Fall 2008
Significant
Advances made to In Vitro Micronucleus
Scoring
Currently in development,
a new In Vitro MicroFlow®
HT kit, promises to meet the needs of scientists
looking for High Content and a higher throughput.
[more info]
International
Pig-a Mutation Trial Set to Begin,
Early 2009
Litron is helping
to coordinate an international collaborative
study to evaluate and "validate" the flow cytometric
Pig-a mutation assay. For more information
concerning this interesting work, please contact
us
here.
Litron Scientist
Receives New Investigator Award
At this year's Genetic
Toxicology Association (GTA) meeting, Steve
Bryce received a New Investigator Award for
his work with the ground- breaking In Vitro
MicroFlow® method. For more information regarding
this technology,
click here
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Breakthrough Technology
Developed to Revolutionize Mutation Testing
New Assay Based on the Pig-a Gene
In recent years,
scientists at Litron have developed a cross-species
gene mutation assay based on the Pig-a
gene. This powerful method eliminates the need
for both cell culture work and genetically modified
animals.
Background
GPI anchors attach specific proteins to the
surface of red blood cells. The Pig-a
gene, located on the X-chromosome, plays a key
role in GPI anchor production. Since only one
functional copy is present in each cell, a single
"hit" (i.e., gene mutation) is all that's required
to produce a Pig-a mutant phenotype.
Methodology
With this new process, flow cytometry is used
to detect GPI anchor deficiency in red blood
cells
[Bryce et al., Environ. Mol. Mutagen.
49 (2008) 256-264]. Building on these efforts,
Litron researchers have simplified the blood
handling procedures and are extending their
work to include additional species
[Phonethepswath et al., in press, Mutation
Research].
Negative Control
Positive Control
The upper and lower left quadrants contain the
presumed mutant RBCs.
An increase in mutation frequency can be seen
in the positive control.
Advantages
- Compatible across species, including
human
- Easily integrates into other ongoing
studies
(only requires a few drops of blood)
- No requirement for cell culture work
- Analysis by flow cytometry (faster results
and reliable data)
Further research
is proceeding rapidly with the benefit of Phase
II funding from NIH-NIEHS.
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Litron
Scientists to Share Recent Research with Esteemed
Colleagues in Japan
Annual Japanese
EMS Meeting, December 4 - 6, 2008
At this year's JEMS
meeting in Okinawa, Japan, Litron scientists
will be presenting the latest information regarding
advances in genotoxicity testing using flow
cytometry.
Dr. Stephen Dertinger
will discuss "Flow Cytometric Approaches for
Studying Cytogenetic Damage and Gene Mutation
Across Species of Toxicological Interest, Including
Man." In addition to related posters and other
presentations, Litron will have two booths at
this meeting to provide researchers with easy
access to the scientists who created these methods.
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