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•Mitotic checkpoint genes are essential for chromosomal integrity.•Kinetochore genes variants impact chromosomal aberrations frequency.•Genotoxic exposure is an important contributor to genomic instability.
Genomic instability is a characteristic of a majority of human malignancies. Chromosomal instability is a common form of genomic instability that can be caused by defects in mitotic checkpoint genes. Chromosomal aberrations in peripheral blood are also indicative of genotoxic exposure and potential cancer risk. We evaluated associations between inherited genetic variants in 33 mitotic checkpoint genes and the frequency of chromosomal aberrations (CAs) in the presence and absence of environmental genotoxic exposure. Associations with both chromosome and chromatid type of aberrations were evaluated in two cohorts of healthy individuals, namely an exposed and a reference group consisting of 607 and 866 individuals, respectively. Binary logistic and linear regression analyses were performed for the association studies. Bonferroni-corrected significant p-value was 5 × 10-4 for 99 tests based on the number of analyzed genes and phenotypes. In the reference group the most prominent associations were found with variants in CCNB1, a master regulator of mitosis, and in genes involved in kinetochore function, including CENPH and TEX14, whereas in the exposed group the main association was found with variants in TTK, also an important gene in kinetochore function. How the identified variants may affect the fidelity of mitotic checkpoint remains to be investigated, however, the present study suggests that genetic variation may partly explain interindividual variation in the formation of CAs.