Objectives and achievements of the HUMN project on its 26th anniversary

Autor(en)
Michael Fenech, Nina Holland, Errol Zeiger, Peter Wushou Chang, Micheline Kirsch-Volders, Claudia Bolognesi, Helga Stopper, Lisbeth E Knudsen, Siegfried Knasmueller, Armen Nersesyan, Philip Thomas, Varinderpal Dhillon, Permal Deo, Bernhard Franzke, Maria-Grazia Andreassi, Blanca Laffon, Karl-Heinz Wagner, Hannu Norppa, Juliana da Silva, Emanuela V Volpi, Ruth Wilkins, Stefano Bonassi
Abstrakt

Micronuclei (MN) are a nuclear abnormality that occurs when chromosome fragments or whole chromosomes are not properly segregated during mitosis and consequently are excluded from the main nuclei and wrapped within nuclear membrane to form small nuclei. This maldistribution of genetic material leads to abnormal cellular genomes which may increase risk of developmental defects, cancers, and accelerated aging. Despite the potential importance of MN as biomarkers of genotoxicity, very little was known about the optimal way to measure MN in humans, the normal ranges of values of MN in healthy humans and the prospective association of MN with developmental and degenerative diseases prior to the 1980's. In the early 1980's two important methods to measure MN in humans were developed namely, the cytokinesis-block MN (CBMN) assay using peripheral blood lymphocytes and the Buccal MN assay that measures MN in epithelial cells from the oral mucosa. These discoveries greatly increased interest to use MN assays in human studies. In 1997 the Human Micronucleus (HUMN) project was founded to initiate an international collaboration to (i) harmonise and standardise the techniques used to perform the lymphocyte CBMN assay and the Buccal MN assay; (ii) establish and collate databases of MN frequency in human populations world-wide which also captured demographic, lifestyle and environmental genotoxin exposure data and (iii) use these data to identify the most important variables affecting MN frequency and to also determine whether MN predict disease risk. In this paper we briefly describe the achievements of the HUMN project during the period from the date of its foundation on 9th September 1997 until its 26th Anniversary in 2023, which included more than 200 publications and 23 workshops world-wide.

Organisation(en)
Department für Ernährungswissenschaften
Externe Organisation(en)
University of South Australia, University of California, Berkeley, Errol Zeiger Consulting, Tufts University, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, University of Copenhagen, Medizinische Universität Wien, CSIRO Health and Biosecurity, CNR Institute of Clinical Physiology, Universidade da Coruña, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, La Salle University, University of Westminster, Environmental and Radiation Health Sciences Directorate, Health Canada, Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico
Journal
Mutation Research - Reviews
Band
794
Seiten
108511
ISSN
1383-5742
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mrrev.2024.108511
Publikationsdatum
09-2024
Peer-reviewed
Ja
ÖFOS 2012
303009 Ernährungswissenschaften
Schlagwörter
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
Genetics, Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG 3 – Gesundheit und Wohlergehen
Link zum Portal
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/objectives-and-achievements-of-the-humn-project-on-its-26th-anniversary(7dbabdd3-334c-4212-b7aa-39d9a6270d19).html