Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 12, 2026
09:02
Pre-Conditioning the Airways of Mice with Bleomycin Increases the Efficiency of Orthotopic Lung Cancer Cell Engraftment
Published on: June 28, 2018
Interspecies cytogenetic comparisons: studies with X-radiation and bleomycin sulfate
A D Kligerman1, M F Bryant, C L Doerr
1Genetic Toxicology Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711.
Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis
|January 1, 1992
Summary
Mammalian species show innate differences in peripheral blood lymphocyte (PBL) sensitivity to clastogens. Human PBLs are most sensitive to x-radiation, while rat PBLs are least sensitive.
Area of Science:
- Toxicology
- Genetics
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Clastogens are agents that induce chromosome damage.
- Understanding interspecies differences in sensitivity to clastogens is crucial for risk assessment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate innate differences in the sensitivity of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) from mice, rats, and humans to clastogens.
- To compare the responses of PBLs from different mammalian species to x-radiation and bleomycin.
Main Methods:
- In vitro exposure of mouse, rat, and human whole blood samples to varying doses of x-radiation or bleomycin.
- Stimulation of PBLs to divide and harvesting at first-division metaphase.
- Scoring of chromosome aberrations, including dicentrics, in stained metaphase spreads.
Main Results:
- Human PBLs demonstrated significantly higher sensitivity to x-radiation than mouse PBLs, which were more sensitive than rat PBLs.
- Data for x-radiation sensitivity across species fit a linear-quadratic model.
- Mouse and human PBLs appeared equally sensitive to bleomycin, both more so than rat PBLs, though differences were not statistically significant due to experimental variation.
Conclusions:
- Innate differences in PBL sensitivity to clastogens exist among mammalian species.
- Further research is warranted to confirm these species-specific sensitivities with a broader range of clastogenic agents.
