Genotoxicity testing and recent advances

Abstract

Genotoxicity testing, a technique which is used to identify chemicals that cause genetic alterations, includes tests that aid determination of irreversible genetic alterations, as well as those that provide indirect evidence of DNA damage. A panel of tests is commonly considered to comprehensively evaluate the ability of a chemical to induce genotoxicity, since individual tests do not provide information on all end points. Although a standard panel for genotoxicity testing has been considered traditionally for decades, changes based on novel and emerging methodologies have been introduced. The present review provides a brief introduction to the commonly used basic tests intended for regulatory purposes, advanced genotoxicity testing including cells used in genotoxicity testing, application of quantitative structure activity relationship (QSAR), representative genotoxicity high-throughput in vitro assays, and high-dimensional/high information content assays, with specific reference to the application of next-generation sequencing (NGS), which enable genome-wide analyses of mutations in non-cancer cells, thereby revealing the effects of various environmental mutagens.

Funding

Major Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China(41991314)