COMPARISON OF GENE MUTATION ASSAYS IN HUMAN LYMPHOBLASTOID A

WE PROPOSE TO USE A GENE MUTATION ASSAY AT THE THYMIDINE KINASE LOCUS IN TK6 HUMAN LYMPHOBLASTS TO EVALUATE THE MUTAGENICITY OF CHEMICALS WHICH HAVE BEEN FOUND TO BE MUTAGENIC IN MOUSE LYMPHOMA L5178Y CELLS. THE TK6 CELL MUTATION ASSAY PROTOCOL HAS BEEN DESIGNED TO MINIMIZE DIFFERENCES WITH THE L5178Y CELL MUTATION ASSAY PROTOCOL AND YIELD COMPARABLE STATISTICAL POWER. THE RESULTS OBTAINED IN THE HUMAN LYMPHOBLAST MUTATION ASSAY SYSTEM WILL BE COMPARED TO THE TRTP MOUSE LYMPHOMA DATA BOTH QUALITATIVELY (DID THE CHEMICALS INDUCE A MUTAGENIC RESPONSE) AND QUANTITATIVELY (WHAT CONCENTRATION OF THE CHEMICAL WAS NECESSARY TO ELICIT A MUTAGENIC RESPONSE); CORRELATION BETWEEN THE TWO SYSTEMS WILL BE EXAMINED.