Micronúcleos: Actualización del papel en la inestabilidad genética, inflamación, envejecimiento y cáncer. Revisión panorámica.

Genome integrity is essential for the health and continuity of species. Micronuclei are biomarkers of genotoxicity and protagonists of instability and genetic chaos. A micronucleus, or Howell-Jolly body, contains DNA independent of the nucleus, which originates from anaphase delay, whose membrane is unstable and prone to rupture without repair. The DNA contained in these structures can condense, replicate, divide, however, in an asynchronous manner to the nuclear genetic material, and can even undergo chromothripsis and reincorporate into the nucleus, which causes genetic chaos and thus cancer. On the other hand, if DNA from the micronucleus is released into the cytosol, it triggers a chronic inflammatory response, senescence and apoptosis. Thus, it is vital to timely detect individuals susceptible to genomic damage, which would allow prioritizing prophylactic care. Therefore, the objective was to make a descriptive review of the most used and innovative models in the micronucleus test and the cellular and molecular advances in the knowledge of these structures, as well as their health effects, to outline a perspective and propose them as a preventive alternative of easy execution in the detection of individuals vulnerable to genotoxic agents. We searched for articles in MEDLINE published in the years 2000-2023, which included the terms "micronuclei use and causes" and "micronuclei cause and consequences". The final inclusion was determined after a review of the abstracts and subsequent analysis of the full text; articles were not included once the contributions were repetitive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]