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M M Elkind

Publications and source records attributed to M M Elkind.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Fixation and repair of radiation-induced potentially mutagenic damage sensitive to hypertonic treatment in human diploid fibroblasts.

The effect of hypertonic salt treatment on the repair of potentially lethal damage and potentially mutagenic damage in X-irradiated asynchronous and synchronous human diploid fibroblasts (IMR91) have been studied. Resistance to 6-thioguanine was used for the mutagenic end point. When cells in late-S-phase were treated with hypertonic salt solution immediately after X-irradiation, both cell killing and mutation induction were enhanced, as compared to X-irradiation alone. This suggests that X-irradiation of cells in late S phase induces both potentially lethal damage and potentially mutagenic damage and that both are sensitive to hypertonic salt solution. When cells were allowed 2 h for repair after exposure to X-rays, both types of damage were completely repaired. Almost the same results were obtained with asynchronous cells. These results are discussed in terms of the relationship between radiation damage leading to cell lethality and mutagenesis.

Aphidicolin↗

Bleomycin-induced potentially lethal damage and its repair.

The dependence of the survival of V79 Chinese hamster cells which were treated with bleomycin on a post-treatment with anisotonic phosphate-buffered saline and/or conditioned medium was examined. In qualitative similarity to the effects of these post-treatments on survival following exposure to X rays, it was found that: anisotonic saline, both hypo- and hypertonic, significantly enhanced cell killing; the degree of enhancement increased with time and temperature; and incubation in conditioned medium resulted in the rescue of cells whether or not they were challenged with hypertonic saline after treatment with bleomycin. Based upon the qualitative similarity of these findings to those which we have observed following X irradiation, and observations of others on the site of action of bleomycin in cells and the ability that it has to break DNA, we propose that both bleomycin and radiation (X rays and fast neutrons) act on similar sensitive sites which are probably contained in or close to the envelope and/or the protein matrix of the nucleus.

Animals↗

Promoter-enhanced neoplastic transformation after gamma-ray exposure at 10 cGy/day.

We have measured gamma-ray-induced neoplastic transformation in C3H10T1/2 mouse embryo cells irradiated at an average 10 cGy/day throughout the useful life span of these cells for transformation studies. At cumulative total doses of 50, 150, 300, and 450 cGy, samples of cells were assayed for cell survival and neoplastic transformation with or without the administration of 0.1 micrograms/ml of 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) starting 24 h after the irradiation. The results indicate that, at a dose rate of 10 cGy/day, the rate of induction of neoplastic transformation is reduced by a factor of thirteen compared to that at 100 cGy/min. Still, frequencies above the background level are observed. These results are consistent with previous data which, at 144 cGy/day (0.1 cGy/min), showed that radiation-induced initiation events could be repaired during exposure, thus reducing the frequency of transformation from that observed at 100 cGy/min [A. Han et al., Cancer Res. 40, 3328-3332 (1980)]. Although the addition of TPA after the delivery of a particular dose at 10 cGy/day produced a significant increase in the frequency of neoplastic transformation, the degree of enhancement was less than after higher-dose-rate exposures [C.K. Hill et al., Radiat. Res. 109, 347-351 (1987)]. These results indicate that during 7 weeks of exposure, the repair of radiation-induced initiation was extensive but not complete, and suggest that a significant part of the damage persists which can be promoted by TPA. These observations support the inference that initiation and promotion are not tightly coupled and are probably independent processes.

Animals↗

The initial part of the survival curve: does it predict the outcome of fractionated radiotherapy?

The publication of a number of single-cell survival curves in vitro has stimulated radiobiologists and radiotherapists to analyze the survival characteristics of these curves for their ability to be predictive of the radioresponses of the tumors from which they were derived. Parameters of interest have been the steepness of the initial slope, the single-dose survival at 2 Gy, the mean inactivation dose, and the extrapolation number along with the D0 dose. An assessment of these correlations shows considerable overlap between the values of particular survival parameters even when tumors thought to be the most responsive are compared to those thought to be the least responsive. The importance of the full repair of sublethal damage in the analysis is noted, and a number of factors which may limit effective correlations between cell survival parameters and tumor response are discussed.

Cell Survival↗

7,12-Dimethylbenz[a]anthracene plus near-u.v. light initiates DNA damage and repair in Chinese hamster cells.

Earlier results on the photodynamic action of several carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and particularly 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA), have been extended to determine if DMBA + near-u.v. light produces damage to DNA. DMBA by itself (30 min, approximately 24 degrees C) introduces relatively few breaks into genomic DNA. The addition of near-u.v. light, however, inserts large numbers of single-strand breaks in a dose-dependent way. Incubation following exposure initially results in the rapid repair of these breaks. A primary role for DNA damage in photodynamic cell killing is not supported by other observations, however. First, caffeine, an inhibitor of radiation-associated DNA repair processes, has only a minor effect on the oxygen-dependent killing of cells exposed to DMBA + u.v. light. Second, along with the repair of DNA breaks, the insertion of additional breaks becomes evident leading to a massive breakdown of genomic DNA due to an endonucleolytic-like attack. And third, lethally affected cells rapidly lose their surface attachment. Because light induces damage in DNA when DMBA is present, it is likely that DMBA becomes closely associated with DNA. Thus, a starting point for mutagenic and carcinogenic action in the absence of light is suggested although activation of DMBA by a P-450 system does not appear to be a prerequisite of DMBA-DNA association. Still, DNA as such may not be the initial or the primary target for light-induced cell killing. In addition to interacting with DNA, DMBA is sequestered by membranes, suggesting that killing results from an oxygen-dependent release of catabolic enzymes. These enzymes, which may come from lysosomes, degrade DNA but concomitantly release surface-attached cells into the medium.

9,10-Dimethyl-1,2-benzanthracene↗

Are single or multiple mechanisms involved in radiation-induced mammalian cell killing?

The survival curve of repair-competent mammalian cells exposed to X- or to gamma-rays has a shoulder usually followed by a region of exponential survival. A curve of this shape results from the accumulation of subeffective damage in the shoulder region. This damage has been called sublethal [Elkind & Sutton (1959), Nature, 184, 1293], a designation the basis for which has been questioned by Alper [(1977), Brit. J. Radiol., 50, 459] who noted that if the shoulder results from the progressive reduction of a repair capacity, then the damage would be potentially lethal. A series of experiments is analyzed to show that requiring an equivalence between sublethal and potentially lethal damage has limited usefulness because as many questions are raised as are answered. Moreover, the sector of repair corresponding to the shoulder region is small compared to the sector of damage which must be repaired if only a minority of the lesions in DNA are effective. It is concluded that multiple mechanism may be involved in cell killing and, in addition, that the processes connected with the shoulder region of the survival curve amount to only the tip of an iceberg whose size and properties are yet to be fully appreciated.

Animals↗

Promotion, dose rate, and repair processes in radiation-induced neoplastic transformation.

C3H10T1/2 cells were exposed to low doses of 60Co gamma rays at 100 or 0.10 cGy/min and the incidence of neoplastic transformation was assayed with or without the addition of tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA). As we reported earlier [A. Han, C. K. Hill, and M. M. Elkind, Cancer Res. 40, 3328-3332 (1980); C. K. Hill, A. Han, F. Buonaguro, and M. M. Elkind, Carcinogenesis 5, 193-197 (1984)], the frequency of neoplastic transformation per unit dose following low doses appears to be linear and is reduced 2.3-fold at 0.10 cGy/min compared to 100 cGy/min. We report now that the addition of TPA 24 h after irradiation appreciably enhances the frequency after both low- and high-dose-rate exposures. The enhancement indicates that TPA leads to the expression of potentially effective, preneoplastic damage due to gamma rays. Our data suggest that the enhancement of transformation by TPA is essentially independent of dose rate. Also, our results suggest that the sector of preneoplastic damage which is repaired during protracted exposures becomes unavailable to enhancement by TPA.

Animals↗

Potentially lethal damage, deficient repair in X-ray-sensitive caffeine-responsive Chinese hamster cells.

Further studies are described with a radiation-sensitive clone of V79 Chinese hamster cells, designated V79-AL162/S-10. Extended postirradiation treatment with caffeine causes V79-AL162/S-10 cells to respond like repair-competent V79 cells, but both kinds of cells suffer enhanced killing by caffeine, in a similar fashion, when the postirradiation treatment period is relatively brief. Extended postirradiation treatment of repair-competent cells causes them to respond like sensitive cells without caffeine post-treatment. Treating irradiated V79-AL162/S-10 cells with hypertonic saline appreciably reduces the survival rescue which can be effected by caffeine. This latter observation leads to the inference that the sectors of damage affected by anisotonic shock and caffeine post-treatment overlap. From these and other results we propose that the DNA replicational machinery of the cell is the locus of action of these radiation damage/repair processes.

Animals↗

DNA damage and cell killing. Cause and effect?

The evidence supporting a cause and effect relationship between DNA damage and cell killing is examined in the light of what is currently known about the organization and replication of genomic DNA in eukaryotic cells and the radio-energetics of DNA breakage. A large disparity is identified between characteristic doses for cell killing and for the production of DNA lesions (i.e., single- or double-strand breaks). In contrast, the sensitive phase of the inhibition of DNA synthesis has a dependence on dose quantitatively similar to that of cell killing. A model is developed in which single- and double-strand breaks are associated with the inhibition of replicon initiation, whereas only double-strand breaks are primarily responsible for strand elongation. Furthermore, the model points to the replisome and the region of replicated DNA just downstream from the fork as the locus of radiation action.

Animals↗

Two forms of potentially lethal damage have similar repair kinetics in plateau- and in log-phase cells.

The effect on the survival of X-irradiated Chinese hamster cells (line V79) of two different post-treatments is examined in plateau- and in log-phases of growth. Qualitatively similar results are obtained with cells in both growth phases; that is, similar reductions in survival are effected by post-treatments with hypertonic phosphate buffered saline, and similar increases in survival are effected by post-treatments with conditioned medium. In addition, in both kinds of cells the kinetics of the repair processes are similar even though the kinetics of the two processes differ from each other considerably. While the results indicate that there can be essential differences in the type and/or the pathways of repair of potentially lethal damage, they also illustrate a broader meaning of this term than has been customary. Considered relative to the amount of DNA damage that can be expected to be potentially lethal, it is concluded that the two types of damage that are the subjects of this study represent only small sectors of the total amount of potentially lethal damage.

Animals↗

Poly(ADP-ribose) and the recovery from damage in Chinese hamster cells due to 5-bromodeoxyuridine photolysis.

Exposure of Chinese hamster cells to near-u.v. light, following the uniform incorporation of 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) into their DNA, resulted in cell killing that was close to exponential. An inhibitor of poly(ADP-ribose) synthesis, 3-aminobenzamide (3-ABA), enhanced the cytotoxic effect of this treatment when present for 2 h at 20 mM after light exposure. The dose modifying factor was 1.4. Under conditions that resulted in a sigmoidal survival curve (a 30 min BrdUrd pulse in S phase, followed 90 min later by light exposure) the effect of 3-ABA was to remove the shoulder of the survival curve with very little change in its final slope. Using various inhibitors of ADP-ribosyl transferase (ADPRT) the enhanced cell killing was found to correlate with the inhibitors' relative potency. Cellular NAD+, the substrate for poly(ADP-ribose) synthesis, was rapidly depleted after exposure. This depletion was largely prevented by 3-ABA; the activity of ADPRT increased with the fluence of near-u.v. light; and the concentration of cellular NAD+ decreased with exposure. ADPRT activity was maximal immediately after exposure to near u.v. light and then decayed to pre-exposure levels within 30 min (37 degrees C). The enhanced cytotoxicity of BrdUrd + near-u.v. light, when followed by 3-ABA treatment, disappeared at a rate similar to that of the decay in ADPRT activity. We conclude from these results that poly(ADP-ribose) synthesis is important for the recovery from BrdUrd photolysis damage in DNA. Because this damage and its repair are relatively specific (e.g. compared to ionizing radiation) and relatively easy to manipulate, it could serve as a model system for the study of the role of poly(ADP-ribose) in the repair of DNA damage.

Animals↗

Inhibitors of poly(adenosine diphosphoribose) synthetase, examination of metabolic perturbations, and enhancement of radiation response in Chinese hamster cells.

3-Aminobenzamide, a specific inhibitor of poly(adenosine diphosphoribose) synthesis, has been shown to enhance the response of mammalian cells to ionizing radiation and alkylating agents. Observations such as these usually have been taken to be an indication of the involvement of poly(adenosine diphosphoribose) in the repair of DNA damage. It has been reported that some inhibitors of adenosine diphosphoribosyl transferase (ADPRT) affect cell viability, glucose metabolism, and DNA synthesis when present at low concentrations in the growth medium for extended periods (e.g., lymphoid cells exposed to a few millimolar for 24 h [Milam, K. M., and Cleaver, J. E. Science (Wash. DC), 223: 589, 1984]). The latter report questioned previous interpretations of radiation results based on the use of ADPRT inhibitors which enhance cell killing. We have studied the enhanced radiation lethality of Chinese hamster cells using higher concentrations of these inhibitors, but for shorter periods, in an effort to determine if metabolic perturbations are produced and if they are relatable to enhanced cell killing. The compounds used were 2-aminobenzamide, 3-aminobenzamide, 4-aminobenzamide, benzamide, and nicotinamide, compounds which show a large variation in their potency as inhibitors of ADPRT. It was found that none of the compounds was toxic at the highest doses used (20 mM for 2 h) and that, during a 2-h period, the potent inhibitor 3-aminobenzamide had little or no effect on DNA synthesis. Two h is long enough to yield a near-maximum radiosensitization with 3-aminobenzamide. Although glucose metabolism was affected to varying degrees (up to a 50% inhibition by 4-aminobenzamide in 2 h), there was no correlation between effectiveness in inhibiting ADPRT and effectiveness in inhibiting glucose metabolism. A correlation was observed, however, between the inhibitory potential of ADPRT and the enhancement of radiation response. When used for sufficiently short times, we conclude that the effects at even high concentrations of a potent inhibitor of ADPRT (e.g., 3-aminobenzamide) are consistent with an involvement of poly(adenosine diphosphoribose) synthesis in the expression of a radiation-induced end point like cell killing.

Animals↗