Da. Burke et al., USE OF THE MINISCREEN ASSAY TO SCREEN NOVEL COMPOUNDS FOR BACTERIAL MUTAGENICITY IN THE PHARMACEUTICAL-INDUSTRY, Mutagenesis, 11(2), 1996, pp. 201-205
In vitro assays for mutagenicity are an important feature of pre-clini
cal testing and form part of the current regulatory testing conducted
early in drug development. They can also play a part in compound selec
tion since mutagenic compounds can be eliminated from a range of poten
tial candidates, Bacterial tests are particularly useful in this area
because they generate results quickly, through their use may be limite
d because they can require up to 4 g of material, A scaled-down versio
n of the Ames test has been developed which requires only similar to 2
0 mg of material. Initial experiences with this assay using a range of
known mutagens and novel compounds have shown that the Miniscreen has
similar sensitivity to the Ames test. The major exception is for thos
e mutagens preferentially detected with strains TA1537 and TA1535, whi
ch, because of their low spontaneous counts, are not employed in the M
iniscreen.