skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Chromosome condensation may enhance X-ray-related cell lethality in a temperature-sensitive mutant (tsBN2) of baby hamster kidney cells (BHK21)

Journal Article · · Radiat. Res.; (United States)
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2307/3577041· OSTI ID:6788031

In the tsBN2 cell line, which has a temperature-sensitive defect in the regulatory mechanism for chromosome condensation, the lethal effect of X rays was enhanced by incubating the cells at a nonpermissive temperature (40 degrees C) following X irradiation. This enhancement was suppressed in the presence of cycloheximide, which inhibits induction of premature chromosome condensation. The findings obtained in the case of delayed incubation at 40 degrees C and in synchronized cells indicate that X-ray-related potentially lethal damage, which can be expressed by chromosome condensation, is produced in the cells at any stage of the cell cycle, but it is repairable for all cells except those at around the late G2-M phase, where chromosome condensation occurs at a permissive temperature (33.5 degrees C). These observations suggest that the high sensitivity of late G2-M cells to X rays is caused by the events associated with chromosome condensation.

Research Organization:
Kyushu Univ., Fukuoka, Japan
OSTI ID:
6788031
Journal Information:
Radiat. Res.; (United States), Vol. 3
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English