As fetal tissues are more sensitive to the effects of chemical and physical carcinogens than are adult tissues, the embryos and fetuses of pregnant women are at a greater risk of developing cancers from environmental exposures than is the adult population. My laboratory uses a variety of techniques to study this problem, starting with in vivo bioassays in rodents to assess the carcinogenicity of environmental chemicals found in the diet and as byproducts of fuel combustion and cigarette smoking. The tumors generated in these bioassays are then assayed at the histological, biochemical, and molecular levels. These studies utilize biochemical enzyme assays to assess the metabolic activity of the mice for specific enzymes. Mutations at critical regulatory genes that control cell growth are assessed by analysis of gene structure for mutations that alter gene function.
Immunohistochemistry is used to assess the relative levels of protein expression in tumors.
Figure Legend Single strand conformation polymorphism analysis of exon 2 of the INK4a gene. The gel was vacuum dried and autoradiographed overnight. Arrows indicate band shifts indicative of genes containing point mutations. A second area of interest that is being pursued in my laboratory has been to extend our rodent work into human tumors. We currently have a pilot project ongoing to assess the effect of drug metabolic enzymes on the relative levels of gene mutations in human breast cancer patients.