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

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

Journal: Mutation research. Reviews in mutation research 2024;794():108511

PMID: 39233049

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Abstract

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.

Address: Health and Biomedical Innovation, UniSA Clinical and Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide 5000, Australia; Genome Health Foundation, North Brighton, SA 5048, Australia. Electronic address: [email protected].; Center for Environmental Research and Community Health (CERCH), University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].; Errol Zeiger Consulting, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].; Show Chwan Memorial Hospital, Changhwa, Taiwan; TUFTS University Medical School, Boston, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].; Laboratory for Cell Genetics, Department Biology, Faculty of Sciences and Bio-engineering Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, Brussels 1050, Belgium. Electronic address: [email protected].; Environmental Carcinogenesis Unit, Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].; Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg 97080, Germany. Electronic address: [email protected].; Department of Public Health, Section of Environmental Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Electronic address: [email protected].; Institute of Cancer Research, Department of Medicine I, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: [email protected].; Institute of Cancer Research, Department of Medicine I, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: [email protected].; CSIRO Health and Biosecurity, Adelaide 5000, Australia. Electronic address: [email protected].; Health and Biomedical Innovation, UniSA Clinical and Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide 5000, Australia. Electronic address: [email protected].; Health and Biomedical Innovation, UniSA Clinical and Health Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide 5000, Australia. Electronic address: [email protected].; Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: [email protected].; CNR Institute of Clinical Physiology, Pisa 56124, Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].; Universidade da Coruña, Grupo DICOMOSA, CICA-Centro Interdisciplinar de Química e Bioloxía, Departamento de Psicología, Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación, and Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de A Coruña (INIBIC), Complexo Hospitalario Universitario de A Coruña (CHUAC), Sergas, A Coruña, Spain. Electronic address: [email protected].; Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Vienna, Austria; Research Platform Active Ageing, University of Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: [email protected].; Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, Helsinki 00250, Finland. Electronic address: [email protected].; Laboratory of Genetic Toxicology, La Salle University (UniLaSalle), Canoas, RS 92010-000, Brazil; PPGBM, Federal University of Brazil (UFRGS), Porto Alegre 91501-970, Brazil. Electronic address: [email protected].; School of Life Sciences, University of Westminster, 115 New Cavendish Street, London W1W6UW, UK. Electronic address: [email protected].; Environmental and Radiation Health Sciences Directorate, Health Canada 775 Brookfield Rd, Ottawa K1A 1C1, Canada. Electronic address: [email protected].; Clinical and Molecular Epidemiology, IRCCS San Raffaele Roma, Rome 00166, Italy. Electronic address: [email protected].

DOI: 10.1016/j.mrrev.2024.108511

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MeSH Terms: Humans, Micronucleus Tests, Micronuclei, Chromosome-Defective, History, 21st Century, Lymphocytes, History, 20th Century, Anniversaries and Special Events