Fiber-Induced DNA Damage & Carcinogenicity

The introduction and increasing use of several man-made and synthetic fibers have raisedconcern over their possible health effects in view of their similarity to asbestos, a known carcinogen.Animal studies have clearly indicated the carcinogenic effects of asbestos fibers, Furthermore, theeffects of asbestos on cultured cells include cytotoxicity and the induction of chromosome aberrationsand cell transformation. We have recently documented the induction of DNA strand damage by asbestosusing nick translation. We propose to use the induction of DNA for evaluating fiber genotoxicity andcarcinogenicity. Two techniques, nick translation and the single cell gel (SCG) assay, will be used tomeasure DNA damage induced by asbestos fibers in cultured rat mesothelial cells. The more sensitivetechnique will then be utilized to quantitate the damage induced by a number of asbestiform, man-madeand synthetic fibers. The induced damage will be correlated with animal carcinogenicity data availablefor the same fibers. Our goal is to determine the applicability of DNA damage assays to anticipatecarcinogenicity of natural and artificial fibers.