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The acute cytogenetic effects of sterigmatocystin (SC) on rat bone-marrow cells in vivo were studied. The incidence of chromosome aberrations in bone-marrow cells increased and reached the maximum level at 12 h after an intraperitoneal injection of 10 −1 mM(31.2 mg)/kg body weight of SC and decreased gradually to the original level after 96 h. A dose-response relationship was observed between the dose of 10 −6 and 1 mM. The chromosome aberrations consisted of chromatid breaks and gaps, the distribution of breaks and gaps within chromosomes (Nos. 1 and 2) was similar to that induced by a carcinogen, 7,12-dimethylbenz[ a ]anthracene.

The gene dosage change of nucleolar cistrons (rDNA) in tumor cells has not been extensively studied. The present studies showed that increased dosage, as well as abnormal distribution of rDNA, was frequently associated with leukemia cells of SL/Ni and AKR mice. In normal SL cells, 37%, 39%, and 25% of rDNA was located in nucleolar organizer regions (NOR) of chromosomes #12, #18, and #19, respectively. Increase of rDNA/DNA was shown by hybridization on filter membranes in SL1, SL2, SL3, and M1 leukemia cells. Direct measurement of rDNA/DNA in G1 cells revealed an 11% increase in synchronized M1 cells. The increased rDNA dosage was explained by trisomy 12 in SL1 and SL2, the ectopic NOR of #9 in SL3, and the double t(X;19) marker chromosomes in M1. On the other hand, in normal AKR cells, 27%, 29%, and 45% of rDNA was assigned to NORs of chromosomes #15, #16, and #18, respectively. The relative rDNA distribution among NORs estimated by autoradiographic grain counting was suggested to be abnormal in AKR leukemia cells despite their normal karyotype; 36% rDNA was shown to be in chromosomes #15 and #16, respectively, by relative reduction in chromosome #18 in AKR1; the trisomy 15 explained the increased rDNA in AKR2; a relative increase was found in chromosome #15 in AKR3. These results were discussed with reference to the reported NOR involvement in chromosome translocation and amplification in tumor cells.

The chromosomal distribution of chromosome aberrations (CA) and sister chromatid exchanges (SCE) induced by various chemical carcinogens such as 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene, 7,8,12-trimethylbenz[a]anthracene, 1-butyl-1-nitrosourea, urethan, 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide, 2-(2-furyl)-3-(5-nitro-2-furyl)acrylamide, and the antineoplastic compound mitomycin C was studied with the use of noninbred Long-Evans male rat bone marrow cells in vivo and in vitro. The CA and SCE induced by these structurally different chemicals were distributed in a similar pattern among and along chromosomes when the chemicals were given a short time (6 hr) before the metaphase cells were harvested. The specific distribution pattern of chemically induced CA and SCE along chromosomes was attributed to the late DNA replication of the vulnerable chromosome regions. Conversely, X-ray-induced CA were distributed more randomly. Thus the different chemical carcinogens were shown to exert a similar genetic effect at the chromosome level.

The frequency of chromosome aberrations (CA) 6 hours after iv injection of 50 mg 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA0/kg was studied in bone marrow cells of the noninbred Long-Evans rat under various hematopoietic conditions. The percentage of metaphase cells with CA was enhanced by anemia and suppressed by polycythemia. The low incidence of CA in polycythemic rats was reversed by 6 U of sheep erythropoietin (EP) injected at the time of DMBA treatment. The interchromosomal and intrachromosomal distribution of CA indicated that hematopoietic stimuli, more specifically EP, greatly enhanced DMBA-induced CA in specific chromosomal regions.