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Colby College

2008

Cytotoxicity

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Cytotoxicity Of Diepoxybutane And Epichlorohydrin In Relation To Stages Of The Cell Cycle, Megan L. Watts Jan 2008

Cytotoxicity Of Diepoxybutane And Epichlorohydrin In Relation To Stages Of The Cell Cycle, Megan L. Watts

Honors Theses

Work conducted in the Millard Biochemistry Research Laboratory examines the dual nature of molecules as carcinogens and anti-tumor agents through the molecular mechanisms of duplex DNA damage by bifunctional alkylating agents. Diepoxybutane (DEB) and epichlorohydrin (ECH) are polar molecules that form covalent DNA interstrand lesions by cross-linking the N7 position of deoxyguanosine residues. A recent experiment indicated that ECH preferentially targets nuclear DNA over mitochondrial DNA, whereas DEB shows similar rates of lesion formation for both loci. It was concluded that preferential targeting of nuclear DNA results from relatively poor uptake of ECH across the mitochondrial membrane. The objective of …