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Micronucleus is defined as the small nucleus that forms whenever a chromosome or its fragment is not incorporated into one of the daughter nuclei during cell division. It is concluded that micronucleus assay can be used for risk prediction, screening, diagnosis and treatment of various chronic diseases. In this Micronucleus Assay: An Overview, the applications of micronucleus assay will be discussed. Ionizating radiations, ultraviolet rays, geogenic or anthropogenic pollutants can induce mutagenic, teratogenic or carcinogenic effects due to the induction of micro or macrolession over DNA. Several models have been used to measure the mutagenic and clastogenic effect of such agents. As such, the authors focus on one of these models: the micronucleus test. The micronucleus test can assess abnormalities earlier in the drug discovery pipeline, making structure/genotoxicity connection a possible system for drug characterization. Additionally, the authors provide knowledge about micronucleus assay and its usage in occupational toxicology studies. It is now recognized as one of the most successful and reliable assays for genotoxic carcinogens. The authors go on to present an overview of the evaluation of micronucleus assay by flow cytometry, reviewing the studies published in the international literature so far that employ different experimental designs for a variety of purposes. Humans can become exposed to a variety of chemical substances that can have adverse biological effects, and the sub-lethal genotoxicity can have the most far reaching and severe consequences like cancer or abnormal progeny as per the cell type involved. Hence, the penultimate chapter focuses on the significance of identifying and predicting potential genotoxic agents by using laboratory markers, thus regulating and preventing exposure to cancer causing agents. In the concluding review, generation of micronucleus assay in the bone marrow cells of mice induced by various clastogenic chemicals, drugs, and radiation are elaborately elucidated. Bone marrow cells are easily susceptible to oxidative damage and sensitive to various clastogenic as well as aneugenic agents.

Concerns about the adverse health effects of chemicals and radiation present in the environment and at workplaces have created the need for better detection systems to assess their potential to cause DNA damage in humans and other organisms across ecosystems. The Micronucleus Assay in Toxicology is the first comprehensive volume concerning the use of micronucleus assays in genetic toxicology. It succinctly explains the mechanisms by which genotoxins cause micronucleus formation and its relation to diseases. Furthermore, it describes the methods which are currently used for the analyses of micronuclei in different types of cells in human in vivo biomonitoring studies, routine in vivo tests with rodents, in vitro studies with human and mammalian cells, environmental monitoring with invertebrates and vertebrates such as molluscs, fish and, also, in plant bioassays. Moreover, this book also focuses on the use of the micronucleus technique in other research areas, including the detection of DNA damage caused by important groups of genotoxic carcinogens (heavy metals, industrial chemicals, cytotoxic drugs, pesticides, ionising radiation, etc.) as well as study designs, statistical analyses, international regulatory guidelines, and the development of automated scoring devices for this assay. This book will serve as both, a reference and a guide to students, and investigators in biomedical, biochemical and pharmaceutical sciences interested in gaining a better understanding of the biology of micronuclei and their application in measuring DNA damage caused by natural or man-made genotoxins.

This book contains 14 original review chapters each yielding new, exciting and intriguing data about the emerging understanding of nucleolar structure and function in normal, stressed and diseased cells. The goal of this work is to provide special insight into the nucleolus of the past, present and future, as well its regulation, translocation, and biomedical function. A multitude of topics are introduced and discussed in detail, including nucleologenesis, nucleolar architecture, nucleolar targeting, retention, anchoring, translocation, and the relationship between the nucleolus and cancer. This book also brings together work from several different species, from human to Drosophila to Dictyostelium and other eukaryotic microbes. The final chapter summarizes some of the issues brought up in the various chapters with a view to future research. This book supports the continued emergence of the nucleolus as a dynamic intranuclear region that oversees a vast diversity of events.

Within the past two decades, extraordinary new functions for the nucleolus have begun to appear, giving the field a new vitality and generating renewed excitement and interest. These new discoveries include both newly-discovered functions and aspects of its conventional role. The Nucleolus is divided into three parts: nucleolar structure and organization, the role of the nucleolus in ribosome biogenesis, and novel functions of the nucleolus.