A NEW POSSIBLE PARAMETER FOR THE DETECTION OF ANEUPLOIDY INDUCING SUBSTANCES - THE ANALYSIS OF QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE ABNORMALITIES OF THE SPINDLE APPARATUS

In the present study, compared to other cytogenetic methods, we measur ed the number of aneuploid cells directly by analyzing anomalies of th e mitotic spindle. Qualitative and quantitative abnormalities of the m itotic spindle apparatus in transformed and non-transformed cell lines in vitro were classified, We treated the different cell lines with we ll known aneugenic agents as Benomyl and Griseofulvin and investigated the mitotic spindle under different experimental conditions, The spin dle apparatus was stained by indirect immunofluorescence and the chrom atin was counterstained by fluorescent dyes, The mitotic spindle showe d a great sensitivity to the aneuploidy-inducing substances used in ou r experiments. The spindle-disturbing effect of the tested substances was demonstrated to be dose-dependent. The morphological alterations a ppeared to be independent of the aneuploidy-inducing test substance us ed, but showed a relation to the dose and length of treatment. Thus, t he analysis of the mitotic spindle may be a useful screening parameter for the detection of aneuploidy-inducing substances and further inves tigations will provide additional results to specific parameters.