Cancer-related genes transcriptionally induced by the fungicide penconazole.

Penconazole is a systemic triazole fungicide mainly used on grapes. The UE Maximum Residue Level (MRL) for penconazole is set at 0.2ppm in wine and grapes.

The micronucleus assay as a biological dosimeter in hospital workers exposed to low doses of ionizing radiation.

The health risk associated with low levels of ionizing radiation is still a matter of debate. A number of factors, such as non-target effects, adaptive responses and low-dose hypersensitivity, affect the long-term outcome of low-dose exposures. Cytogenetic bio-dosimetry provides a measure of the absorbed dose, taking into account the individual radiation sensitivity.

Different sensitivity of BALB/c 3T3 cell clones in the response to carcinogens.

Cell transformation assays (CTAs) are currently regarded as the only possible in vitro alternative to animal testing for carcinogenesis studies. CTAs have been proposed as screening tests for the carcinogenic potential of compounds that have no evidence of genotoxicity but present structural alerts for carcinogenicity. We have extensively used the BALB/c 3T3 model based on the A31 cell clone to test single chemicals, complex mixtures and environmental pollutants.

BALB/c 3T3 cell transformation assay for the prediction of carcinogenic potential of chemicals and environmental mixtures.

The prediction of the carcinogenic risk for humans is mostly based on animal experiments. For the last 20 years, however, the scientific community has paid great attention to alternative strategies in compliance with common moral and ethical values. The new European chemical regulation REACH (Reg.

Gene expression changes in medical workers exposed to radiation.

The use of nuclear resources for medical purposes causes considerable concern about occupational exposure. Nevertheless, little information is available regarding the effects of low-dose irradiations protracted over time. We used oligomicroarrays to identify the genes that are transcriptionally regulated by persistent exposure to extremely low doses of ionizing radiation in 28 exposed professionals (mean cumulative effective dose +/- SD, 19 +/- 38 mSv) compared with a matched sample of nonexposed subjects.

Gene expression time-series analysis of camptothecin effects in U87-MG and DBTRG-05 glioblastoma cell lines.

Background: The clinical efficacy of camptothecin (CPT), a drug specifically targeting topoisomerase I (TopoI), is under evaluation for the treatment of malignant gliomas. Due to the high unresponsiveness of these tumours to chemotherapy, it would be very important to study the signalling network that drives camptothecin outcome in this type of cancer cells. To address this issue, we had previously compared the expression profile of human U87-MG glioblastoma cells with that of a CPT-resistant counterpart, giving evidence that the development of a robust inflammatory response was the main transcriptional effect associated with CPT resistance.

[Biomonitoring of nurses occupationally exposed to antineoplastic drugs: the IMEPA Project].

Objective: To develop a multiple-endpoint monitoring system in order to assess and minimize long term risks in hospital nurses exposed to antiblastic drugs.

Design: Molecular epidemiology study.

Setting: S.

A cDNA-microarray analysis of camptothecin resistance in glioblastoma cell lines.

Chemotherapy, as generally available, is of a limited value in curing malignant brain tumors (gliomas), which often develop resistance to drugs, becoming completely unresponsive to any standard therapeutic approach. Camptothecins, a family of topoisomerase I inhibitor drugs, represent a new promising treatment strategy and are currently under evaluation for testing the clinical efficacy. We selected a CPT-resistant sub-line (U87CPT-R) from U87-MG grade III-IV astrocytoma cells, and compared the expression profile of the two cell lines by cDNA-microarray, as a preliminary screening of the molecular mechanisms involved in the acquisition of CPT resistance in glioma cells.