The spectroscopic characterization of purine deoxyribonucleoside adducts derived from the fjord-region syn-benzo[g]chrysene 11,12-dihydrodiol 13,14-epoxide and the mutagenic specificity of the latter compound for the supF gene in the pSP189 shuttle vector are described. This dihydrodiol epoxide preferentially forms adducts with deoxyadenosine residues in DNA and is preferentially opened trans in reactions with DNA or with deoxyribonucleotides. In common with other fjord-region syn-dihydrodiol epoxides, the most frequently observed mutational changes were A-->T and G-->T changes. This hydrocarbon dihydrodiol epoxide is structurally similar to syn-benzo[c]phenanthrene 3,4-dihydrodiol 1,2-epoxide but has an additional benzene ring annelated distant from the reaction center. As anticipated, there were some common features in the chemistry and mutagenicities of these two compounds, but there were also substantive differences which indicate factors of importance in controlling reactions of these kinds of compounds with DNA.

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Endometriosis affects 10-15% of women of reproductive age and is a common cause of infertility and pelvic pain. Although endometriosis is characterized by abnormal growth or turn-over of cells, the genetic changes involved remain unclear. We employed a multi-color fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) strategy to determine the incidence of somatic chromosomal numeric alterations in severe/late stage endometriosis. Using alpha-satellite sequence-specific DNA probes for chromosomes 7, 8, 11, 12, 16, 17, and 18, simultaneous two- and three-color FISH were performed to evaluate the frequency of monosomic, disomic, and trisomic cells in normal control and endometriotic tissue specimens. In one of four endometriosis samples studied, a significantly higher frequency of monosomy for chromosome 17 (14.8%, chi 2(4) = 53.3, P < 0.0001) and 16 (8.8%, chi 2(4) = 11.4, P < 0.05) was observed. An increased number of cells with chromosome 11 trisomy (14.8%, chi 2(4) = 96.2, P < 0.0001) were detected in a second case. In a third case, a distinct colony of nuclei with chromosome 16 monosomy (14.1%, chi 2(4) = 21.39, P < 0.005) was detected. Acquired chromosome-specific aneuploidy may be involved in endometriosis, reflecting clonal expansion of chromosomally abnormal cells. That candidate tumor suppressor genes and oncogenes have been mapped to chromosomes 11, 16, and 17 suggests that chromosomal loss or gain plays a role in the development and/or progression of endometriosis.

We report on a newborn girl with malformed ears, bilateral cleft lip and cleft palate, complex congenital heart disease, absent left thumb, and rib abnormalities. Cytogenetic analysis demonstrated a de novo interstitial deletion of the short arm of chromosome 1 [46,XX,del(1)(p21p22.3)]. Reports of interstitial deletions on the short arm of chromosome 1 are rare. However, when comparing this patient's phenotype to others with deletions of 1p, we found that the current case was much more severely affected than previously reported cases.

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