Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 7, 2026

Identifying the Effects of BRCA1 Mutations on Homologous Recombination using Cells that Express Endogenous Wild-type BRCA1
08:53

Identifying the Effects of BRCA1 Mutations on Homologous Recombination using Cells that Express Endogenous Wild-type BRCA1

Published on: February 18, 2011

Quercetin induces recombinational mutations in cultured cells as detected by DNA fingerprinting

S Suzuki1, T Takada, Y Sugawara

  • 1First Department of Biochemistry, Niigata University School of Medicine.

Japanese Journal of Cancer Research : Gann
|October 1, 1991
PubMed

Insights

Quercetin, a flavonoid, is mutagenic and induces recombination in tumor cells. This study used DNA fingerprinting to detect these genetic changes, providing a molecular basis for observed phenotypic variations.

Area of Science:

  • Biochemistry
  • Molecular Biology
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Quercetin, a naturally occurring flavonoid found in fruits and vegetables, has demonstrated effects on the metastatic potential of tumor cells.
  • Understanding the genotoxic effects of quercetin is crucial for evaluating its biological activity and potential therapeutic applications.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the mutagenicity of quercetin using DNA fingerprint analysis.
  • To determine if quercetin induces genetic recombination in tumor cells.

Main Methods:

  • DNA fingerprint analysis was performed on BMT-11 and FM3A tumor cells treated with quercetin.
  • The Pc-1 probe was utilized for its efficiency in detecting mutations associated with recombination.

Main Results:

  • Treatment with 55 microM quercetin led to observable changes (gain and loss of bands) in DNA fingerprints of both BMT-11 and FM3A cells.
  • The frequencies of mutated clones were 3/11 for BMT-11 and 6/26 for FM3A cells.
  • These findings indicate that quercetin is mutagenic and promotes genetic recombination.

Conclusions:

  • Quercetin exhibits mutagenic properties and induces recombination in tumor cells.
  • The observed genetic alterations provide a molecular explanation for quercetin-induced phenotypic variations in tumor cells.

More Related Videos

A Standard Methodology to Examine On-site Mutagenicity As a Function of Point Mutation Repair Catalyzed by CRISPR/Cas9 and SsODN in Human Cells10:07

A Standard Methodology to Examine On-site Mutagenicity As a Function of Point Mutation Repair Catalyzed by CRISPR/Cas9 and SsODN in Human Cells

Published on: August 25, 2017

The Lambda Select cII Mutation Detection System07:08

The Lambda Select cII Mutation Detection System

Published on: April 26, 2018

Related Concept Videos

Nucleotide Excision Repair01:08

Nucleotide Excision Repair

Overview
Homologous Recombination02:31

Homologous Recombination

The basic reaction of homologous recombination (HR) involves two chromatids that contain DNA sequences sharing a significant stretch of identity. One of these sequences uses a strand from another as a template to synthesize DNA in an enzyme-catalyzed reaction. The final product is a novel amalgamation of the two substrates. To ensure an accurate recombination of sequences, HR is restricted to the S and G2 phases of the cell cycle. At these stages, the DNA has been replicated already and the...
Conservative Site-specific Recombination and Phase Variation02:53

Conservative Site-specific Recombination and Phase Variation

Because the DNA segments are cut and reorganized in a direction-specific manner, site-specific recombination has emerged as an efficient genetic engineering technique. Flippase and Cyclization recombinases or Flp and Cre, respectively, are two members of the tyrosine recombinase family derived from bacteriophages, that are used to mediate site-specific DNA insertions, deletions, and targeted expression of proteins in mammalian cell lines.
The recognition sites for Cre recombinase called LoxP...