Altered Sulfur Amino Acid Metabolism In Immune Cells of Children Diagnosed With Autism (2008)
Jung H. Suh, William J. Walsh, Woody R. McGinnis, Allen Lewis, Bruce N. Ames
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a behaviorally defined neurodevelopmental disorder whose etiology is poorly understood. Recent studies have shown that autistic children may be experiencing...
Zinc Deficiency and Microtubule Function in Prostate Cells (2006)
Zinc deficiency is surprisingly common in the US. One organ expected to suffer during zinc deficiency is the prostate, since it is the greatest tissue accumulator of zinc in men. Zinc uptake in...
Quantitative and Qualitative Extrapolation of Carcinogenesis Between Species, (2005)
Gold, Lois S., Manley, Neela B., Ames, Bruce N.
As currently conducted, standard rodent bioassays do not provide sufficient information to assess carcinogenic risk to humans at doses thousands of times below the maximum tolerated dose. Recent...
Crott, Jimmy W., Mashiyama, Susan T., Ames, Bruce N., Fenech, Michael F.
Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is an enzyme which converts 5,10-methylene tetrahydrofolate (5,10-MnTHF) to 5-methyl tetrahydrofolate. A common C to T transition (C677T) in the MTHFR gene...
Degan, Paolo, Shigenaga, Mark K., Park, Eun-Mi, Alperin, Peter E., Ames, Bruce N.
An immunoaffinity column is described that facilitates the analysis of oxidative DNA adducts excised from DNA are excreted in urine and can assayed as a measure of DNA damage in individuals....
Some Tautologous Aspects of the Comparison of Carcinogenic Potency in Rats and Mice (1985)
BERNSTEIN, LESLIE, GOLD, LOIS S., AMES, BRUCE N., PIKE, MALCOLM C., HOEL, DAVID G.
Some Tautologous Aspects of the Comparison of Carcinogenic Potency in Rats and Mice. BERNSTEIN, L., GOLD, L. S., AMES, B. N., PIKE, M. C, and HOEL, D. G. (1985). Fundam. Appl. Toxicol. 5, 79–86. In...
Buck, Martin, McCloskey, James A., Basile, Brenda, Ames, Bruce N.
He have identified the cis isomer of N6-(4-hydroxy-isopentenyl)-2-methylthioadenosine (ms2 io6 A) aa a component of the tRNA of Salmonella typhimurlum. This is the first report of this compound in...
Ames, Bruce N., Mitchell, Herschel K.
This is a report on the isolation and characterization of D-erythro-imidazoleglycerol phosphate (IGP), imidazoleacetol phosphate (IAP), and L-histidinol phosphate, which are accumulated in the...
Ames, Bruce N., Mitchell, Herschel K.
This is a report on the isolation and characterization of D-erythro-imidazoleglycerol phosphate (IGP), imidazoleacetol phosphate (IAP), and L-histidinol phosphate, which are accumulated in the...
A method for detecting abasic sites in living cells: Age-dependent changes in base excision repair
Atamna, Hani, Cheung, Ivana, Ames, Bruce N.
Apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) sites are common DNA lesions that arise from spontaneous depurination or by base excision repair (BER) of modified bases. A biotin-containing aldehyde-reactive probe (ARP)...
Jiang, Qing, Elson-Schwab, Ilan, Courtemanche, Chantal, Ames, Bruce N.
Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2)-catalyzed synthesis of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) plays a key role in inflammation and its associated diseases, such as cancer and vascular heart disease. Here we report that...
Helbock, Harold J., Beckman, Kenneth B., Shigenaga, Mark K., Walter, Patrick B., Woodall, Alan A., Yeo, Helen C., ...
Oxidative DNA damage is important in aging and the degenerative diseases of aging such as cancer. Estimates commonly rely on measurements of 8-oxo-2′-deoxyguanosine (oxo8dG), an adduct that occurs...
Hagen, Tory M., Yowe, David L., Bartholomew, James C., Wehr, Carol M., Do, Katherine L., Park, Jin-Y., ...
Mitochondrial function during aging was assessed in isolated rat hepatocytes to avoid the problem of differential lysis when old, fragile mitochondria are isolated. Rhodamine 123, a fluorescent dye...
Shigenaga, Mark K., Lee, Ho H., Blount, Benjamin C., Christen, Stephan, Shigeno, Eric T., Yip, Helena, ...
The identification of 15N-labeled 3-nitrotyrosine (NTyr) by gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy in protein hydrolyzates from activated RAW 264.7 macrophages incubated with 15N-l-arginine confirms...
Christen, Stephan, Woodall, Alan A., Shigenaga, Mark K., Southwell-Keely, Peter T., Duncan, Mark W., Ames, Bruce N.
Peroxynitrite, a powerful mutagenic oxidant and nitrating species, is formed by the near diffusion-limited reaction of ·NO and O2⨪ during activation of phagocytes. Chronic inflammation induced by...
Blount, Benjamin C., Mack, Matthew M., Wehr, Carol M., MacGregor, James T., Hiatt, Robert A., Wang, Gene, ...
Folate deficiency causes massive incorporation of uracil into human DNA (4 million per cell) and chromosome breaks. The likely mechanism is the deficient methylation of dUMP to dTMP and subsequent...
Acetyl-l-carnitine fed to old rats partially restores mitochondrial function and ambulatory activity
Hagen, Tory M., Ingersoll, Russell T., Wehr, Carol M., Lykkesfeldt, Jens, Vinarsky, Vladimir, Bartholomew, James C., ...
Mitochondrial function and ambulatory activity were monitored after feeding old rats acetyl-l-carnitine (ALCAR). Young (3–5 mo) and old (22–28 mo) rats were given a 1.5% (wt/vol) solution of...
Hagen, Tory M., Liu, Jiankang, Lykkesfeldt, Jens, Wehr, Carol M., Ingersoll, Russell T., Vinarsky, Vladimir, ...
Mitochondrial-supported bioenergetics decline and oxidative stress increases during aging. To address whether the dietary addition of acetyl-l-carnitine [ALCAR, 1.5% (wt/vol) in the drinking water]...
Liu, Jiankang, Killilea, David W., Ames, Bruce N.
We test whether the dysfunction with age of carnitine acetyltransferase (CAT), a key mitochondrial enzyme for fuel utilization, is due to decreased binding affinity for substrate and whether this...
Iron deficiency and iron excess damage mitochondria and mitochondrial DNA in rats
Walter, Patrick B., Knutson, Mitchell D., Paler-Martinez, Andres, Lee, Sonia, Xu, Yu, Viteri, Fernando E., ...
Approximately two billion people, mainly women and children, are iron deficient. Two studies examined the effects of iron deficiency and supplementation on rats. In study 1, mitochondrial functional...
Liu, Jiankang, Head, Elizabeth, Gharib, Afshin M., Yuan, Wenjun, Ingersoll, Russell T., Hagen, Tory M., ...
Accumulation of oxidative damage to mitochondria, protein, and nucleic acid in the brain may lead to neuronal and cognitive dysfunction. The effects on cognitive function, brain mitochondrial...
Heme deficiency may be a factor in the mitochondrial and neuronal decay of aging
Atamna, Hani, Killilea, David W., Killilea, Alison Nisbet, Ames, Bruce N.
Heme, a major functional form of iron in the cell, is synthesized in the mitochondria by ferrochelatase inserting ferrous iron into protoporphyrin IX. Heme deficiency was induced with...
Approximately 10% of the U.S. population ingests
Straus, Daniel S., Ames, Bruce N.
Mutants that require histidine due to an altered structural gene for the histidyl-transfer ribonucleic acid synthetase (hisS) have been isolated by a general selection for histidine-requiring strains...
Enriched Selection of Dominant Mutations: Histidine Operator Mutations
Chang, George W., Straus, Daniel, Ames, Bruce N.
In the course of selection of bacteria with derepressed levels of histidine biosynthetic enzymes, it was found that when mutagen-treated cells were spread on a selective medium without allowing...
Salmonella typhimurium Mutants with Alternate Requirements for Vitamin B6 or Isoleucine
Guirard, Beverly M., Ames, Bruce N., Snell, Esmond E.
Several mutants of Salmonella typhimurium LT-2, isolated as auxotrophs for vitamin B6, grew without the added vitamin when supplied with either isoleucine, α-ketobutyrate, or...
Histidine Regulation in Salmonella typhimurium VIII. Mutations of the hisT Gene
Chang, George W., Roth, John R., Ames, Bruce N.
The hisT gene, one of six genes in which mutation causes derepression of the histidine operon in Salmonella typhimurium, is shown to code for a protein that is not essential for the growth of the...
Iron Uptake in Salmonella typhimurium: Utilization of Exogenous Siderochromes as Iron Carriers
Luckey, Mary, Pollack, Jay R., Wayne, Rush, Ames, Bruce N., Neilands, J. B.
Aerobic microorganisms have evolved a variety of siderochromes, special ligands which can dissolve insoluble ferric iron and facilitate its transport into the cell. We have found that enb mutants of...
Procedure for Identifying Nonsense Mutations
Berkowitz, David, Hushon, Judith M., Whitfield, Harvey J., Roth, John, Ames, Bruce N.
A method has been devised for the rapid identification of nonsense mutations (UAG, UAA, UGA codons) in Salmonella. The mutations to be tested are reverted, and the revertants are replica-printed onto...
Iron Transport in Salmonella typhimurium: Mutants Blocked in the Biosynthesis of Enterobactin
Pollack, J. R., Ames, Bruce N., Neilands, J. B.
A number of mutants of Salmonella typhimurium were isolated which are blocked in the biosynthesis of enterobactin, an iron chelator that is secreted by the wild-type bacteria when they are grown on...
Compounds Which Serve as the Sole Source of Carbon or Nitrogen for Salmonella typhimurium LT-2
Gutnick, David, Calvo, Joseph M., Klopotowski, Tadeusz, Ames, Bruce N.
About 600 compounds were screened as possible carbon or nitrogen sources for Salmonella typhimurium LT-2. About 100 utilizable compounds were found.
Durston, William E., Ames, Bruce N.
We described previously a simple test on petri plates for detecting many carcinogens as mutagens using an especially sensitive set of bacterial strains to detect mutagens and a rat, or human, liver...
Cortese, Riccardo, Landsberg, Raymond, Vonder Haar, R. A., Umbarger, H. E., Ames, Bruce N.
The hisT gene codes for an enzyme responsible for the conversion of uridine to pseudouridine (Ψ) in the anticodon region of many tRNA species in Salmonella typhimurium. We have previously shown that...
Hong, Jen-Shiang, Smith, Gerald R., Ames, Bruce N.
Mutants of Salmonella typhimurium defective in adenylate cyclase (cya gene) or in cAMP receptor protein (crp gene) are lysogenized at reduced frequency by phage P22. One class of the bacterial...
Localized Mutagenesis of Any Specific Small Region of the Bacterial Chromosome
Hong, Jen-Shiang, Ames, Bruce N.
A method, which we call localized mutagenesis, is described for the isolation of temperature-sensitive and other types of mutations in any specific small region (about 1%) of the bacterial...
Ames, Bruce N., Gurney, E. G., Miller, James A., Bartsch, H.
Several carcinogenic metabolites of the carcinogen 2-acetyl-aminofluorene, especially 2-nitrosofluorene and N-hydroxy-2-aminofluorene, are potent frameshift mutagens for Salmonella typhimurium....
Illicit Transport: The Oligopeptide Permease
Ames, Bruce N., Ames, Giovanna Ferro-Luzzi, Young, Janis Dillaha, Tsuchiya, Dorinne, Lecocq, Jean
The oligopeptide permease of Escherichia coli has been characterized by Payne, Gilvarg, and their colleagues. We have confirmed its existence in Salmonella typhimurium, and have isolated a series of...
An Improved Bacterial Test System for the Detection and Classification of Mutagens and Carcinogens
Ames, Bruce N., Lee, Frank D., Durston, William E.
We previously described a set of four strains of Salmonella typhimurium designed for detecting the various types of mutagens, and showed their utility in detecting a wide variety of carcinogens as...
Ames, Bruce N., Durston, William E., Yamasaki, Edith, Lee, Frank D.
18 Carcinogens, including aflatoxin B1, benzo(a)pyrene, acetylaminofluorene, benzidine, and dimethylamino-trans-stilbene, are shown to be activated by liver homogenates to form potent frameshift...
Detection of Mutagenic Activity in Cigarette Smoke Condensates
Kier, Larry D., Yamasaki, Edith, Ames, Bruce N.
The Salmonella typhimurium microsomal test system for mutagenic activity was successfully used to detect the presence of mutagenic compounds in the smoke condensates of several types of cigarettes....
Jiang, Qing, Wong, Jeffrey, Fyrst, Henrik, Saba, Julie D., Ames, Bruce N.
γ-Tocopherol (γT), the predominant form of vitamin E in diets, but not α-tocopherol, the major vitamin E form in tissues and supplements, inhibits proliferation of prostate cancer cells (LNCaP and...
Increasing longevity by tuning up metabolism
To maximize human health and lifespan, scientists must abandon outdated models of micronutrients
A Series of Histidineless Mutants of Neurospora Crassa
Haas, Felix, Mitchell, Mary B., Ames, Bruce N., Mitchell, Herschel K.
A carcinogenic potency database of the standardized results of animal bioassays
Gold, Lois Swirsky, Sawyer, Charles B., Magaw, Renae, Backman, Georganne M., De Veciana, Margarita, Levinson, Robert, ...
The preceding paper described our numerical index of carcinogenic potency, the TD50 and the statistical procedures adopted for estimating it from experimental data. This paper presents the...
A method for detecting abasic sites in living cells: Age-dependent changes in base excision repair
Atamna, Hani, Cheung, Ivana, Ames, Bruce N.
Apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) sites are common DNA lesions that arise from spontaneous depurination or by base excision repair (BER) of modified bases. A biotin-containing aldehyde-reactive probe (ARP)...
Jiang, Qing, Elson-Schwab, Ilan, Courtemanche, Chantal, Ames, Bruce N.
Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2)-catalyzed synthesis of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) plays a key role in inflammation and its associated diseases, such as cancer and vascular heart disease. Here we report that...
Helbock, Harold J., Beckman, Kenneth B., Shigenaga, Mark K., Walter, Patrick B., Woodall, Alan A., Yeo, Helen C., ...
Oxidative DNA damage is important in aging and the degenerative diseases of aging such as cancer. Estimates commonly rely on measurements of 8-oxo-2′-deoxyguanosine (oxo8dG), an adduct that occurs...
Hagen, Tory M., Yowe, David L., Bartholomew, James C., Wehr, Carol M., Do, Katherine L., Park, Jin-Y., ...
Mitochondrial function during aging was assessed in isolated rat hepatocytes to avoid the problem of differential lysis when old, fragile mitochondria are isolated. Rhodamine 123, a fluorescent dye...
Shigenaga, Mark K., Lee, Ho H., Blount, Benjamin C., Christen, Stephan, Shigeno, Eric T., Yip, Helena, ...
The identification of 15N-labeled 3-nitrotyrosine (NTyr) by gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy in protein hydrolyzates from activated RAW 264.7 macrophages incubated with 15N-l-arginine confirms...
Christen, Stephan, Woodall, Alan A., Shigenaga, Mark K., Southwell-Keely, Peter T., Duncan, Mark W., Ames, Bruce N.
Peroxynitrite, a powerful mutagenic oxidant and nitrating species, is formed by the near diffusion-limited reaction of ·NO and O2⨪ during activation of phagocytes. Chronic inflammation induced by...
Blount, Benjamin C., Mack, Matthew M., Wehr, Carol M., MacGregor, James T., Hiatt, Robert A., Wang, Gene, ...
Folate deficiency causes massive incorporation of uracil into human DNA (4 million per cell) and chromosome breaks. The likely mechanism is the deficient methylation of dUMP to dTMP and subsequent...
Acetyl-l-carnitine fed to old rats partially restores mitochondrial function and ambulatory activity
Hagen, Tory M., Ingersoll, Russell T., Wehr, Carol M., Lykkesfeldt, Jens, Vinarsky, Vladimir, Bartholomew, James C., ...
Mitochondrial function and ambulatory activity were monitored after feeding old rats acetyl-l-carnitine (ALCAR). Young (3–5 mo) and old (22–28 mo) rats were given a 1.5% (wt/vol) solution of...
Hagen, Tory M., Liu, Jiankang, Lykkesfeldt, Jens, Wehr, Carol M., Ingersoll, Russell T., Vinarsky, Vladimir, ...
Mitochondrial-supported bioenergetics decline and oxidative stress increases during aging. To address whether the dietary addition of acetyl-l-carnitine [ALCAR, 1.5% (wt/vol) in the drinking water]...
Liu, Jiankang, Killilea, David W., Ames, Bruce N.
We test whether the dysfunction with age of carnitine acetyltransferase (CAT), a key mitochondrial enzyme for fuel utilization, is due to decreased binding affinity for substrate and whether this...
Iron deficiency and iron excess damage mitochondria and mitochondrial DNA in rats
Walter, Patrick B., Knutson, Mitchell D., Paler-Martinez, Andres, Lee, Sonia, Xu, Yu, Viteri, Fernando E., ...
Approximately two billion people, mainly women and children, are iron deficient. Two studies examined the effects of iron deficiency and supplementation on rats. In study 1, mitochondrial functional...
Liu, Jiankang, Head, Elizabeth, Gharib, Afshin M., Yuan, Wenjun, Ingersoll, Russell T., Hagen, Tory M., ...
Accumulation of oxidative damage to mitochondria, protein, and nucleic acid in the brain may lead to neuronal and cognitive dysfunction. The effects on cognitive function, brain mitochondrial...
Heme deficiency may be a factor in the mitochondrial and neuronal decay of aging
Atamna, Hani, Killilea, David W., Killilea, Alison Nisbet, Ames, Bruce N.
Heme, a major functional form of iron in the cell, is synthesized in the mitochondria by ferrochelatase inserting ferrous iron into protoporphyrin IX. Heme deficiency was induced with...
Approximately 10% of the U.S. population ingests
Straus, Daniel S., Ames, Bruce N.
Mutants that require histidine due to an altered structural gene for the histidyl-transfer ribonucleic acid synthetase (hisS) have been isolated by a general selection for histidine-requiring strains...
Enriched Selection of Dominant Mutations: Histidine Operator Mutations
Chang, George W., Straus, Daniel, Ames, Bruce N.
In the course of selection of bacteria with derepressed levels of histidine biosynthetic enzymes, it was found that when mutagen-treated cells were spread on a selective medium without allowing...
Salmonella typhimurium Mutants with Alternate Requirements for Vitamin B6 or Isoleucine
Guirard, Beverly M., Ames, Bruce N., Snell, Esmond E.
Several mutants of Salmonella typhimurium LT-2, isolated as auxotrophs for vitamin B6, grew without the added vitamin when supplied with either isoleucine, α-ketobutyrate, or...
Histidine Regulation in Salmonella typhimurium VIII. Mutations of the hisT Gene
Chang, George W., Roth, John R., Ames, Bruce N.
The hisT gene, one of six genes in which mutation causes derepression of the histidine operon in Salmonella typhimurium, is shown to code for a protein that is not essential for the growth of the...
Iron Uptake in Salmonella typhimurium: Utilization of Exogenous Siderochromes as Iron Carriers
Luckey, Mary, Pollack, Jay R., Wayne, Rush, Ames, Bruce N., Neilands, J. B.
Aerobic microorganisms have evolved a variety of siderochromes, special ligands which can dissolve insoluble ferric iron and facilitate its transport into the cell. We have found that enb mutants of...
Procedure for Identifying Nonsense Mutations
Berkowitz, David, Hushon, Judith M., Whitfield, Harvey J., Roth, John, Ames, Bruce N.
A method has been devised for the rapid identification of nonsense mutations (UAG, UAA, UGA codons) in Salmonella. The mutations to be tested are reverted, and the revertants are replica-printed onto...
Iron Transport in Salmonella typhimurium: Mutants Blocked in the Biosynthesis of Enterobactin
Pollack, J. R., Ames, Bruce N., Neilands, J. B.
A number of mutants of Salmonella typhimurium were isolated which are blocked in the biosynthesis of enterobactin, an iron chelator that is secreted by the wild-type bacteria when they are grown on...
Compounds Which Serve as the Sole Source of Carbon or Nitrogen for Salmonella typhimurium LT-2
Gutnick, David, Calvo, Joseph M., Klopotowski, Tadeusz, Ames, Bruce N.
About 600 compounds were screened as possible carbon or nitrogen sources for Salmonella typhimurium LT-2. About 100 utilizable compounds were found.
Durston, William E., Ames, Bruce N.
We described previously a simple test on petri plates for detecting many carcinogens as mutagens using an especially sensitive set of bacterial strains to detect mutagens and a rat, or human, liver...
Cortese, Riccardo, Landsberg, Raymond, Vonder Haar, R. A., Umbarger, H. E., Ames, Bruce N.
The hisT gene codes for an enzyme responsible for the conversion of uridine to pseudouridine (Ψ) in the anticodon region of many tRNA species in Salmonella typhimurium. We have previously shown that...
Hong, Jen-Shiang, Smith, Gerald R., Ames, Bruce N.
Mutants of Salmonella typhimurium defective in adenylate cyclase (cya gene) or in cAMP receptor protein (crp gene) are lysogenized at reduced frequency by phage P22. One class of the bacterial...
Localized Mutagenesis of Any Specific Small Region of the Bacterial Chromosome
Hong, Jen-Shiang, Ames, Bruce N.
A method, which we call localized mutagenesis, is described for the isolation of temperature-sensitive and other types of mutations in any specific small region (about 1%) of the bacterial...
Ames, Bruce N., Gurney, E. G., Miller, James A., Bartsch, H.
Several carcinogenic metabolites of the carcinogen 2-acetyl-aminofluorene, especially 2-nitrosofluorene and N-hydroxy-2-aminofluorene, are potent frameshift mutagens for Salmonella typhimurium....
Illicit Transport: The Oligopeptide Permease
Ames, Bruce N., Ames, Giovanna Ferro-Luzzi, Young, Janis Dillaha, Tsuchiya, Dorinne, Lecocq, Jean
The oligopeptide permease of Escherichia coli has been characterized by Payne, Gilvarg, and their colleagues. We have confirmed its existence in Salmonella typhimurium, and have isolated a series of...
An Improved Bacterial Test System for the Detection and Classification of Mutagens and Carcinogens
Ames, Bruce N., Lee, Frank D., Durston, William E.
We previously described a set of four strains of Salmonella typhimurium designed for detecting the various types of mutagens, and showed their utility in detecting a wide variety of carcinogens as...
Ames, Bruce N., Durston, William E., Yamasaki, Edith, Lee, Frank D.
18 Carcinogens, including aflatoxin B1, benzo(a)pyrene, acetylaminofluorene, benzidine, and dimethylamino-trans-stilbene, are shown to be activated by liver homogenates to form potent frameshift...
Detection of Mutagenic Activity in Cigarette Smoke Condensates
Kier, Larry D., Yamasaki, Edith, Ames, Bruce N.
The Salmonella typhimurium microsomal test system for mutagenic activity was successfully used to detect the presence of mutagenic compounds in the smoke condensates of several types of cigarettes....
Jiang, Qing, Wong, Jeffrey, Fyrst, Henrik, Saba, Julie D., Ames, Bruce N.
γ-Tocopherol (γT), the predominant form of vitamin E in diets, but not α-tocopherol, the major vitamin E form in tissues and supplements, inhibits proliferation of prostate cancer cells (LNCaP and...
A Series of Histidineless Mutants of Neurospora Crassa
Haas, Felix, Mitchell, Mary B., Ames, Bruce N., Mitchell, Herschel K.
Increasing longevity by tuning up metabolism
To maximize human health and lifespan, scientists must abandon outdated models of micronutrients
A carcinogenic potency database of the standardized results of animal bioassays
Gold, Lois Swirsky, Sawyer, Charles B., Magaw, Renae, Backman, Georganne M., De Veciana, Margarita, Levinson, Robert, ...
The preceding paper described our numerical index of carcinogenic potency, the TD50 and the statistical procedures adopted for estimating it from experimental data. This paper presents the...
Inadequate dietary intakes of vitamins and minerals are widespread, most likely due to excessive consumption of energy-rich, micronutrient-poor, refined food. Inadequate intakes may result in chronic...
Magnesium deficiency accelerates cellular senescence in cultured human fibroblasts
Killilea, David W., Ames, Bruce N.
Magnesium inadequacy affects more than half of the U.S. population and is associated with increased risk for many age-related diseases, yet the underlying mechanisms are unknown. Altered cellular...