Abstract—The relationship between carcinogenicity and DNA interstrand cross-links of nitrosoureas is poorly defined. 1-(4-amino-2-methyl-5-pyrimidinyl)methyl-3- (2-chloroethyl)- 3- nitrosourea (ACNU, nimustine) is one of nitrosoureas used in the treatment of high-grade gliomas. It has the capability of causing DNA interstrand cross-links (ICLs) to kill cancer cells. But it can also cause the generation of secondary tumors with carcinogenic side effects. In present study, we investigated DNA interstrand cross-links, DNA double-strand breaks and cell cycle phase in NIH/3T3 cells from the primary mouse embryonic fibroblast cells induced by ACNU. This result indicated that the concentration of 60 and 75μg/ml of ACNU could be detected significantly ICLs, and the γ-H2AX has the ability to be a biomarker for DNA damage associated with ICLs induced by ACNU.

Index Terms—Comet assay, interstrand cross-links, nimustine, nitrosourea, γ-H2AX.

Lin-Na Zhao, Xue-Chai Chen, Yan-Yan Zhong, Qin-Xia Hou, and Ru-Gang Zhong are with College of Life Sciences and Bioengineering, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing Key Laboratory of Environment and Viral Oncology (e-mail: zhaolinna365@163.com, chenxuechai@bjut.edu.cn, lifesci@bjut.edu.cn).

 

Cite:Lin-Na Zhao, Xue-Chai Chen, Yan-Yan Zhong, Qin-Xia Hou, and Ru-Gang Zhong, "Nimustine Induces DNA Breaks and Crosslinks in NIH/3T3 Cells," International Journal of Bioscience, Biochemistry and Bioinformatics vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 257-261, 2013.