Background: Genomic instability is one of primary causes for malignant cell transformation. In this study induced genomic instability expressed as micronuclei in breast cancer (BC) patients with different stages of the disease compared with their unaffected first degree relatives (FDR) and normal unrelated controls was investigated. Materials and Methods: The background and net micronucleus fre...

Genomic instability and copy number alterations in cancer are generally associated with poor prognosis; however, recent studies have suggested that extreme levels of genomic aberrations may be beneficial for the survival outcome for patients with specific tumour types. We investigated the extent of genomic instability in predominantly high-grade serous ovarian cancers (SOC) using two independen...

Hybridization between species is a genomic instability factor involved in increasing mutation rate and new chromosomal rearrangements. Evidence of a relationship between interspecific hybridization and transposable element mobilization has been reported in different organisms, but most studies are usually performed with particular TEs and do not discuss the real effect of hybridization on the w...

We have previously identified Homothorax (Hth) as an important factor for the correct assembly of the pericentromeric heterochromatin during the first fast syncytial divisions of the Drosophila embryo. Here we have extended our studies to later stages of embryonic development. We were able to show that hth mutants exhibit a drastic overall reduction in the tri-methylation of H3 in Lys9, with no...

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) accumulates both base-substitution mutations and deletions with aging in several tissues in mammals. Here, we examine the evidence supporting a causative role for mtDNA mutations in mammalian aging. We describe and compare human diseases and mouse models associated with mitochondrial genome instability. We also discuss potential mechanisms for the generation of these m...

SUMMARY Chromosome segregation errors and DNA damage are in a vicious cycle in cancer cells. Bakhoum and colleagues show that the molecular response to damaged DNA during mitosis impairs the chromosome segregation machinery, adding a new level to the already dangerous relations between different kinds of genomic instability.

The critical strength of a magnetic field required for the suppression of the Richtmyer-Meshkov instability (RMI) is investigated numerically by using a two-dimensional single-mode analysis. For the cases of magnetohydrodynamic parallel shocks, the RMI can be stabilized as a result of the extraction of vorticity from the interface. A useful formula describing a critical condition for magnetohyd...