# MUTATION-TRANSFORMATION:  NEUTRON DAMAGE AND REPAIR

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO · 1988 · $219,766

## Abstract

This application proposes a study of mutation and/or transformation damage
and repair caused by fission spectrum neutrons in rodent and human cells
lines.

We plan to investigate the large enhancement of transformation frequency
observed when cells from the C3H 10T1/2 mouse cell line are exposed to
protracted doses of neutrons.  In contrast, cell killing and mutation in
these cells do not appear to be influenced to any large degree by
protracted exposures to neutrons when compared to exposures delivered at
high dose rates.  Three specific areas will be addressed:

1.  Mode of radiation-delivery:  Particular importance will be placed on
very low dose rate and dose fractionation studies to further delineate the
extent of the enhanced transformation frequency and nature of the small
effects on mutation frequency.

2.  Neutron action at cellular level:  In earlier studies, at least for
transformation, we have postulated that the repair processes following
neutron irradiation may be prone to mistakes.  We plan to examine the
possibility that this misrepair would lead to heritable permanent changes
in cells by looking at the sensitivity to cell killing, mutation, and
transformation in the progeny of cells from neutron-irradiated
populations.  We also plan to examine concurrently the karyotypes of
treated cells to determine if there are any systematic changes at the
chromosome level that could be correlated to changes in sensitivity or
mutability.

3.  Neutron action at molecular level:  There is little information about
the effects of neutrons on DNA.  We plan to use alkaline and neutral
elution techniques to determine the number of single- and double-strand
breaks and the quantity of protein-to-DNA crosslinking occurring under
various treatment regimens.  These examinations may enable us to correlate
the type of damage and repair of damage at the DNA level with the quantity
of transformation or mutations seen.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3171723
- **Project number:** 5R01CA033974-06
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
- **SAM.gov UEI:** ZUE9HKT2CLC9
- **Principal Investigator:** ELIEZER HUBERMAN
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1988
- **Award amount:** $219,766
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1983-02-01 → 1989-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3171723

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3171723, MUTATION-TRANSFORMATION:  NEUTRON DAMAGE AND REPAIR (5R01CA033974-06). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3171723. Licensed CC0.

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