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C H Ockey

Publications and source records attributed to C H Ockey.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1989

Fine-structural aspects of bromodeoxyuridine incorporation in sister chromatid differentiation and replication banding.

The structure of harlequin-stained chromosomes following substitution with low levels of 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) over two cell cycles and high levels over the last part of one cycle (replication banding) was studied in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. By using correlative light (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), it was shown that the effects of both the ultraviolet light (u.v.) and hot SSC treatment steps of the harlequin staining procedure were necessary to obtain sister-chromatid differentiation (SCD) or replication banding. u.v. treatment alone resulted in dark Giemsa staining of both chromatids with SEM morphology of short compact protuberances and an overall flattened smooth appearance in both the unsubstituted and BrdUrd-substituted chromatids, a morphology essentially similar to that of untreated chromosomes. SSC alone on the other hand resulted in dark-staining chromatids with an SEM morphology of raised, loosely packed loops of fibres in both types of chromatids. u.v. and SSC treatment together resulted in differentiation, with dark-staining unifilarly (TB) chromatids in the LM corresponding to raised loosely packed loops in the SEM and pale bifilarly (BB) chromatids corresponding to the smooth compact flattened SEM appearance. Where the BrdUrd-substituted strand became the template (BT), or when the nascent strand TB contained high levels of BrdUrd substitution in replication banding, the chromatid stained pale and showed the compact smooth appearance in the SEM. The Giemsa staining ability and ultrastructural morphology of harlequin staining is discussed with respect to putative DNA loss and also in terms of preferential protein-protein, protein-DNA cross-linkage in BrdUrd-containing DNA. These changes are also compared with the ultrastructural morphology observed after other banding methods, where deterioration of protein and DNA-protein interaction resulting in aggregation of chromatin fibres appears to be the major mechanism.

Animals↗
PubMed1987

Sister chromatid induction by beta-irradiation from incorporated 3H-thymidine: a paradox explained.

Sister chromatid exchanges (SCE's) induced by [3H]thymidine (3HdT) of increasing specific activities incorporated over one cycle and 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) over the two following cycles were investigated in synchronised Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells. SCEs induced during the first cycle on a T.T template (SCE 1) show little increase with dose compared with those induced in the second cycle on a 3HT.T template (SCE 2) where the linear increase with dose reflects that seen after X irradiation. During the third cycle, SCEs 3.1 and 3.2 are induced on unlabelled T.B or labelled 3HT.B templates respectively. These templates are theoretically present in a 1:1 ratio after random segregation at second metaphase. Over practically the entire dose range however, the ratio 3.1/3.2, which decreased with dose, was greater than 1.0 and similar to the high values obtained by other workers. At increasing times after BrdUrd introduction, the ratio decreased from greater than 1.0 to less than 1.0. Measurements showed that the expected 50% level of labelled chromosomes at metaphase in the samples could vary between 42%-59%. Cells with greater than 50% labelled chromosomes were more delayed in the cell cycle due to the 3H-irradiation than those with less than 50%. Early fixations therefore favoured SCE 3.1 while late favoured SCE 3.2. SCEs due to BrdUrd in 3HT.B and T.B templates showed no synergistic interaction with irradiation-induced SCEs. When these BrdUrd-induced SCEs were removed from the totals then the 3H-induced SCE levels in 3HT.T, and 3HT.B templates (SCE 2 and 3.2) were similar and increased at a similar rate with dose. This was 2-3 times faster than in SCE 1 and 3.1 where the SCE levels due to irradiation were again similar but lower than for 2 and 3.2.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1987

The sizes of cellular deoxynucleoside 5'-triphosphate pools in relation to sensitivity to electron irradiation using sensitive and resistant cell lines.

The deoxynucleoside 5'-triphosphate (dNTP) pool sizes have been determined before and after electron (e-) irradiation in sets of radiation sensitive and resistant cell lines. In the L5178Y mouse lymphoma radiosensitive line (LS), the dTTP pool fell 50% following irradiation, whilst the three other dNTP pools remained unaltered. On the other hand, for the radioresistant line (AII) all four dNTP pools increased by 2-to 3-fold. The dNTP pools of the Chinese hamster radiosensitive (V79) line and radioresistant (V79/79) lines were unaltered by the radiation, but a difference in pool size was present before irradiation, with the pools of the V79 cells being approximately twice those of the V79/79 cells. Two out of the three ataxia telangiectasia cell lines studied show reduced dNTP pools when compared with those of normal human fibroblasts and these pools were also unaltered by the radiation. In the L5178Y and Chinese hamster cells the levels of enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of dNTPs have been determined. In general the higher the level of ribonucleoside diphosphate reductase (RDR) the larger the cellular pools. The observed levels of RDR could, in part, explain the observed results. Increasing the dTTP pool by the addition of deoxythymidine and deoxycytidine to the cell culture with the V79/79 cells reduced their sensitivity to the radiation. These results indicate a relationship between a cell's sensitivity to e- irradiation and the sizes of the cellular dNTP pools. However, the exact nature of any such relationship is unknown.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Molecular analysis of X-ray-induced mutants at the HPRT locus in V79 Chinese hamster cells.

Spontaneous and X-ray-induced mutants at the hypoxanthine phosphoribosyl transferase (HPRT) locus have been isolated from V79 Chinese hamster cells and characterized at the biochemical and cytogenetic levels. Fourteen spontaneous and 24 X-ray-induced clones were azaguanine and thioguanine resistant, did not grow in HAT medium (AZRTGRHATS) and failed to incorporate significant levels of [14C]hypoxyanthine. Cytogenetic analysis of two spontaneous and eight X-ray-induced mutants revealed no major X chromosome rearrangements. In two induced mutants, one of which was hypotetraploid (mode 35-39) with 2 X chromosomes, the short arm of the chromosome (Xp) was slightly shorter than normal. A third mutant was hyperdiploid (mode 22-23) compared with the parental clone (mode 21). When compared with wild-type clones, no other cytogenetic changes were evident in the remaining mutants. Analysis at the DNA level using a Chinese hamster HPRT cDNA probe showed major deletion of HPRT sequences in two and partial deletion in another two induced mutants. In two of the mutants with deletions of HPRT sequences there was a visible shortening of the Xp arm. In the other six mutants two spontaneous and four induced) no karyotypic changes or alterations in restriction fragment patterns were detected suggesting that they carry small deletions or point mutations at the HPRT locus.

Animals↗
PubMed1986

Delayed DNA maturation, a possible cause of the elevated sister-chromatid exchange in Bloom's syndrome.

Differences in behaviour between the 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU)-substituted template strands in Bloom's syndrome (BS) and normal human fibroblasts have been investigated in order to elucidate the mechanism responsible for the elevated baseline sister-chromatid exchange (SCE) frequency in BS. Alkaline sucrose gradient analysis of the normal and BrdU-substituted DNA strands showed the former to be of higher mol. wt. and of mature size while the latter were of lower molecular size, resulting from breaks introduced during the repair of the BrdU with no differences discernible between BS and normal cells. The rates of removal of BrdU were similar in BS and normal cells, which indicates that the increased SCE level in BS is not due to different rates of repair of the BrdU. The maturation of newly synthesized DNA on a normal template is delayed in BS cells compared with normal cells although it is complete at 18 h, the time it is acting as a template for DNA synthesis. In the presence of a BrdU-substituted template the maturation although further delayed is complete in normal cells by 12 h but in BS cells is not complete even by 30 h, when the newly synthesized strand, due to cell cycle delay produced by the incorporation of BrdU, becomes a template in the next round of DNA synthesis. It is suggested that a similar delay in maturation probably occurs when a new strand containing BrdU is synthesized on a normal template in BS cells. When these strands act as a template they will contain two types of breaks--those due to BrdU repair and those due to delayed maturation. The latter will be responsible for the elevated SCEs in BS cells as the DNA replication forks move through them in a manner similar to that previously reported. The possible implications of differential delays in cell proliferation in BrdU, rates of BrdU removal and extent of DNA maturation in this syndrome are discussed.

Bloom Syndrome↗
PubMed1986

Chinese hamster cells harbouring the Escherichia coli O6-alkylguanine alkyltransferase gene are less susceptible to sister chromatid exchange induction and chromosome damage by methylating agents.

Clones of Chinese hamster V79 cells harbouring the Escherichia coli O6-alkylguanine (O6-AG) alkylphosphotriester (AP) alkyltransferase (ATase) gene (clone 8) or a subclone of it that codes only for O6-AG ATase activity (clone SB) have been exposed to increasing doses of N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU) or methylmethanesulphonate (MMS) and the frequencies of induced sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) measured. In control (clone 2) cells, SCE induction was almost linearly proportional to dose of MNU or MMS and at the highest doses used (15 or 80 micrograms/ml) SCE frequencies were 6 or 8 times background levels, respectively. Slightly lower levels of MMS-induced SCEs were seen in clone 8 and clone SB cells whilst, in contrast, MNU-induced SCE levels in these two clones were drastically reduced being less than twice background levels at 15 micrograms/ml. After treatment with N-butyl-N-nitrosourea, SCE frequency was similar in all three clones. At higher doses, MNU treatment produced less chromatid aberrations and micronuclei in clone SB than in clone 2 cells. These results suggest that ATase-repairable damage is involved in the induction of SCE, chromosome aberrations and micronuclei in V79 cells.

Alkylating Agents↗
PubMed1985

SCE induction and harlequin staining in mycoplasma-contaminated Chinese hamster cells.

Chinese hamster V79 and CHO cells infected with Mycoplasma hyorhinis show elevated sister-chromatid exchange (SCE) levels but normal cell proliferation and levels of chromosomal aberrations when compared with uninfected cells. Harlequin staining patterns differ from those seen with uninfected cells at similar levels of bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd), indicating that BrdUrd is rapidly depleted from the medium by the mycoplasmal uridine phosphorylase and therefore becomes unavailable over the two cell cycles necessary for harlequin staining. Continuous treatment with the antibiotic minocycline restores the SCE level and harlequin staining to that seen in uncontaminated cells. The results suggest that mycoplasma infection should be suspected if harlequin staining patterns indicate a sudden decrease in incorporation of BrdUrd in cells grown in normal levels of BrdUrd.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

Strand breaks arising from the repair of the 5-bromodeoxyuridine-substituted template and methyl methanesulphonate-induced lesions can explain the formation of sister chromatid exchanges.

5-Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU)-induced sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) are mainly determined during replication on a BrdU-substituted template. The BrdU, once incorporated, is rapidly excised as uracil (U), and the gap is repaired with the incorporation of BrdU from the medium, which leads to further repair. During the second S period in BrdU medium, this process continues as the strand acts as template. Experiments suggest that 3-aminobenzamide (3AB) delays the ligation of the gaps formed after U excision, resulting in enhanced SCE levels during the second cycle of BrdU incorporation. When normal templates of G1 cells are treated before BrdU introduction with methyl methanesulphonate (MMS), 3AB in the first cycle doubles the MMS-induced SCEs but has no effect on them during the second cycle. When the BrdU-substituted template is treated with MMS in G1 of the second cycle, 3AB again doubles the SCEs due to MMS and also enhances the SCEs resulting from delays in ligation of the gaps following U excision in the BrdU-substituted template. The repair processes of MMS lesions that are sensitive to 3AB and lead to SCEs take place rapidly, while the repair process of late repairing lesions that lead to SCEs appear to be insensitive to 3AB. A model for SCE induction is proposed involving a single-strand break or gap as the initial requirement for SCE initiation at the replicating fork. Subsequent events represent natural stages in the repair process of a lesion, ensuring replication without loss of genetic information.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1984

Modulation of enzyme activity in azaguanine-resistant V79 cells selected by chronic drug exposure.

Exposure of V79 cells to azaguanine (7-21 microM for 2-7 weeks) had little effect on growth or plating efficiency but resulted in gradual acquisition of resistance to 8-azaguanine (AZ) and 6-thioguanine (TG) and loss of ability to grow in HAT. The rate of evolution of the resistant phenotype was dependent on the concentration and duration of exposure to AZ. The increase in proportion of resistant cells was paralleled by a rise in phosphatase activity (pH optimum 7.0-7.5) expressed by intact cells and this preceded the fall in HGPRT activity. Elevated phosphatase activity and a resistant phenotype were stably expressed in clones isolated and cultured in the absence of AZ. Hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (HGPRT) activity in cell extracts of three resistant clones ranged from 18 to 43% of wild-type levels but was unaltered with respect to substrate affinity and electrophoretic mobility. Mg2+-dependent activity dephosphorylated inosine 5'monophosphate (IMP), guanine 5'monophosphate (GMP), adenosine-5-monophosphate (AMP) and p-nitrophenylphosphate (PNPP) and was also elevated with respect to wild-type levels in resistant cell extracts. Purine nucleoside phosphorylase levels were similar in sensitive and resistant cell extracts. Cross-sensitivity studies with other purine analogues suggest that the elevated phosphatase activity does not contribute to the resistant phenotype. No karyotypic changes were observed in the resistant cell lines.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Cytogenetic changes during the early stages of liver carcinogenesis in Chinese hamster: an in vivo--in vitro comparison.

Cytogenetic changes were investigated during the early stages of hepatic adenocarcinoma development in Chinese hamsters injected with a single dose of dimethylnitrosamine (DMN). An in vivo-in vitro comparison was made from 7 to 35 weeks after injection. A partial hepatectomy was used to stimulate mitosis for in vivo analysis, and the excised liver, grown to the primary culture stage, was used for chromosome analysis in vitro. Aneuploidy, tetraploidy, and chromosome aberrations increased significantly in the hepatic cells of DMN-treated animals in vivo, with no significant change over the 7- to 35-week period. No differences, however, could be detected between the primary cultures of control and DMN-treated animals because of an inherent tendency for all cultures to develop aneuploid stem lines at an early stage in culture. A preferential involvement of chromosome #6 in the single trisomic state was demonstrated in vitro and to a minor extent in vivo. The relevance of increased aneuploidy in early carcinogenesis and the differences between the in vivo and in vitro results are discussed.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed1983

Differences in replicon behavior between X-irradiation-sensitive L5178Y mouse lymphoma cells and A-T fibroblasts using DNA fiber autoradiography.

Replicon behavior in radiosensitive Ataxia telangiectasia (A-T) fibroblasts and mouse lymphoma L5178Y (LS) cells was studied by DNA fiber autoradiography. LS cells, irradiated at 13 Gy, showed a similar reduction in rate of DNA chain growth and initiation of replicons as did resistant (LR) cells. A progressive increase in the intensity of [3H]TdR labeling of many replicons was observed after irradiation in the LS cells, but not in LR cells. This indicated a reduced or absent endogenous dTTP supply after irradiation in the LS cells, implicating a defect in nucleoside precursor production. Irradiated normal human and A-T cells did not show this effect. After 2 Gy, the frequency of initiation of replicons into synthesis was temporarily reduced in the normal human but not in the A-T cells. After 20 Gy, the rate of DNA chain growth was preferentially reduced in the normal human cells, but an increase was observed in the A-T cells. This increased rate could be explained in terms of a normal supply of complexes involved in chain elongation being distributed over a reduced number of initiated replicon clusters in the A-T cells.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Studies on ehrlich ascites tumour cells: DNA synthesis, and template activity of chromatin for DNA polymerase.

Chromatin obtained from Ehrlich ascites cells on different days after cell inoculation has been assayed for its template activity with added DNA polymerase I. We have found that the template activity is 2 times higher in 7-8 day cell chromatin than in 4-day chromatin. Studies with added polylysine indicate that this increase reflects an increase in initiation sites rather than in accessibility to the enzyme. We have measured the growth fraction, mitotic index and rate of DNA chain growth in the intact cells. The results show that there is a large decrease in growth fraction with age of tumour, the number of cells dropping out of cycle approximately doubling over the period studied. The overall rate of chain growth decreases in the later stages of growth but in a small proportion of cells there is an increase in rate with fewer replicons involved in DNA synthesis. We suggest that in the ascites cells there is a decrease in level of repair and replicative enzymes with age of tumour; this would account both for the increase in initiation sites in the chromatin DNA, for the decrease in number of cells in cycle and for the overall decreased rate of chain growth.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Fibre autoradiography of repair and replication in DNA from single cells: the effect of DNA synthesis inhibitors.

DNA fibre autoradiography, after incorporation of high specific activity 3H-thymidine and 3H-deoxycytidine, has been used to investigate repair in DNA fibres from single cells following UV, or methyl-methane sulphonate (MMS) treatment. Asynchronously growing human fibroblasts, leucocytes, and HeLa cells at different phases of the cell cycle have been investigated. Isotope incorporation in repair could be differentiated from that involved in replication by the distribution and density of silver grains along the DNA fibres. Grain distribution due to repair was continuous over long stretches of the fibres and was at a low density, occasionally interspersed with short slightly denser segments. Replication labelling on the other hand, was dense and usually in short tandem segments. Repair labelling was of a similar overall density in fibres from a single cell, but differed in intensity from cell to cell. In mutagen treated Go (leucocytes) or G1 (HeLa cells), repair labelling was not increased by the presence of the DNA inhibitors, hydroxyurea (HU) or 5-fluorodeoxyuridine (FUdR). Repair was not detectable in S cells however, without the use of these inhibitors to reduce endogenous nucleoside production. FUdR enhanced the repair labelling in S cells only slightly, while HU increased it beyond that observed in UV irradiated, HU treated, G1 cells. The intensity of repair labelling in fibres from mutagen treated S cells appears to be proportional to the degree of reduction of DNA chain elongation in replicons.

Autoradiography↗
PubMed1981

Methyl methane-sulphonate (MMS) induced SCEs are reduced by the BrdU used to visualise them.

SCE induction in synchronised CHO cells treated with methyl methane sulphonate (MMS) in G1 was studied over successive pairs of cell cycles by introducing bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) at consecutive G1 stages. When individual cell cycle SCE values were calculated from the data, anomalous results were obtained with ratios of 1.0 : 1.8 : 2.1 for the first three cycles but a negative value for the fourth cycle. Further studies using different BrdU concentrations showed that MMS induced SCEs were reduced by values exceeding 50% in DNA containing high levels of incorporated BrdU. This reduction was dose dependent and accounted for the anomalous results obtained over successive cycles. Lesions leading to chromatid exchanges were also reduced by the same mechanism. SCEs induced by UV irradiation were also decreased but those induced by the cross-linking agent nitrogen mustard (HN2) remained unaffected. The results indicate that not only are SCE lesions induced by MMS, UV or HN2 expressed independently of the "spontaneous" SCEs induced by BrdU but that SCE lesions are multiple in nature. Mechanisms by which SCE lesions could be repaired in BrdU containing DNA are discussed. SCE lesions in MMS treated cells arrested in G1 with arginine deprived medium (ADM) are repaired without the presence of BrdU in the DNA. An opposite effect is seen however in the control cells, where SCEs are increased with time spent in ADM arrest. These interactions between the effects of MMS, BrdU and ADM arrest are discussed.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Changes in surface morphology associated with ageing and carcinogen treatment of Chinese hamster lung cells.

The relationship between ageing and transformation has been investigated by a serial study of the changes in cell-surface morphology as normal and carcinogen-treated cells progressed in culture. A progressive increase in the density of cell surface microvilli occurred in association with the adoption of a more rounded profile and concomitant increase in the rate of cell detachment. These changes occurred earlier after carcinogen treatment, which appeared to indicate a carcinogen-induced acceleration of ageing. The alterations have also been described as characteristic of the transformed state. The observations suggest that the expression of in vitro transformation may be the result of continuous selection from a population with genetic instability and variable morphology.

9,10-Dimethyl-1,2-benzanthracene↗