New germline mutations in the hypervariable minisatellite CEB1 in the parents of children with leukaemia.

ABSTRACT: Gardner and co-workers advanced the hypothesis that the Seascale leukaemia cluster could have been caused by new mutations in germ cells, induced by paternal preconceptional irradiation (PPI) exposure at the Sellafield nuclear installation. Since evidence has shown that PPI can increase the de novo germline mutation rate in hypervariable minisatellite loci, we investigated the hypothesis that sporadic childhood leukaemia might be associated with an increased parental germline minisatellite mutation rate. To test this hypothesis, we compared de novo germline mutation rates in the hypervariable minisatellite locus, CEB1, in family trios (both parents and their child) of children with leukaemia (n=135) compared with unaffected control families (n=124). The majority of case and control germlin

SUBMITTER: Davies BG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2360154 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature