Thymidine Pool Research Articles

Epstein - Barr virus Reactivation Associated with an Increased Thymidine Kinase and Normalized by an Immuno Modulatory Nano-Therapy: Three Case Reports

Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV), a common human herpes virus known to infect most of the world population, has been mentioned in the context of many diverse human pathologies while its participation during its latency phase is more and more often demonstrated in a growing number of chronic malignancies.The biological diagnosis of the virus activity is carried out using serological parameters on the one hand, and the measurement of the viral load on the other hand. Thymidine kinase (TK) is a key enzyme in the regulation of the intranuclear thymidine pool during cell cycle progression. The rise in its plasma level therefore systematically reveals an uncontrolled cellular proliferation evoking, of course, at first a neoplastic process. Nevertheless, EBV being a DNA virus, its reactivation or even a persistent primary infection are also likely to cause an increase in the blood level of TK.Using three examples, we will show that the neutralization of EBV by an immunomodulatory nano-therapy called Bio Immune (G)ene Medicine (BI(G)MED), is accompanied by a normalization of plasma levels of TK, thus underlining the close link between the virus and this marker of cell proliferation.

Unbiased metabolite profiling indicates that a diminished thymidine pool is the underlying mechanism of colon cancer chemoprevention by alpha-difluoromethylornithine.

The ornithine decarboxylase inhibitor α-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) is a highly effective chemopreventive agent for colorectal cancer thought to act via polyamine depletion. However, in DFMO-treated patients, mucosal polyamine levels do not directly correlate with colorectal cancer risk. Untargeted metabolite profiling was used to broadly survey DFMO actions on colon cancer cell metabolism. We found that DFMO treatment of Apc(Min) intestinal tumors and human colorectal cancer cells is associated with reduced levels of folate-dependent metabolites, including S-adenosylmethionine (SAM), thymidine pools, and related pathway intermediates. We hypothesized that unrestrained SAM consumption/regeneration constitutes a futile DFMO-triggered cascade that can steal tetrahydrofolate from thymidylate synthase and thereby diminish thymidine pools. In accord with this hypothesis, DFMO treatment altered the folate cofactor balance and thymidine supplementation prevented DFMO-elicited cytostasis without restoring polyamine levels. These findings suggest that thymidine metabolite pool insufficiency is a fundamental mechanism of DFMO cytostatic activity. A previously unappreciated metabolic linkage between polyamine and thymidine biosynthesis is revealed, based on the competing requirement of these pathways for a limited pool of tetrahydrofolate cofactor. This study identifies the fi rst shared mechanism for colorectal cancer chemoprevention and chemotherapy, suggesting a common metabolic target for both premalignant and malignant colon cells.

Thymidylate synthase in situ protein expression and survival in stage I nonsmall‐cell lung cancer

Thymidylate synthase (TS) is important for maintenance of the intracellular thymidine pool, which is crucial for DNA synthesis and repair. TS messenger RNA and protein levels are predictive of response to 5-fluorouracil-containing therapy for patients with colorectal cancer and gastric cancer. High levels of expression of 2 other genes important in DNA synthesis and repair, RRM1 and ERCC1, are prognostic of survival in early stage nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. We hypothesized that intratumoral TS expression would be prognostic of outcome in stage I NSCLC. Cytoplasmic tumoral TS was determined by automated in situ protein quantification (AQUA) in 160 patients with completely resected NSCLC that had not received chemotherapy or radiation. It was also determined by real-time quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in 85 similar patients. The 2 datasets were partially overlapping (N=32). The optimal cutpoint was determined by the maximal log-rank method with adjustment of the P-values for multiple looks. TS protein expression was significantly associated with patient survival (P=.0013, adjusted P=.034). The optimal cutpoint was at the 25% percentile; the group with low expression (<or=57.02) had a median overall survival (OS) of 51.7 months, and the high expression group (>57.02) had a median OS of 81.3 months. TS mRNA expression was not significantly associated with patient survival or TS protein expression. In a multivariate analysis adjusting for tumor stage, TS remained significantly prognostic of survival (P=.0013, adjusted P=.032). In situ cytoplasmic TS protein expression in tumors of patients with resected stage I NSCLC is a clinically important determinant of survival.

Mitotic control of dTTP pool: a necessity or coincidence?

The fidelity of DNA replication in eukaryotic cells requires a balanced dNTP supply in the S phase. During the cell cycle progression, the production of dTTP is highly regulated to coordinate with DNA replication. Intracellular thymidine is salvaged to dTTP by cytosolic thymidine kinase (TK1) and thymidylate kinase (TMPK), both of which expression increase in the G1/S transition and diminish in the mitotic phase via proteolytic destruction. Anaphase promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C)-mediated ubiquitination targets TK1 and TMPK to undergo proteasomal degradation in mitosis, by which dTTP pool is minimized in the early G1 phase of the next cell cycle. In this review, we will focus on regulation of TK1 in the post-S phase and the importance of mitotic proteolysis in controlling dNTP balance, replication stress and genomic stability. Finally, we discuss how thymidine pool and oligomeric forms of TK1 can affect mitotic control of dTTP.

Cell kinetic studies in the murine ventral tongue epithelium: thymidine metabolism studies and circadian rhythm determination.

The oral mucosa is a rapidly replacing body tissue that has received relatively little attention in terms of defining its cell kinetics and cellular organization. The tissue is sensitive to the effects of cytotoxic agents, the consequence of which can be stem cell death with the subsequent development of ulcers and the symptoms of oral mucositis. There is considerable interest in designing strategies to protect oral stem cells and, hence, reduce the mucositis side-effects in cancer therapy patients. Here we present details of a new histometric approach designed to investigate the changing patterns in cellularity in the ventral tongue mucosa. This initial paper in a series of four papers presents observations on the changing patterns in the labelling index following tritiated thymidine administration, which suggest a delayed uptake of tritiated thymidine from a long-term intracellular thymidine pool, a phenomenon that will complicate cell kinetic interpretations in a variety of experimental situations. We also provide data on the changing pattern of mitotic activity through a 24-h period (circadian rhythms). Using vincristine-induced stathmokinesis, the data indicate that 54% of the basal cells divide each day and that there is a high degree of synchrony in mitotic activity with a mitotic peak occurring around 13.00 h. The mitotic circadian peak occurs 9-12 h after the circadian peak in DNA synthesis. The data presented here and in the subsequent papers could be interpreted to indicate that basal cells of BDF1 mice have an average turnover time of about 26-44 h with some cells cycling once a day and others with a 2- or 3-day cell cycle time.

Differences between thymic and splenic cells of the rat: biochemical and physico-chemical investigations in vitro on DNA topoisomerase II--inhibitors and thiyl radicals.

Interactions of novobiocin (NB) and nalidixic acid (NA) with thiols were investigated in vitro in thymic (T-) and splenic (S-) cells of the rat, by determining nucleic acid synthesis as well as nucleoid sedimentation and viscosity of alkaline cell lysates. In T-cells NB, at concentrations of 0.35-1.4 mM, increased unscheduled DNA synthesis (UDS) and RNA synthesis (RNS), whereas S-cells underwent a dose-dependent inhibition of UDS and RNS following exposure to NB at concentrations > 0.7 mM. Combining NA and thiols (e.g., dithiothreitol) resulted in a slight stimulation of UDS in S-cells and in a highly significant increase of UDS in T-cells ascribed to a depletion of the cellular thymidine pool. In both cell types, neither NB nor NA exerted a significant effect on thiol-induced DNA damage. At a concentration of 1.4 mM, NB increased the viscosity of alkaline T-cell lysates; the opposite effect was observed in S-cells. From these results as well as from previous investigations we conclude that T- and S-cells differ in their state of chromatin conformation. This interpretation offers a simple model for the study of the influence of chromatin structure on cell-specific physico-and/or chemico-biological interactions.

Taxol inhibits stimulation of cell DNA synthesis by human cytomegalovirus

The microtubule (MT)-stabilizing drug, taxol, inhibited human cytomegalovirus (CMV)-initiated cell DNA synthesis by up to 100% in serum-arrested mouse embryo (ME) fibroblasts that were abortively infected by CMV. Taxol concentrations known to increase MT polymerization and to stabilize existing MTs (10 to 20 μg/ml) blocked CMV-stimulated cell DNA synthesis, while taxol concentrations of 2.5 μg/ml, or less, did not. Taxol maximally inhibited CMV initiation of cell DNA synthesis when added 3 h after virus infection and inhibited this initiation by greater than 50% when added up to 12 h after CMV infection. Control experiments suggest that taxol specifically inhibited CMV-stimulated cell DNA synthesis. Pretreatment of CMV stock with taxol did not reduce the stimulatory effect of CMV on cell DNA synthesis and taxol had no detectable effect on CMV-specific early protein synthesis. Moreover, taxol did not appear to alter thymidine pool sizes, affect cell viability, or compromise the DNA synthetic machinery in CMV-infected cells. Since taxol increases tubulin polymerization and inhibits MT disassembly, these results suggest that dynamic changes in MTs or in the pool of free tubulin subunits are necessary for CMV to stimulate cell entry into a proliferative cycle.

Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) template and thymodine pool effects on high frequencies of sister-chromatid exchange (SCE) in Bloom syndrome cells and a mutant cell line (AsHa) originated from ataxia telangiectasia

The effect of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU)-substituted DNA template and thymidine (dT) pool on excess sister-chromatid exchanges (SCEs) was studied in Bloom syndrome (BS) cells and an ataxia telangiectasia (AT)-derived mutant cell line (AsHa). When BS endomitotic cells were labeled with low and high (or high and low) BrdU concentrations during S 1 and S 2, only the BrdU concentration during S 1 phase affected the observed SCE. In BS cells about a 10-fold increase in SCEs occurs during or following replication on a BrdU-substituted template (high-high and high-low BrdU labeling) relative to the normal DNA template. SCEs decreased to about half in AsHa cells labeled with various BrdU doses (40, 60, 80 and 100 μg/ml) during only S 1, compared with those labeled during S 1 and S 2. Co-cultivation of AsHa and BS cells resulted in a significant reduction in SCE level from 70 to 13–17 in BS cells, lowered the BrdU concentrations necessary for sister-chromatid differential (SCD) staining from 40 to 10 μg/ml with normal SCE level and resulted in decreased level of SCEs at high BrdU concentrations (80–100 μg/ml) 12–14 SCE) in AsHa cells, compared with the originally increased SCE level (36.65 SCE at 100 μg/ml) without co-culture. However, co-cultivation between AsHa and normal cells lowered the BrdU dose necessary for SCD staining from 40 to 30 μg/ml; the dT pool possibly balanced at this level, which is clearly higher than that at co-cultivation between AsHa and BS cells. The reason for the very high BrdU doses needed to achieve SCD would seem to be that AsHa cells have high levels of thymidylate (TMP) synthetase, which maintain a large endogenous thymidine pool. This has been confirmed by direct measurement. These findings strongly support that excess and decreased dT pools are closely related to the condition necessary for high SCE induction.

Biological activity in the repopulating rat spermatocyte after the withdrawal of gossypol treatment: I. The activity for DNA synthesis

Mature male rats were treated with gossypol for various lengths of time after which the treatment was stopped to allow the arrested spermatogonia to revive. Fifteen days after withdrawal of the drug treatment, the arrested spermatogonia entered into the meiotic division and then reached the pachytene stage. The meiotic cells derived from the arrested spermatogonia were the first generation of the differentiated germ cells after long-term gossypol treatment.Centrifugal elutriation technique was used to isolate the repopulating pachytene spermatocytes (RPS) or the control pachytene spermatocytes (CPS) from the rat testis with or without receiving gossypol pretreatment. In vitro culture condition for RPS and CPS was established for the synthesis of DNA by the measurement of 3H-thymidine incorporation. The activity for DNA synthesis in RPS was studied and compared to that of the CPS.It was concluded that after gossypol treatment for various times, the incorporation of 3H-thymidine into the cellular thymidine pool of RPS was not affected. However, the activity for DNA synthesis in RPS was significantly lower than that in the CPS. The synthetic activity for DNA was reduced by 14%, 26%, 42%, 40%, and 40% in the RPS for the gossypol pretreatment of 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8 weeks, respectively.

Correlations of dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase, thymidine phosphorylase and thymidine kinase activities in strongly and weakly malignant cultured murine neuroblastoma cells.

The C-1300 neuroblastoma tumor which arises spontaneously in the A/J mouse has been maintained in this mouse strain. Two different cell populations have been recognized in cultured C-1300 mouse neuroblastoma (MNB): (1) round, "neuroblast-like" cells, growing in suspension (poorly attached), that have a highly malignant behavior when injected into the A/J mouse (T1 cells); and (2) flat, "epithelioid" cells that attach well to surfaces and show low malignancy towards the inoculated animals (T2 cells). The specific activities of the pyrimidine metabolizing enzymes thymidine phosphorylase (TP), dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) and thymidine kinase (TK) were examined in both MNB cell lines by a new radiochromatographic method. Enzymatic activities of TP and DPD in the cytosols of T2 (weakly malignant) cells were up to 15 times higher than those of T1 (strongly malignant) cells, whereas the mean TP/DPD activity ratio was 16 in either cell line. TP and DPD activity levels increased with time of growth in culture in T2 cells while no such increase was seen in the T1 cells. Maximal TK activity was similar in both cell lines but dropped more rapidly in the T2 cells as cell densities increased. The enzymatic activity levels of TP and DPD but not of TK correlated inversely with neoplastic expression of MNB cells. The observed patterns of pyrimidine metabolizing enzymes in MNB cells could result in an increased thymidine pool in T1 cells whenever TK activity is suppressed, whereas such conditions would favor the generation of thymine in the T2 cells.

On the uptake and incorporation of thymidine by cultured chick pineal glands.

Cultured chick pineal glands showed a marked cycle in the incorporation of thymidine into DNA. They also accumulated exogenous thymidine in one, or more, endogenous thymidine pool(s). However, there was no significant variation in ability to take up thymidine during incubation with either standard medium or media of increased thymidine content. We could not eliminate the possibility of variation in size of a quantitatively minor, but metabolically extremely important, thymidine pool which "channels" precursor directly into DNA.

Effects of cell fusion and deoxynucleosides on sister-chromatid exchanges in B-lymphoblastoid cell lines from 5 Bloom syndrome patients

The effect of cell fusion and deoxynucleosides (deoxyadenosine, dA; deoxyguanosine, dG; deoxycytidine, dC; thymidine, T) on sister-chromatid exchanges (SCEs) in Bloom syndrome (BS) was studied in two types of BrdU (bromodeoxyuridine)-sensitive and BrdU-resistant B-lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) with respect to cellular proliferation in BrdU-labeled culture conditions. Cell fusion between BrdU-sensitive and BrdU-resistant BS B-LCLs did not exhibit complementation, although when any of the BS B-LCLs (retaining high SCE character) labeled with BrdU were fused with non-labeled normal cells, the hybrid cells had a normal level of SCE at the first mitosis after fusion. Deoxycytidine addition showed no effect on SCEs in normal cells but decreased SCEs in BS cells from the baseline level of 70 SCEs/cell to about 60 SCE/cell. Purine deoxyribonucleosides (dG and dA) caused a significant concentration-dependent increase in SCE frequency both in normal and BS cells. Although T caused a 2-fold increase in normal SCEs, it highly decreased BS SCE from 70 SCEs/cell to 35 SCEs/cell. FrdU did not greatly affect BS SCE in the presence of BrdU and T. These observations indicate strongly that BS cells may have a low thymidine pool compared with normal cells, which could account for a more efficient BrdU substitution in the DNA thus potentiating the template effect on SCE.

Effects of cell fusion and deoxynucleosides on sister-chromatid exchanges in B-lymphoblastoid cell lines from 5 Bloom syndrome patients

The effect of cell fusion and deoxynucleosides (deoxyadenosine, dA; deoxyguanosine, dG; deoxycytidine, dC; thymidine, T) on sister-chromatid exchanges (SCEs) in Bloom syndrome (BS) was studied in two types of BrdU (bromodeoxyuridine)-sensitive and BrdU-resistant B-lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) with respect to cellular proliferation in BrdU-labeled culture conditions. Cell fusion between BrdU-sensitive and BrdU-resistant BS B-LCLs did not exhibit complementation, although when any of the BS B-LCLs (retaining high SCE character) labeled with BrdU were fused with non-labeled normal cells, the hybrid cells had a normal level of SCE at the first mitosis after fusion. Deoxycytidine addition showed no effect on SCEs in normal cells but decreased SCEs in BS cells from the baseline level of 70 SCEs/cell to about 60 SCE/cell. Purine deoxyribonucleosides (dG and dA) caused a significant concentration-dependent increase in SCE frequency both in normal and BS cells. Although T caused a 2-fold increase in normal SCEs, it highly decreased BS SCE from 70 SCEs/cell to 35 SCEs/cell. FrdU did not greatly affect BS SCE in the presence of BrdU and T. These observations indicate strongly that BS cells may have a low thymidine pool compared with normal cells, which could account for a more efficient BrdU substitution in the DNA thus potentiating the template effect on SCE.

A cytotoxic DNA precursor is taken up selectively by human cancer xenografts

The failure of chemotherapeutic agents to be highly effective against most human cancers is widely attributed to drug resistance (Curt et al., 1984; Goldie & Coldman, 1985). Resistance mechanisms are various and may result from selective pressures acting on a genetically unstable population. Resistance does not occur in normal renewal tissues and their sensitivity is dose limiting (Goldie & Coldman, 1985). It has recently been suggested that it might be possible to take advantage of the resistance of cancer cells and the sensitivity of normal cells to anti-cancer drugs (Bagshawe, 1986). Hydroxyurea (HU) which inhibits DNA synthesis probably through its action on ribonucleotide reductase (Ackerblom et al., 1981) is relatively ineffective against most solid cancers and resistance readily develops (Ariel, 1970). It was therefore suggested that treatment with inhibitors of DNA synthesis should cause more marked inhibition of DNA synthesis in normal renewal tissues than in resistant cancers. If so, then it might be possible to incorporate precursors of DNA that are cytotoxic, or suitable for scintigraphic imaging, selectively into tumour cell DNA. It was further suggested (Bagshawe, 1986) that this approach might be explored using the pyrimidine analogues 5-iodo-2'-deoxyuridine (IUdR) and 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BUdR) which differ from thymidine, the normal pyrimidine base, only by substitution of a halogen for the 5-methyl group. They compete with thymidine for phosphorylation and incorporation into DNA (Prusoff, 1959; Djordjevic & Szybalski, 1960). IUdR is rapidly dehalogenated unless incorporated into DNA but IUdR in DNA is retained until the cell divides or dies. IUdR and BUdR are known radioand photo-sensitisers (Djordjevic & Szybalski, 1960) and 12I-IUdR is a potent cytotoxic agent (Hofer, 1980). Preliminary experiments to test the hypothesis were performed in nu/nu mice carrying a human choriocarcinoma xenograft (CC3) (Figure 1 a-h). Group 1 (Figure la) received only 125I-IUdR and tissues excised 24h later showed, as have previous studies (Shuhmacher et al., 1974; Hampton & Eidinoff, 1961) that uptake of 125I-IUdR was -4 times greater in small intestine and colon than in tumour. When HU was given before 125I-IUdR (group 2, Figure lb) the total counts for intestinal tissues were substantially reduced but tumour counts were not reduced, indicating differential sensitivity to HU and suggesting that DNA synthesis continued in the tumour when it was suppressed in normal renewal tissues. Drugs which block thymidine synthesis increase utilisation of extracellular thymidine (Tattersall & Harrap, 1973) or thymidine analogue, probably through the thymidine salvage pathway (Sneider & Potter, 1969). They may reduce the thymidine pool (Tattersall & Harrap, 1973; Taylor et al., 1983) thereby favouring uptake of a thymidine analogue and

Response of Transplantable Tumors in Mice and of Macromolecular Synthesis to 17β-Acetamido-3-aza-A-homo-4α-androsten-4-one

17 beta-acetamido-3-aza-homo-4 alpha-androsten-4-one has cytostatic activity against Ehrlich ascites tumor, L1210, and P388 leukemias in mice when administered intraperitoneally. The effect of the homo-aza-steroid on the incorporation of radioactive precursors to DNA and RNA of L1210 leukemia cells was investigated. It was found that treatment of cells with 12.5 micrograms/ml of the drug for 1 hour inhibited DNA synthesis by 81%. This was partly because the drug affected the radioactive thymidine pool in the cell. The inhibitory effect was found to be reversable. The incorporation of [3H]thymidine into DNA was lower when cells were incubated in the presence of S9 mix. It was also found that the same compound inhibited RNA synthesis by 67%.

Response of Transplantable Tumors in Mice and of Macromolecular Synthesis to 17β-Acetamido-3-aza-A-homo-4α-androsten-4-one

17β-acetamido-3-aza-A-homo-4α-androsten-4-one has cytostatic activity against Ehrlich ascites tumor, 11210, and P388 leukemias in mice when administered in-traperitoneally. The effect of the homo-aza-steroid on the incorporation of radioactive precursors to DNA and RNA of 12210 leukemia cells was investigated. It was found that treatment of cells with 12.5 fig/ml of the drug for I hour inhibited DNA synthesis by 81%. This was partly because the drug affected the radioactive thymidine pool in the cell. The inhibitory effect was found to be reversable. The incorporation of [3H]thymidine into DNA was lower when cells were incubated in the presence of S9 mix. It was also found that the same compound inhibited RNA synthesis by 67%.

Increased aortic DNA synthesis precedes renal hypertension in rats. An obligatory step?

The rate of DNA synthesis was determined in rats with developing and established two-kidney, one clip renal hypertension. Rate of DNA synthesis was measured as [3H]thymidine incorporation into DNA per hour. After stenosis of the renal artery, blood pressure increased over a 2-week period. Five days after clipping, there was an increase in the rate of aortic DNA synthesis before an increase in blood pressure was detected, whereas there was no DNA effect in sham-operated animals. This difference in [3H]thymidine incorporation into aortic DNA could not be accounted for by alterations in thymidine pool sizes. The increase in DNA synthesis was still present 3 weeks after renal artery stenosis, although by that time blood pressure had plateaued. The role of DNA synthesis in the development of renal hypertension was investigated by determining whether inhibition of DNA synthesis with cytosine arabinoside could prevent the increase in blood pressure. Treatment of clipped rats with cytosine arabinoside for 5 days delayed the increase in blood pressure for more than 4 days, as compared with the effect of saline treatment in clipped rats. Although the possibility remains that some effect of cytosine arabinoside other than its effect on DNA synthesis could have influenced blood pressure, there were no differences in body weight, food intake, water intake, or urine output between cytosine arabinoside-treated and saline-treated rats with renal artery clips, and cytosine arabinoside treatment had no effect on blood pressure or body weight in normal rats. These results suggest that an increase in DNA synthesis may be an obligatory step in the genesis of renal hypertension.

Role of calcium in the insulin-dependent stimulation of DNA synthesis in mouse mammary gland in vitro

The role of extracellular Ca 2+ in the control of DNA synthesis in mouse mammary tissue was studied using mammary gland explants maintained under chemically defined conditions in vitro. Chelation of calcium with ethyleneglycol- bis-(β-aminoethyl ether) or omission of Ca 2+ from the incubation media substantially reduced both basal and insulin-stimulated incorporation of [ 3H]thymidine into DNA. Addition of calcium to the Ca 2+-deficient media restored DNA synthesis; other divalent cations could not be substituted for calcium. Insulin reduced by 5-fold the calcium concentration required to achieve half-maximal stimulation of DNA synthesis in explants, thus indicating that the Ca 2+-related process may be involved in the mechanism by which insulin exerts its effect on cell multiplication. Evidence is presented that in mammary gland explants, calcium does not stimulate DNA synthesis by action on the thymidine pool size. Neither calcium nor insulin showed any effect on the activity of thymidine kinase in the mammary gland explants. On the other hand, calcium ions were shown to be necessary to maintain the activity of DNA polymerase-α, the enzyme involved in nuclear DNA replication.

The scintillometric evaluation of DNA repair synthesis can be distorted by changes of thymidine pool radioactivity

The induction of DNA repair synthesis by UV radiation and methylmethane sulphonate (MMS) in mammalian cell lines of human (EUE, HeLa, FT, KB) and hamster (CHO, BHK) origin has been evaluated by means of autoradiography and the scintillometric procedure which implied the use of hydroxyurea (HU) to suppress DNA replication. While with UV radiation both methods produce concordant positive results, in the case of MMS the evidence of DNA repair synthesis obtained from the autoradiograms is occasionally accompanied by a lack of increase of DNA radioactivity in the treated cultures, as detected by scintillation counting. In such instances MMS is shown to reverse the enhancement of pool radioactivity in the cultures incubated with HU and even to reduce the radioactivity of thymidine pool below control values. By normalizing DNA radioactivities on the basis of pool variations, the discrepancy between autoradiography and scintillation counting is solved. The chromatographic analysis of thymidine pool components justifies the normalization procedure as it demonstrates that also in cultures treated with MMS or MMS + HU pool variations closely parallel the variations of thymidine triphosphate (dTTP) level. The normalization of DNA radioactivities based on the overall pool radioactivities gives an improved evaluation of the actual rate of DNA synthesis. It can be recommended for screening studies of DNA repair inducers because it allows one to correct false negative results without producing false positive data. Compared with the dTTP levels, overall pool radioactivities used as normalizing factors still produce an underestimate of DNA repair when high doses of MMS are applied to hamster cell cultures.

Toxicity, DNA damage and inhibition of DNA repair synthesis in human melanoma cells by concentrated sunlight.

AbstractA 1 m diameter water lens was used to focus solar radiation, giving an 8‐fold concentration of the total spectrum and a cytocidal flux similar to that of laboratory UV sources. Survival curves for human melanoma cells were similar for sunlight and 254 nm UV, in that Dq, was usually larger than Do. An xeroderma pigmentosum lymphoblastoid line was equally sensitive to both agents and human cell lines sensitive to ionizing radiation (lymphoblastoid lines), crosslinking agents or monofunctional alkylating agents (melanoma lines) had the same 254 nm UV and solar survival responses as appropriate control lines. Two melanoma sublines derived separately by 16 cycles of treatment with sunlight or 254 nm UV were crossresistant to both agents. In one melanoma cell line used for further studies, DNA strand breaks and DNA‐protein crosslinking were induced in melanoma cells by sunlight but pyrimidine dimers (paper chromatography) and DNA interstrand crosslinking (alkaline elution) could not be detected. The solar fiuence response of DNA repair synthesis was much less than that from equitoxic 254 nm UV, reaching a maximum near the Do value and then declining; semiconservative DNA synthesis on the other hand remained high. These effects were not due to changes in thymidine pool sizes. Solar exposure did not have a major effect on 254 nm UV‐induced repair synthesis.