Micronucleus test

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The micronucleus test is a test to reveal chromosome damage (chromosome breakage or clastogenic effect) and damage to the spindle apparatus (aneugenic effect) in dividing mammalian cells, which occurs in living cells ( in vivo ) or in vitro in cell lines (e.g. Mouse Lymphoma L5178Y, CHO, V79, TK6) or primary cells (e.g. human lymphocytes). It was developed to demonstrate the genotoxic or mutagenic potential of chemical substances.

principle

In the in vivo micronucleus test, erythroblasts are removed from the bone marrow of mice. During the mitotic maturation process of the resulting erythrocytes , the nucleus is normally completely expelled. However, due to the action of a mutagen , whole chromosomes or chromosome fragments, surrounded by their own nuclear membrane shell, remain in the erythrocytes, the "micronuclei" ( micronuclei ). With appropriate staining methods, the micronuclei appear optically as small, round particles in the cytoplasm .

literature

  • Heddle et al .: Micronuclei as an index of cytogenetic damage: past, present, and future. Environ Mol Mutagen . 1991; 18 (4), pp. 277-291. PMID 1748091
  • Rainer Braun: Special toxicology for chemists: a selection of toxic substances . Vieweg + Teubner Verlag, 1999, ISBN 9783519035381 , p. 200.
  • Günter Obe and Bernd Beek: Premature Chromosome Condensation in Micronuclei . In: Potu N. Rao, Robert T. Johnson and Karl Sperling (Eds.) Premature Chromosome Condensation - Application in Basic, Clinical, and Mutation Research , 113-130, Academic Press, New York 1982.