Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (3)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Leopardi, P.
Right arrow Articles by Crebelli, R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Leopardi, P.
Right arrow Articles by Crebelli, R.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Mutagenesis, Vol. 17, No. 1, 83-88, January 2002
© 2002 UK Environmental Mutagen Society/Oxford University Press

Influence of donor age on vinblastine-induced chromosome malsegregation in cultured peripheral lymphocytes

Paola Leopardi, Francesca Marcon, Gabriella Dobrowolny, Andrea Zijno,1 and Riccardo Crebelli

Laboratory of Comparative Toxicology and Ecotoxicology,Istituto Superiore Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, I-00161 Rome, Italy

The incidence of spontaneous aneuploidy in human somatic and germ cells is known to be positively associated with aging. However, the influence of age on the individual susceptibility to chemically induced chromosome malsegregation has not been elucidated. In this study the spindle poison vinblastine (VBL) was used as a model compound to assess the influence of donor age on chemically induced chromosome malsegregation in cultured lymphocytes. Blood cultures from 20 female donors belonging to two different age groups (10 <30 years and 10 >50 years) were treated with VBL (7.5 ng/ml) from 43 h after mitogen stimulation until harvest at 60 h, i.e. during the time interval corresponding to G2/M. In order to block cytokinesis, cytochalasin B (6 µg/ml) was added to cultures at 44 h. For each donor the incidence of micronuclei, polyploidy and malsegregation (non-disjunction and loss) of chromosomes X and 8 was determined using fluorescence in situ hybridization with chromosome-specific centromeric probes. Both background incidence of micronuclei and spontaneous chromosome X non-disjunction were significantly elevated in older donors. Individual responses to VBL treatment showed wide interindividual variability, which was not significantly associated with the age of the donor. In both age classes chromosome X was more susceptible than chromosome 8 to both spontaneous and VBL-induced malsegregation. These results indicate that donor age has a limited influence on the aneugenic effects exerted by VBL in peripheral lymphocytes in vitro. Other factors have to be considered to account for the large interindividual variation in sensitivity to VBL challenge observed in this work.

1 To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: 39 06 49902680; Fax: =39 06 49387139; Email: zijno{at}iss.it


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 MutagenesisHome page
C. Rosefort, E. Fauth, and H. Zankl
Micronuclei induced by aneugens and clastogens in mononucleate and binucleate cells using the cytokinesis block assay
Mutagenesis, July 1, 2004; 19(4): 277 - 284.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.