Interstitial telomeric sequences are not preferentially involved in the chromosome damage induced by the methylating compound streptozotocin in Chinese hamster cells

QUIROGA, I.Y.; PAVIOLO, N.S.; BOLZÁN, A.D.

ENVIRONMENTAL AND MOLECULAR MUTAGENESIS

WILEY-LISS, DIV JOHN WILEY & SONS INC

Lugar: New York; Año: 2013 vol. 54 p. 147 - 152

0893-6692

The effect of the methylating compound streptozotocin (STZ) on interstitial telomeric sequences (ITSs) was investigated in Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells by using PNA-FISH with a pantelomeric probe. Cells were exposed to increasing concentrations of STZ and chromosomal aberrations were analyzed in the first mitosis after treatment. The frequency of chromosomal aberrations directly involving ITSs increased in STZ-treated cells by a factor of 2.6 (2mM) and 3.6 (4mM), compared with the frequency of these aberrations in control cells (p<0.05). However, no significant differences were found between control and exposed cells in the percentage of aberrations directly involving ITSs related to the total amount of aberrations observed, which shows that ITSs are not preferentially involved in the chromosome damage induced by STZ. None of the concentrations of STZ tested altered telomerase activity, which suggests that this enzyme is not involved in the induction of chromosomal aberrations by this compound.