What is the Difference Between Clastogen and Aneugen?

Clastogen and aneugen are two substances that cause genotoxicity, which refers to the property of chemical agents to cause damages in the genetic material of cells. These alterations can lead to mutations and may cause cancers. The main difference between clastogen and aneugen lies in the way they affect chromosomes and cell division:

• Clastogen: A clastogen is a mutagenic, genotoxic agent that induces breaks in chromosomes, causing sections of chromosomes to be added, deleted, or rearranged. Clastogens do not cause aneuploidy, which is the presence of an abnormal number of chromosomes in a cell.
• Aneugen: An aneugen is a mutagenic, genotoxic agent that affects cell division and the mitotic spindle apparatus, resulting in the loss or gain of whole chromosomes. Aneu-ploidy is a common outcome of aneugen exposure.

Various techniques can be used to detect clastogens and aneugens, such as fluorescence microscopy and the use of centromere-labelled micronuclei to distinguish between the two types of genotoxic substances. These methods can be incorporated into in vitro assays, such as the ToxTracker reporter assay, to evaluate the genotoxic properties of compounds and assess their modes of action.

Comparative Table: Clastogen vs Aneugen

The main difference between clastogens and aneugens lies in the way they affect chromosomes and cell division. Here is a table summarizing their differences:

In summary, clastogens induce breaks in chromosomes, while aneugens affect cell division and the mitotic spindle apparatus, causing loss or gain of whole chromosomes. Both clastogens and aneugens are genotoxic substances, but they cause different types of genetic damage.