Alcohol consumption is associated with increased breast cancer risk; however, the underlying mechanisms that contribute to mammary tumor initiation and progression are unclear. Alcohol is known to induce oxidative stress and DNA damage; likewise, p53 is a critical modulator of the DNA repair pathway and ensures genomic integrity. p53 mutations are frequently detected in breast and other tumors....

The rapid accumulation of signaling and repair factors in the vicinity of DNA lesions is an integral part of the cellular DNA damage response (DDR) to DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs).1,2 This is initiated by posttranslational modifications of core histones, to which various effector proteins bind. The priming modification is ATM-mediated phosphorylation of histone H2AX at Ser-139 (γ-H2AX), a ma...

The rapid accumulation of signaling and repair factors in the vicinity of DNA lesions is an integral part of the cellular DNA damage response (DDR) to DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs).1,2 This is initiated by posttranslational modifications of core histones, to which various effector proteins bind. The priming modification is ATM-mediated phosphorylation of histone H2AX at Ser-139 (γ-H2AX), a ma...

Immune responses and DNA damage repair are two fundamental processes that have been characterized extensively, but the links between them remain largely unknown. We report that multiple bacterial, fungal and oomycete plant pathogen species induce double-strand breaks (DSBs) in host plant DNA. DNA damage detected by histone γ-H2AX abundance or DNA comet assays arose hours before the disease-asso...

INTRODUCTION Low dose-rate radioimmunotherapy (RIT) using (125)I-labelled monoclonal antibodies ((125)I-mAbs) is associated with unexpected high cytotoxicity per Gy. METHODS We investigated whether this hypersensitivity was due to lack of detection of DNA damage by the targeted cells. DNA damage was measured with the alkaline comet assay, gamma-H2AX foci and the micronucleus test in p53(-/-) ...

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a 'weak' endocrine disruptor. The effect of BPA on human reproduction is controversial but has been related to meiotic anomalies, recurrent spontaneous abortion, abnormal karyotypes, the diminishing of oocyte survival, delay in meiotic progression and an elevated rate of MLH1 foci in vitro. The aim of this study is to characterize the gene expression of human fetal oocytes ...

Ionizing radiation can lead to a variety of deleterious effects in humans, most importantly to the induction of cancer. DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are among the most significant genetic lesions introduced by ionizing radiation that can initiate carcinogenesis. We have enumerated gamma-H2AX foci as a measure for DSBs in lymphocytes from individuals undergoing computed tomography examination...

DNA instability is an important contributor to cancer development. Previously, defects in the chromosome segregation and excessive DNA double strand breaks due to the replication or oxidative stresses were implicated in DNA instability in cancer. Here, we demonstrate that DNA instability can directly result from the oncogene-induced senescence signaling. Expression of the activated form of Her2...

During the last decade, chromatin research has been focusing on the role of histone variability as a modulator of chromatin structure and function. Histone variability can be the result of either post-translational modifications or intrinsic variation at the primary structure level: histone variants. In this review, we center our attention on one of the most extensively characterized of such hi...