Synaptonemal complex damage as a measure of genotoxicity at meiosis

Synaptonemal complex aberrations can provide a sensitive measure of chemical-specific alterations to meiotic chromosomes. Mitomycin C, cyclophosphamide, amsacrine, ellipticine, colchicine, vinblastine sulfate, and cis platin exposures in mice have been shown to cause various patterns of synaptonemal complex structural damage and synaptic irregularity. These effects are suggestive of abnormal homologue pairinglsynapsis/recombination effects which, theoretically, could be implicated in mechanisms leading to aneuploidy and other potentially heritable chromosomal disorders.