This agreement supports work being done by the National Cancer Institute (intramural project ZIABC006140) involving H2AX. These investigations are currently exploring these areas: - Transformation of the H2AX phosphorylation assay into one that can give useful information about DNA damage levels in living systems, including humans, in response to disease and environmental insults - Describing the relationship between the amount of ionizing radiation exposure of whole animals, NHPs and pigs, and focus formation in lymphocytes and plucked hair bulbs, two tissues that can be obtained by minimally-invasive means. - Understand how H2AX levels and structures, particularly of the region surrounding the C-terminal serine residue, impact on cellular responses to DSBs and deciphering H2AX characteristics not accounted for by its roles in DSB metabolism. - Measuring levels of DNA damage, levels below those measurable by most other techniques, in various disease phenomena by utilizing the sensitivity of the H2AX focus assay.
