for detection of chromosomal aberrations induced by unknown agents in vitro both in the presence or the absence of rat liver-de ...
The in vitro micronucleus assay is currently one of the most commonly used test systems for the study of genotoxic effects of chemicals. It is considered the preferred method for measuring chromosome damage as it allows the determination of both chromosomal loss and breakage. The type of chromo ...
In the past two decades comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) and array CGH have become crucial and indispensable tools in clinical diagnostics. Initially developed for the genome-wide screening of chromosomal imbalances in tumor cells, CGH as well as array CGH have also been employed ...
In recent years, cytogenetics in combination with molecular methods has made rapid progress, resulting in new molecular cytogenetic methodologies such as fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). FISH is a molecular cytogenetic technique used for the detection of specific chro ...
During the last two decades the micronucleus (MN) test has been extensively used as a genotoxicity screening tool of chemicals and in a variety of exploratory and mechanistic investigations. The MN is a biomarker for chromosomal damage or mitotic abnormalities, since it can originate from c ...
The micronucleus (MN) assay, applied in different surrogate tissues, is one of the best validated cytogenetic techniques for evaluating chromosomal damage in humans. The cytokinesis-block micronucleus cytome assay (CBMNcyt) in peripheral blood lymphocytes is the most frequent ...
Transgenic mutation assays are used to identify and characterize genotoxic hazards and for determining the mode of action for carcinogens. The three most popular transgenic mutational models are Big Blue� (rats or mice), Muta™ mouse (mice), and gpt-delta (rats or mice). The Big Blue� and Muta™ mou ...
Assays for in vivo mutation are used to identify genotoxic hazards and phenotypes prone to genomic instability and cancer. The hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (Hprt) gene and the phosphatidyl inositol glycan, class A (Pig-a) gene are endogenous X-linked genes that can ...
In addition to chromosomal damage, assessment of gene mutation is an important part of genotoxicity testing employed during preclinical safety testing. The Pig-a gene mutation assay is based on the loss of function of the Pig-a gene, which results in a lack of cell surface expression of specific p ...

