Sister chromatid exchange response of various human and mouse tissues to MMC and BrdU

The effect of two known mutagens on different human and mouse tissues was examined in an attempt to determine if tissue specific responses exist. The tissues included human lymphocytes, skin fibroblasts, ovarian and testicular cells, as well as mouse kidney, lung, ovarian and testicular cells. All cell types were exposed to varying concentrations of 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), and mitomycin C (MMC). The numbers of SCEs (sister chromatid exchanges) were recorded from each tissue. Results seemed to indicate that certain of the tissues tested appeared more sensitive to particular test agents. Human ovarian and skin fibroblasts appeared more sensitive to MMC, whereas lymphocytes and skin fibroblasts appeared more sensitive to BrdU. Mouse tissues showed little or no response over the test concentration ranges of both MMC and BrdU. A human ovarian cell sample karyotyped as 44,XX,t(14;21)(p11;q11),t(14;21)(p11;q11) was tested with both agents and was found to have fewer SCEs in response to varied MMC concentrations than ovarian cells carrying the normal 46,XX karyotyped. Results appeared to suggest in human cells that an intra-individual tissue specific response to mutagens may exist.