Role of protein synthesis in the repair of sublethal x-ray damage in a mutant Chinese hamster ovary cell line

Abstract

A temperature-sensitive mutant for protein synthesis, CHO-TSH1, has been compared to the wild-type cell, CHO-sC1, in single- and split-radiation-dose schemes. When the exponentially growing TS mutant and the wild-type cells were treated at 40/sub 0/C for up to 2 hrs prior to graded doses of x rays, the survival curves were identical and were the same as those obtained without heat treatment. If the cultures were incubated at 40/sup 0/C for 2 hrs before a first dose and maintained at 40/sup 0/C during a 2 hr dose fractionation interval, repair of radiation damage was reduced in the mutant compared to the wild type. These observations implied that a pool of proteins was involved in the repair of sublethal x-ray damage. However, if repair was measured by the alkaline-unwinding technique under the same time and temperature schemes, no difference in the kientics of DNA strand rejoining was observed. Misrepair processes may permit restoration of DNA strand integrity but not allow functional repair. The effect of diminished repair under conditions of inhibition of protein synthesis was found to be cell-cycle dependent in survival studies with synchronized mutant cell populations. Repair was found to be almost completely eliminated if the temperature sequence described above was applied in the middle of the DNA synthetic phase. Treatment of cell populations in the middle of G/sub 1/-phase yielded repair inhibition comparable to that observed with the asynchronous cells. Splitdose experiments were done using pre-incubation with cycloheximide to chemically inhibit protein synthesis. WT cells and TS cells were treated with cycloheximide at 35/sup 0/C for 2 hrs before a first dose and during a 2 hr dose fractionation interval. 23 figs., 7 tabs.