Articles

The 32nd summer school of the Research Community for Mechanisms of Mutations

The 32nd summer school of the Research Community for Mechanisms of Mutations was held at Inter-University Seminar House in Hachioji city, Tokyo, from September 7 to 8, 2019. Thirty-eight people attended this a...

Authors: Masanobu Kawanishi

Comprehensive framework between environment and genomic stability: the open symposium of the Japanese Environmental Mutagen Society (JEMS) in 2019

The open symposium of the Japanese Environmental Mutagen Society (JEMS), under the title of “Comprehensive framework between environment and genomic stability,” was held in the Main Conference Room of the Foun...

Authors: Katsuyoshi Horibata, Masashi Sekimoto and Kei-ichi Sugiyama

Effect of MMP-2 gene silencing on radiation-induced DNA damage in human normal dermal fibroblasts and breast cancer cells

Diagnostic and therapeutic ionizing radiation (IR) is one of the well known long term risk factors of breast cancer. Extremely lethal consequences of IR causes double-strand breaks, which are mainly responsibl...

Authors: Gugalavath Shailender, Seema Kumari, Patnala Kiranmayi and Rama Rao Malla

Comparative study of cytotoxic effects induced by environmental genotoxins using XPC- and CSB-deficient human lymphoblastoid TK6 cells

The human genome is constantly exposed to numerous environmental genotoxicants. To prevent the detrimental consequences induced by the expansion of damaged cells, cellular protective systems such as nucleotide...

Authors: Akira Sassa, Takayuki Fukuda, Akiko Ukai, Maki Nakamura, Michihito Takabe, Takeji Takamura-Enya, Masamitsu Honma and Manabu Yasui

Live-cell imaging of macrophage phagocytosis of asbestos fibers under fluorescence microscopy

Frustrated phagocytosis occurs when an asbestos fiber > 10 μm in length is engulfed imperfectly by a macrophage, and it is believed to be associated with chromosomal instability. Few studies have focused on dy...

Authors: Takenori Ishida, Nobutoshi Fujihara, Tomoki Nishimura, Hisakage Funabashi, Ryuichi Hirota, Takeshi Ikeda and Akio Kuroda

Evaluation of the novel liver micronucleus assay using formalin-fixed tissues

The repeated-dose liver micronucleus (RDLMN) assay is an effective and important in vivo test for detecting genotoxic compounds, particularly for those that require metabolic activation to show genotoxicity. I...

Authors: Shuichi Hamada, Miyuki Shigano, Satoru Kawakami, Maya Ueda, Hajime Sui, Katsuya Yamada, Soichiro Hagio, Ayaka Momonami, Akihisa Maeda, Yukari Terashima, Wakako Ohyama, Takeshi Morita and Makoto Hayashi

Purification and interactions of the MucA’ and MucB proteins constituting the DNA polymerase RI

The MucA’ and MucB proteins comprise the core of DNA polymerase RI which is a strong mutator utilized in mutagenicity assays such as the standard Ames test. A close relative DNA polymerase V, composed of the h...

Authors: Petr Grúz, Kei-ichi Sugiyama, Masamitsu Honma and Takehiko Nohmi

Correction to: Low-dose radiation from A-bombs elongated lifespan and reduced cancer mortality relative to un-irradiated individuals

In the original publication of this article [1], the author pointed out the reference list mismatched citations in the main text. All citations and reference has been updated.

Authors: Shizuyo Sutou

Chloroethylating anticancer drug-induced mutagenesis and its repair in Escherichia coli

Chloroethylnitrosourea (CENU) derivatives, such as nimustine (ACNU) and carmustine (BCNU), are employed in brain tumor chemotherapy due to their ability to cross the blood-brain barrier. They are thought to su...

Authors: Yoko Yamada, Shinji Watanabe, Keinosuke Okamoto, Sakae Arimoto, Eizo Takahashi, Kazuo Negishi and Tomoe Negishi

Association of ACE gene polymorphism with cardiovascular determinants of trained and untrained Iranian men

The insertion (I) rather than deletion (D) of human angiotensin converting enzyme gene (ACE) is associated with lower circulating ACE activity and with endurance performance among Caucasians. The frequency of ...

Authors: Akram Falahati and Hamid Arazi

Development of novel and safer anti-breast cancer agents, SS1020 and SS5020, based on a fundamental carcinogenic research

Tamoxifen (TAM) has been prescribed worldwide to patients with and women at high-risk of breast cancer. However, long-term use of TAM increases the incidence of endometrial cancer. The carcinogenic mechanisms ...

Authors: Yoshinori Okamoto and Shinya Shibutani

Importance of finding the bona fide target of the Fanconi anemia pathway

Fanconi anemia (FA) is a rare genetic disease characterized by the deficiency of the cellular response and repair pathway for DNA interstrand crosslink (ICL) damage. Although recent studies have revealed the d...

Authors: Wataru Sakai and Kaoru Sugasawa

Evaluation of the genotoxicity of PM2.5 collected by a high-volume air sampler with impactor

The harmful effects of fine particles with an aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 μm (PM2.5) on respiratory organs are emphasized in pollution studies because PM2.5 have high deposition rates in the respiratory...

Authors: Kazutoshi Sugita, Yuka Kin, Mayuko Yagishita, Fumikazu Ikemori, Kimiyo Kumagai, Toshihiko Ohara, Makoto Kinoshita, Kazuyuki Nishimura, Yukihiko Takagi and Daisuke Nakajima

Standard protocol for the total red blood cell Pig-a assay used in the interlaboratory trial organized by the Mammalian Mutagenicity Study Group of the Japanese Environmental Mutagen Society

The Pig-a assay, a promising tool for evaluating in vivo genotoxicity, is based on flow cytometric enumeration of red blood cells (RBCs) that are deficient in glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor protein. Various ...

Authors: Satsuki Chikura, Takafumi Kimoto, Satoru Itoh, Hisakazu Sanada, Shigeharu Muto and Katsuyoshi Horibata

High-content imaging analyses of γH2AX-foci and micronuclei in TK6 cells elucidated genotoxicity of chemicals and their clastogenic/aneugenic mode of action

The in vitro micronucleus (MN) test is an important component of a genotoxicity test battery that evaluates chemicals. Although the standard method of manually scoring micronucleated (MNed) cells by microscope...

Authors: Akira Takeiri, Kaori Matsuzaki, Shigeki Motoyama, Mariko Yano, Asako Harada, Chiaki Katoh, Kenji Tanaka and Masayuki Mishima

Current perspectives on mechanisms of ribonucleotide incorporation and processing in mammalian DNA

Ribonucleotides, which are RNA precursors, are often incorporated into DNA during replication. Although embedded ribonucleotides in the genome are efficiently removed by canonical ribonucleotide excision repai...

Authors: Akira Sassa, Manabu Yasui and Masamitsu Honma

Mechanism and regulation of DNA damage recognition in nucleotide excision repair

Nucleotide excision repair (NER) is a versatile DNA repair pathway, which can remove an extremely broad range of base lesions from the genome. In mammalian global genomic NER, the XPC protein complex initiates...

Authors: Masayuki Kusakabe, Yuki Onishi, Haruto Tada, Fumika Kurihara, Kanako Kusao, Mari Furukawa, Shigenori Iwai, Masayuki Yokoi, Wataru Sakai and Kaoru Sugasawa

Inhibition of NF-kappaB transcriptional activity enhances fucoxanthinol-induced apoptosis in colorectal cancer cells

Evidence from epidemiological and experimental studies has shown that the etiology of colorectal cancer (CRC) is related to lifestyle, mainly diet. At the same time, there are many foods and beverages that hav...

Authors: Shuya Tamura, Takumi Narita, Gen Fujii, Shingo Miyamoto, Takahiro Hamoya, Yurie Kurokawa, Maiko Takahashi, Kouhei Miki, Yui Matsuzawa, Masami Komiya, Masaru Terasaki, Tomohiro Yano and Michihiro Mutoh

Summarized data of genotoxicity tests for designated food additives in Japan

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has carried out genotoxicity tests for food additives used in Japan in cooperation with the Japan Food Additives Association since 1979. Hayashi et al. summarized the...

Authors: Masami Yamada and Masamitsu Honma

Low-dose radiation from A-bombs elongated lifespan and reduced cancer mortality relative to un-irradiated individuals

The US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) presented the linear no-threshold hypothesis (LNT) in 1956, which indicates that the lowest doses of ionizing radiation are hazardous in proportion to the dose. This s...

Authors: Shizuyo Sutou

Change over time of the mutagenicity in the lungs of gpt delta transgenic mice by extract of airborne particles collected from ambient air in the Tokyo metropolitan area

Previously we found that DNA adducts were accumulated in the lungs of the rats exposed to ambient air in the Tokyo metropolitan area. To examine chronological change in in vivo mutagenicity of airborne particl...

Authors: Yasunobu Aoki, Daisuke Nakajima, Michiyo Matsumoto, Mayuko Yagishita, Michi Matsumoto, Rie Yanagisawa, Sumio Goto, Kenichi Masumura and Takehiko Nohmi

Oligo swapping method for in vitro DNA repair substrate containing a single DNA lesion at a specific site

A wide variety of DNA lesions interfere with replication and transcription, leading to mutations and cell death. DNA repair mechanisms act upon these DNA lesions present in the genomic DNA. To investigate a DN...

Authors: Mika Yukutake, Mika Hayashida, Narumi Shioi Aoki and Isao Kuraoka

Challenges of young scientists at the cutting-edge of genotoxicity research: the open symposium of the Japanese Environmental Mutagen Society (JEMS), 2018

The Open Symposium of the Japanese Environmental Mutagen Society (JEMS) entitled “Challenges of Young Scientists at the Cutting-edge of Genotoxicity Research” was held in the Main Conference Room of the Founda...

Authors: Manabu Yasui, Shigeharu Muto and Akira Sassa

Analysis of large deletion mutations induced by abasic site analog in human cells

Abasic sites are formed spontaneously and by nucleobase chemical modifications and base excision repair. A chemically stable abasic site analog was site-specifically introduced into replicable plasmid DNAs, wh...

Authors: Tetsuya Suzuki, Yuri Katayama, Yasuo Komatsu and Hiroyuki Kamiya

Chromium (VI) – induced stress response in the plant Plantago ovata Forsk in vitro

Plants experience severe physiological stress from heavy metal pollution caused by improper discarding of the industrial wastes. Hexavalent chromium [Cr (VI)] is one of the major heavy metal pollutants in Indi...

Authors: Debangana Kundu, Sankalan Dey and Sarmistha Sen Raychaudhuri

Collaborative study of thresholds for mutagens: proposal of a typical protocol for detection of hormetic responses in cytotoxicity tests

According to the linear no-threshold model (LNT), even the smallest amount of radiation is hazardous. Although the LNT is not based on solid data, this hypothesis has been applied to mutagens and carcinogens. ...

Authors: Shizuyo Sutou, Akiko Koeda, Kana Komatsu, Toshiyuki Shiragiku, Hiroshi Seki, Kohji Yamakage, Takeru Niitsuma, Toshiyuki Kudo and Akihiro Wakata

Meeting report, ICH M7 relevant workshop: use of (Q)SAR systems and expert judgment

Use of Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships ((Q)SAR) prediction tools has been increasing since the International Council for Harmonization of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use ...

Authors: Masayuki Mishima, Tsuneo Hashizume, Yu Haranosono, Yusuke Nagato, Kentaro Takeshita, Junichi Fukuchi and Masamitsu Homma

Comparison of structures among Saccharomyces cerevisiae Grxs proteins

Glutaredoxins (Grxs) comprise a group of glutathione (GSH)-dependent oxidoreductase enzymes that respond to oxidative stress and sustain redox homeostasis. Saccharomyces cerevisiae Grx has a similar interaction p...

Authors: Mohnad Abdalla, Wafa Ali Eltayb and Aadil Yousif

Mutagenic properties of dimethylaniline isomers in mice as evaluated by comet, micronucleus and transgenic mutation assays

The carcinogenic potential of dimethylaniline (DMA) isomers in rodents and humans has been previously reported, and there is sufficient evidence for the carcinogenicity of 2,6-DMA in experimental animals. The ...

Authors: Arihiro Kohara, Mariko Matsumoto, Akihiko Hirose, Makoto Hayashi, Masamitsu Honma and Takayoshi Suzuki

Structure analysis of yeast glutaredoxin Grx6 protein produced in Escherichia coli

Grx6 is a yeast Golgi/endoplasmic reticulum protein involved in iron-sulfur binding that belongs to monothiol glutaredoxin-protein family. Grx6 has been biochemically characterized previously. Grx6 contains a ...

Authors: Mohnad Abdalla, Wafa Ali Eltayb, Amr Ahmed El-Arabey, Raihan Mo, T. I. M. Dafaalla, Hamed I. Hamouda, Eijaz Ahmed Bhat, Annoor Awadasseid and Hassan Abdellha Ahmed Ali

Simultaneous and absolute quantification of nucleoside triphosphates using liquid chromatography–triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry

Nucleoside triphosphates participate in fundamental cellular processes as building blocks of DNA and RNA, energy carriers, and cofactors in enzymatic reactions, and their balance is tightly regulated. Here, we...

Authors: Shun Matsuda and Toshihiko Kasahara

Correction to: New insight for metformin against bladder cancer

The author noted a few errors in the original article [1] need correction. The correct content is below.

Authors: Amr Ahmed EL-Arabey

Ozone augments interleukin-8 production induced by ambient particulate matter

Experimental and controlled human exposure studies have demonstrated additive effects of ambient particulate matter and ozone on health. A few epidemiological studies have suggested that ambient particulate ma...

Authors: Jun Kurai, Kunishige Onuma, Hiroyuki Sano, Futoshi Okada and Masanari Watanabe

Does the prenatal bisphenol A exposure alter DNA methylation levels in the mouse hippocampus?: An analysis using a high-sensitivity methylome technique

There is still considerable debate about the effects of exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) an endocrine disrupter at low doses. Recently, many studies using animal models have shown that prenatal BPA exposure induc...

Authors: Toshiki Aiba, Toshiyuki Saito, Akiko Hayashi, Shinji Sato, Harunobu Yunokawa, Toru Maruyama, Wataru Fujibuchi and Seiichiroh Ohsako

Greetings from the new regime

Authors: Masami Yamada

Advantages of evaluating γH2AX induction in non-clinical drug development

γH2AX, the phosphorylated form of a histone variant H2AX at Ser 139, is already widely used as a biomarker to research the fundamental biology of DNA damage and repair and to assess the risk of environmental c...

Authors: Shigeki Motoyama, Akira Takeiri, Kenji Tanaka, Asako Harada, Kaori Matsuzaki, Junko Taketo, Saori Matsuo, Etsuko Fujii and Masayuki Mishima

The general Assembly of the International Association of Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Societies (IAEMGS) in 2017

The International Association of Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Societies (IAEMGS) is a global organization that promotes applied and basic research on environmental mutagenesis and genomics. IAEMGS is...

Authors: Takehiko Nohmi, Catarina S. Takahashi, Byung-Mu Lee, Michael F. Fenech and Masami Yamada

Negative and positive control ranges in the bacterial reverse mutation test: JEMS/BMS collaborative study

A large-scale study was conducted by multiple laboratories affiliated with the Japanese Environmental Mutagen Society and the Bacterial Mutagenicity Study Group to investigate possible proficiency indicators f...

Authors: Masayuki Kato, Kei-ichi Sugiyama, Toshiro Fukushima, Yasuyoshi Miura, Takumi Awogi, Shigetomo Hikosaka, Kumiko Kawakami, Madoka Nakajima, Masato Nakamura, Hajime Sui, Kumiko Watanabe and Atsushi Hakura

Measurement of 8-hydroxyguanine as an oxidative stress biomarker in saliva by HPLC-ECD

Oxidative stress leads to many kinds of diseases. Currently, urinary 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) is widely measured as an oxidative stress biomarker. There is a specific advantage if saliva can be used as...

Authors: Kazuaki Kawai, Hiroshi Kasai, Yun-Shan Li, Yuya Kawasaki, Shintaro Watanabe, Masanori Ohta, Toru Honda and Hiroshi Yamato

Correlation between the results of in vitro and in vivo chromosomal damage tests in consideration of exposure levels of test chemicals

We examined the correlation between the results of in vitro and in vivo chromosomal damage tests by using in-house data of 18 pharmaceutical candidates that showed positive results in the in vitro chromosomal ...

Authors: Eiji Yamamura, Chinami Aruga, Shigeharu Muto, Nobuyuki Baba and Yoshifumi Uno

The 30th summer school of the Research Community for Mechanisms of Mutations

The 30th summer school of the Research Community for Mechanisms of Mutations was held on September 2nd-3rd, 2017 at the Kyoto Prefecture Seminar House. The Community celebrated the 30th anniversary of the scho...

Authors: Takashi Yagi, Masanobu Kawanishi and Kazuhiko Takahashi

The effect of different methods and image analyzers on the results of the in vivo comet assay

The in vivo comet assay is a widely used genotoxicity test that can detect DNA damage in a range of organs. It is included in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Guidelines for the Testi...

Authors: Takahiro Kyoya, Rika Iwamoto, Yuko Shimanura, Megumi Terada and Shuichi Masuda

Increase of somatic cell mutations in oxidative damage-sensitive drosophila

Oxidative damage is an important genotoxic source for almost all organisms. To efficiently detect mutations induced by oxidative damage, we previously developed a urate-null Drosophila strain. Using this Droso...

Authors: Ryota Koike, Tomoyo Uchiyama, Sakae Arimoto-Kobayashi, Keinosuke Okamoto and Tomoe Negishi

Necessity for retrospective evaluation of past-positive chemicals in in vitro chromosomal aberration tests using recommended cytotoxicity indices

We have demonstrated that retrospective evaluation of existing data of in vitro chromosomal aberration test using the new cytotoxicity indices RICC (relative increase in cell count) or RPD (relative population...

Authors: Hiroshi Honda, Yurika Fujita, Toshio Kasamatsu, Anne Fuchs, Rolf Fautz and Osamu Morita

Detection of dioxin-induced demethylation of mouse Cyp1a1 gene promoter by a new labeling method for short DNA fragments possessing 5'-methylcytosine at the end

Environmental factors stimulate alteration of DNA methylation level. Investigation of the genome-wide DNA methylation status is important for environmental health studies. We here designed a genomic DNA amplif...

Authors: Hisaka Kurita, Toshiki Aiba, Toshiyuki Saito and Seiichiroh Ohsako

Unique molecular mechanisms for maintenance and alteration of genetic information in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The high-fidelity transmission of genetic information is crucial for the survival of organisms, the cells of which have the ability to protect DNA against endogenous and environmental agents, including reactiv...

Authors: Sayoko Ito-Harashima and Takashi Yagi

CiAPEX2 and CiP0, candidates of AP endonucleases in Ciona intestinalis, have 3′-5′ exonuclease activity and contribute to protection against oxidative stress

Apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) sites are one of the most frequent DNA lesions. AP sites inhibit transcription and DNA replication, and induce cell death. AP endonucleases are key enzymes in AP site repair. Several...

Authors: Masafumi Funakoshi, Daisuke Nambara, Yuichiro Hayashi and Qiu-Mei Zhang-Akiyama

Research on environmental mutagenesis from young scientists – the open symposium of the Japanese Environmental Mutagen Society (JEMS) in 2017

The open symposium of the Japanese Environmental Mutagen Society (JEMS) titled, “Research on Environmental Mutagenesis from Young Scientists,” was held at Kokusai Kenkyu Koryu Kaikan, the Foundation for Promot...

Authors: Kenichi Masumura and Shuichi Masuda

Estimation of the effects of heavy Asian dust on respiratory function by definition type

The adverse effects of Asian dust (AD) on health have been demonstrated in earlier studies, but there is no standardized definition for heavy–AD. This study aimed to examine which definition of heavy–AD has th...

Authors: Jun Kurai, Masanari Watanabe, Hisashi Noma, Kyoko Iwata, Jumpei Taniguchi, Hiroyuki Sano, Yuji Tohda and Eiji Shimizu

Protective effects of tea polyphenols and β-carotene against γ-radiation induced mutation and oxidative stress in Drosophila melanogaster

The commonly consumed antioxidants β-carotene and tea polyphenols were used to assess their protective effects against γ-radiation induced sex-linked recessive lethal (SLRL) mutation and oxidative stress in Droso...

Authors: Isha Nagpal and Suresh K. Abraham