CHROMOSOME-ABERRATIONS INDUCED BY N-METHYL-N'-NITRO-N-NITROSOGUANIDINE IN CULTURED SKIN FIBROBLASTS FROM PATIENTS WITH ADENOMATOSIS-COLI

  • 1 January 1980
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 71  (5) , 628-636
Abstract
The chromosomal sensitivity to N-methyl-N''-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) of human diploid skin fibroblasts derived from individuals with adenomatosis coli (AC) was studied. Ac is a dominantly inherited disorder associated with multiple adenomas of the colon and rectum. Spontaneous frequencies of chromosome aberrations in the cell strains from the AC patients were similar to those in cells from normal individuals. The AC cells exhibited elevated chromosome instabilities when cells were exposed to MNNG, with aberration frequencies approximately twice as high as in similarly treated control cells. The AC cells apparently are defective in a function which regulates cellular condition and are in a state more susceptible to the action of agents that react with chromosomal DNA. These findings raise the possibility of developing a diagnostic procedure for early detection of abnormal gene carriers of AC.