Disease relevance of Muntjacs

• Cytogenetic analysis of Muntiacus muntjac fibroblast cells exposed to the xanthene dye, Rhodamine B, revealed a significant increase in chromosomal aberrations [1].

High impact information on Muntjacs

• Also in contrast to yeast, where replication of all telomeres is confined to late S phase, we found specific telomeres in Indian muntjac chromosomes that replicated early in S and other telomeres that replicated later [2].
• Using Indian muntjac cells whose seven chromosomes have large, easily tracked kinetochores, we now show that CENP-E is kinetochore-associated throughout the entirety of anaphase-A (poleward chromosome movement), relocating gradually during spindle elongation (anaphase-B) to the interzonal microtubules [3].
• The development of cadmium resistance in an Indian muntjac cell line has been investigated [4].
• Characterization of the telomere complex, TERF1 and TERF2 genes in muntjac species with fusion karyotypes [5].
• To study TRF1 and TRF2 telomere binding proteins in Muntiacus species, we isolated and characterized the TERF1 and -2 genes from Indian muntjac (Muntiacus muntjak vaginalis; 2n = 6 female) and from Chinese muntjac (Muntiacus reveesi; 2n = 46) [5].

Biological context of Muntjacs

• A number of different ACA sera were tested on HEp-2, HeLa, PtK2, Indian muntjac, 3T3, and NRK cells, all with identical results indicating colocalization between centromeres and nucleoli [6].
• Ectopic expression of the human telomerase catalytic subunit in these cells reconstituted telomerase activity, extended telomere lengths, and immortalized the cells, demonstrating that the Indian muntjac cells can serve as a telomere-based replicative senescence model for human cells [7].
• Amino acid sequence comparisons demonstrate that Muntiacus TRF1 and in particular TRF2 are highly conserved between muntjac and human [5].
• These results indicate that the clonal isolate (AD202h) is a somatic cell hybrid of hamster and muntjac that contains chromosomal sets of hamster with an inserted segment of the muntjac genome, including HGPRT [8].
• Longitudinal differentiation of metaphase chromosomes of Indian muntjac as studied by restriction enzyme digestion, in situ hybridization with cloned DNA probes and distamycin A plus DAPI fluorescence staining [9].

Anatomical context of Muntjacs

• The extent of cell-cycle delay and the frequency of aberrant metaphases induced by bleomycin (BLM) and X-rays have been compared at doses which produce similar frequencies of chromosome aberrations by the 2 clastogenic agents (BLM, 40 micrograms/ml and X-rays, 2 Gy) in muntjac lymphocytes [10].

Associations of Muntjacs with chemical compounds

• Regions rich in 5-methylcytosine were localized in male metaphase chromosomes of the Indian muntjac deer (Muntiakus muntjak) [11].
• A clone of highly repetitive DNA, designated C5, was isolated from DNA of female Chinese muntjac cells [12].
• In another experiment with Indian muntjac chromosomes, isolabeled segments were darkly stained, which suggested unifilar incorporation of BrdU [13].
• Cells of the Indian deer Muntiacus muntjak, were grown in the presence of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) for two generations and stained with the fluorescent dye Hoechst 33258 [14].
• Its protective efficiency was also studied against the radiomimetic clastogen, bleomycin, in muntjac cells [15].

Gene context of Muntjacs

• This suggests muntjacs may harbor a diverged telomerase sequence [5].
• Comparative gene mapping of HPRT, G6PD, and PGK in man, mouse, and muntjac deer [16].
• Heterochromatin localization of RFP-HP1 was clearly shown in mouse and Indian muntjac cells [17].
• Antibodies against one component of dynein, namely IC, and two components of dynactin, namely p50 and p150, were studied for their activity against the centromeres of three mammalian species, human, mouse and Indian muntjac [18].
• In vivo TRF2-GFP and immuno-staining studies in muntjac cell lines revealed telomeric TRF2 localization, while deletion of the DNA binding domain abrogated this localization, suggesting muntjac TRF2 represents a functional telomere protein [5].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Muntjacs

• Metaphase chromosomes were isolated from a male Indian muntjac cell line, were stained with ethidium bromide and were analyzed by flow microfluorometry to establish a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-based karyotype [19].
• A detailed electron microscopy study of cadmium sensitive and resistant muntjac fibroblast cell lines has identified a wide range of intracellular damage following exposure to cadmium [20].

References