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Chromosome translocations and assessing human exposure to adverse environmental agents
Author(s) -
Tucker James D.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
environmental and molecular mutagenesis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1098-2280
pISSN - 0893-6692
DOI - 10.1002/em.20561
Subject(s) - chromosomal translocation , biomarker , confounding , biology , adverse effect , genetics , medicine , pharmacology , gene
This article discusses the use of chromosome translocations for assessing adverse environmental exposure in humans. Translocations are a persistent biomarker of exposure and a biomarker of effect, making them the endpoint of choice for certain human exposure studies because they indicate a potential relationship between exposure and adverse health outcomes, particularly cancer and birth defects. Presented here are the different types of translocations, their origins and persistence, the strengths and limitations of using translocations for exposure assessments, the current state of the art for quantifying exposure including the importance of confounding effects, and the use of model organisms. This article concludes with an assessment of the future of translocation analyses. Environ. Mol. Mutagen., 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.