Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

P E Bryant

Publications and source records attributed to P E Bryant.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1997

Enhancement of frequencies of restriction endonuclease-induced chromatid breaks by arabinoside adenine in normal human and ataxia telangiectasia cells.

The effect of ara A (9-beta-D-arabino furanosyladenine) a potent inhibitor of DNA synthesis on the frequencies of chromatid breaks induced by restriction endonucleases (RE) has been investigated in normal human and ataxia telangiectasia (AT) lymphoblastoid cells. PvuII, PstI and BamHI which cause blunt-ended, 3'-overhang and 5'-overhang cohesive-ended DNA double-strand breaks (dsb) respectively, were introduced into two AT cell lines (AT-KM and AT-PA) and a normal human (N-SW) cell line by the use of streptolysin-O poration. Controls were exposed to gamma-irradiation and similarly treated with or without ara A. Both AT cell lines were found to exhibit higher frequencies of chromatid breaks when treated with RE alone as compared with the normal cell line. The pattern of chromatid response to the three RE was shown to be similar in all three cell lines i.e. PvuII was most clastogenic while PstI and BamHI were both less effective at inducing chromosomal aberrations. Incubation of cells with ara A resulted in an increase in frequencies of chromatid breaks in PvuII and PstI treated cells but no increase was observed in BamHI treated cells. Normal cells showed most response to ara A following treatment with PvuII and PstI (enhancement ratios 4.63 and 3.75 respectively) while AT cells were affected by ara A to a lesser extent indicating a reduced expression of damage by ara A in these lines. Since ara A is a potent inhibitor of DNA synthesis, it was concluded from the elevated frequency of chromosomal aberrations in the presence of ara A that rejoining of RE-induced dsb in genomic DNA of human cells involves nucleotide insertion at dsb termini prior to ligation.

Antimetabolites↗
PubMed1997

DNA damage, repair and chromosomal damage.

An important question in radiobiology is the relationship between primary DNA damage and chromosomal aberrations. What determines the chromosomal aberration frequency, especially in radiosensitive cells? Much evidence points to the double-strand break (dsb) as the critical lesion, however there is controversy over whether it is the initial induction, repair or residual dsb which determine of the level of expression of chromosome damage. The picture is further complicated by the fact that chromosome damage can be measured at several levels e.g. at metaphase, as micronuclei and as prematurely condensed chromosomes. Differential frequencies of chromosome damage are measured in different cell lines. Repair and residual dsb may play a role in metaphase aberrations when cells are exposed in G1, but in irradiated G2 cells the differential frequencies do not depend on repair of dsb or on the residual level of dsb since a difference in the cell lines is observed at short intervals after irradiation, and in radiosensitive cell lines where there is no deficiency in the repair of dsb, e.g. ataxia telangiectasia cells. Thus, at least in G2 cells, a mechanism involving 'conversion' of dsb into chromatid breaks is proposed. There are a number of possible reasons for high conversion of dsb into chromatid breaks including altered chromatin structure, high chromosome condensation rates and covalent closure of chromosome ends.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Genomic instability in haematopoietic cells of F1 generation mice of irradiated male parents.

Preconceptional paternal irradiation has been implicated as a causal factor in childhood cancer and it has been suggested that this exposure to radiation may play a role in the occurrence of childhood leukaemia clusters in the vicinity of nuclear installations. Using a transgenic mouse system employing a lambda shuttle vector allowing mutations (in the lacI gene) to be analysed in vitro, we have investigated the possibility that preconceptional paternal irradiation can lead to such transgenerational transmission of genomic instability. We have examined the mutation frequencies in vector recovered from the bone-marrow cells of the F1 offspring of male parents exposed to doses of gamma-rays of 0.1-4 Gy. Our results show that as parental dose increases there is a trend towards higher mutation frequency in vector recovered from the DNA of bone-marrow of F1 progeny. At 4 Gy the frequency of mutations was increased by a factor of approximately two (control mutation frequency, 2.39 x 10(-5); mutation frequency in offspring of 4 Gy male group, 4.26 x 10(-5); P < 0.001). We were unable to confirm reports of spermatogenesis stage sensitivity. The 2-fold increase in mutation frequency was evident in offspring derived from stored spermatozoa (irradiated transgenic males mated with unirradiated non-transgenic females 1-7 days after irradiation). Our data indicates that there exists a route for transgenerational transmission of factor(s) leading to genomic instability in F1 progeny, resulting from preconceptional paternal irradiation.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

Instability of CHO chromosomes containing interstitial telomeric sequences originating from Chinese hamster chromosome 10.

We identified a marker chromosome in the CHO K1 cell line containing amplifications of interstitial telomeric sequences originating from Chinese hamster chromosome 10. Analysis of the progression of this chromosome in two subclones of CHO K1 revealed sensitivity of one amplicon to chromosome breakage, resulting in telomere function at the break site. In addition, two more marker chromosomes, both containing amplifications of interstitial telomeric sequences from chromosome 10, were formed during karyotypic evolution of the CHO K1 subclones. The presence of some of the marker chromosomes was also identified in the radiosensitive xrs 5 cell line derived from CHO K1. These results indicate instability of CHO K1 chromosomes containing interstitial telomeric sequences originating from Chinese hamster chromosome 10.

Animals↗
PubMed1995

Thrombocytopenia with absent radii (TAR) syndrome: a new increased cellular radiosensitivity syndrome.

A 70-year-old woman with congenital absence of both radii but preservation of the thumb developed a marked pancytopenia after two i.v. injections of 1 g of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) 1 week apart. She developed bloody diarrhoea after nine fractions of 2 Gy to parallel opposed 16 x 15 cm abdominal fields. This unusual response prompted an investigation of the radiosensitivity of the patient's cells by the sensitive G2 assay of transformed lymphocytes. The radiosensitivity of the patient's lymphoblastoid line appeared to be intermediate between that of normal individuals and an ataxia telangiectasia line. The clinical response and in vitro radiosensitivity testing suggest that the thrombocytopenia with absent radii (TAR) syndrome appears to be one of the inherited impaired DNA repair syndromes and is a very newly described radiation sensitivity syndrome. The development of three separate primary cancers in this patient (small bowel, ovary and bladder) suggests there is an increased risk of neoplasia in this condition.

Aged↗
PubMed1995

Absence of terminal telomeric FISH signals in chromosomes from immortal Chinese hamster cells.

In contrast to normal Chinese hamster cells, terminal telomeric signals were not detectable by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) in their immortalized counterparts, even when a sensitive cooled CCD camera was used for acquiring FISH images. Since the telomeres were detectable by FISH in immortal human cells, this suggests that hamster and human cells might have different mechanisms of telomere processing.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Chromatid aberration dose responses and dispersal in human G2 lymphocytes treated with bleomycin: comparison with equivalent X-irradiation reveals formation of a novel class of heavily damaged cells.

We describe the dose responses and dispersal of chromatid (ct) aberrations in human peripheral blood lymphocytes, treated with a 5-min pulse of bleomycin (BLM) in doses ranging from 0.78 to 200 micrograms/ml during the G2 phase of the cell cycle. Damage was assessed in cells fixed at the time of peak damage 1 h after treatment. Both ct breaks and the percentages of damaged cells rose according to log BLM dose above 6.3 micrograms/ml only. Below this dose all endpoints exhibited flat responses suggestive of thresholding. A dose of 100 micrograms/ml produced similar amounts and distribution of ct breakage per cell (B/c) as a previously studied X-ray dose of 0.8 Gy, permitting future direct cytogenetic comparisons between clastogens. Within the scorable range (0-29 B/c) the dispersal of ct breakage after BLM treatment resembled that after equivalent X-irradiation; but BLM treatment alone resulted in the formation of heavily damaged cells (HDC) defined as with > or = 30 B/c, representing a cytogenetic endpoint of DNA damage reminiscent of apoptosis. At the dose producing equivalent chromatid breakage, BLM produced 7.4 times fewer exchanges than X-rays in G2.

Bleomycin↗
PubMed1994

DNA double-strand break rejoining in xrs5 cells is more rapid in the G2 than in the G1 phase of the cell cycle.

The radiosensitive xrs5 mutant cell line of CHO K1 shows an overall deficiency in DNA double-strand break (dsb) rejoining. However, xrs5 paradoxically shows an apparently normal rate of disappearance of chromatid breaks with time, the kinetics of which is thought to reflect the underlying rejoining of dsb. Nevertheless the yield of chromatid breaks is elevated by four-fold in xrs5. A possible explanation of the paradox might be that xrs5 is proficient in rejoining dsb in the G2 phase of the cell cycle but converts a higher number of dsb into chromatid breaks. In order to test this we have measured the rejoining of dsb in partially synchronised G2 xrs5 cells and compared the kinetics with those of cells synchronised in the G1 phase. Synchronisation of cells was achieved in G2 by release of cells from an aphidicolin block, and in G1 by staurosporine block. Cell synchrony was monitored by cytofluorometry and showed typically a 67% synchronisation of G2 cells and a 91% synchronisation of G1 cells. Rejoining of dsb was measured using neutral filter elution at pH 9.6. G2 cells showed a two-component kinetic with t1/2 values of 9 min and 3.6 h for dsb rejoining. Corresponding t1/2 values for G1 cells were 15 min and approximately 8.8 h. The t1/2 value of 3.6 h found for dsb rejoining in G2 cells is similar to a previously published value for asynchronous parental CHO K1 cells of approximately 4 h. The kinetics of chromatid break rejoining was measured in both xrs5 and CHO K1 following a dose of 0.75 Gy. The kinetics were found to be similar (t1/2 = 2.4 h) in the two cell lines, as previously reported using an equiclastogenic dose.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

A component of DNA double-strand break repair is dependent on the spatial orientation of the lesions within the higher-order structures of chromatin.

By the use of a modified neutral filter elution procedure variations in the repair of DNA dsb have been observed between the ionizing radiation sensitive mutant xrs-5 and the parent cell line CHO-K1. Conventional neutral filter elution requires harsh lysis conditions to remove higher-order chromatin structures which interfere with elution of DNA containing dsb. By lysing cells with non-ionic detergent in the presence of 2 mol dm-3 salt, histone-depleted structures that retain the higher-order nuclear matrix organization, including chromatin loops, can be produced. Elution from these structures will only occur if two or more dsb lie within a single-looped domain delineated by points of attachment to the nuclear matrix. Repair experiments indicate that in CHO cells repair of dsb in loops containing multiple dsb are repaired with slow kinetics whilst dsb occurring in loops containing single dsb are repaired with fast kinetics. Xrs-5 cells are defective in the repair of multiply damaged loops. This work indicates that the spatial orientation of dsb in the higher-order structures of chromatin are a possible factor in the repair of these lesions.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Responses of radiosensitive repair-proficient cell lines to restriction endonucleases.

Radiosensitive mutant mammalian cell lines fall into two categories: (1) those exhibiting a deficiency in the rejoining of dsb, e.g. Chinese hamster xrs and XR1, and murine scid cells; and (2) those exhibiting apparently normal rejoining of bulk dsb, e.g. hamster irs mutants and cells from ataxia-telangiectasia individuals. Cells of both types also show hypersensitivity to restriction endonucleases when applied by cell poration techniques. These data are reviewed, and new data are presented for Pvu II treatment of the radiosensitive dsb repair-proficient Chinese hamster VC4 mutant, which has been reported to have normal cellular and chromosomal sensitivity to restriction endonucleases and neutrons. We find that VC4 is hypersensitive to blunt-ended dsb generated by PvuII. We conclude that the enhanced sensitivity of this and other repair-proficient mutants to radiation and restriction endonucleases results from a dsb processing defect leading to abnormal conversion of dsb into chromosomal aberrations.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Radiation-induced transformation of SV40-immortalized human thyroid epithelial cells by single and fractionated exposure to gamma-irradiation in vitro.

Radiation-induced transformation of a human thyroid epithelial cell line (HTori-3) has been investigated following exposure to single and fractionated doses of gamma-irradiation. The human epithelial cells were irradiated in vitro and following passaging, transplanted to the athymic nude mouse. Following a single exposure to gamma-irradiation in the range 0.5-4 Gy, 22 tumours were observed in 45 recipients and following three equal fractions in the range 0.5-4 Gy per fraction, 18 tumours were observed in 31 recipients. Tumours were undifferentiated carcinomas and were observed from 7 to 20 weeks after transplantation. They occurred after similar radiation doses to those received by the children in the Belarus region of Ukraine, who developed thyroid tumours. The number of tumours observed, in each group receiving cells irradiated with a single dose of gamma-irradiation in the range 0.5-4 Gy, was similar. Cell lines were established from some tumours and the tumorigenicity confirmed by retransplantation. These tumour cell lines were more radiosensitive than the human thyroid epithelial cell line they were derived from. This indicates that transformed cells were not being selected from a subpopulation within the parent cell line but that radiation-induced transformants were being induced de novo. The human origin of the tumours was established by karyotyping, immunocytochemical demonstration of human epithelial cytokeratins and p53 analysis. DNA fingerprinting confirmed that the tumours were derived from the original cell line. Human epithelial cells have proved difficult to transform by exposure to radiation. This human thyroid epithelial cell line can be transformed by single and fractionated doses of gamma-irradiation and promises to be a useful model for studying the mechanisms of radiation-induced transformation of human epithelial cells.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Enhanced chromosomal response of ataxia-telangiectasia cells to specific types of DNA double-strand breaks.

The chromosomal response of two ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T) lymphoblastoid cell lines (A-T-PA and A-T-KM) to restriction endonucleases (RE) is compared with that of a normal (N-SW) lymphoblastoid cell line. The RE used were PvuII (generating DNA double-strand breaks with blunt termini), BamHI (cohesive termini with 4 base, 5' overhangs) and PstI (cohesive termini with 4 base 3' overhangs). Chromatid aberrations were analysed in cells 5 h after treatment. Cells were porated using streptolysin O to allow entry of RE. Both A-T lines showed an enhanced frequency of chromatid breaks in G2 phase compared with normal cells in response to RE. The enhanced response of A-T cells was most marked in the case of PvuII treatment when the enhancement ratios were 2.5 and 4.2 for A-T-PA and A-T-KM respectively. However, the frequency of DNA double-strand breaks (dsb), measured by neutral filter elution, were considerably lower in A-T-PA cells than N-SW, due to a lower efficiency of poration. When A-T-PA cells were treated with streptolysin O at a higher concentration (0.3 Units/ml), a condition that apparently led to a similar level of poration in A-T-PA as in N-SW cells treated with 0.06 Units/ml as judged by the similar number of dsb induced in the two lines for a given PvuII concentration, the enhancement ratio for A-T-PA cells treated with PvuII increased from 2.5 to 5.8. BamHI and PstI were found to be less clastogenic in all three cell lines as found previously for Chinese hamster cells, although part of this effect may be due to a lower activity, particularly in the case of PstI. However, even at a 4-6-fold higher concentration, BamHI was still less clastogenic than PvuII. It is concluded that dsb with blunt termini are more clastogenic than those with cohesive termini. The results suggest that the chromosomal sensitivity of A-T cells may result from a defect causing a higher rate of conversion of dsb into chromatid aberrations.

Ataxia Telangiectasia↗
PubMed1993

Chromosome damage induced by nanomolar concentrations of bleomycin in porated mammalian cells.

We have examined chromosome damage caused by a wide range of bleomycin (BLM) concentrations in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO-K1) cells reversibly porated by the bacterial cytotoxin streptolysin-O (SLO). Chromosome damage was measured using the micronucleus cytokinesis block technique (employing cytochalasin-B). Treatment of exponentially growing cells with 0.045 IU/mL SLO for 5 min resulted in up to a thousand-fold and a million-fold increase in biological effectiveness, compared to treatment in the absence of SLO for 24 hr and 5 min, respectively. Increases in micronuclei of 4-5 times background level were observed after only 5 min exposure to the drug in the presence of SLO at doses as low as 100 pg/mL (approximately 70 pmol/L). These results indicate that the use of SLO may facilitate the treatment of cells with BLM for periods of time resembling acute exposure to ionizing radiations.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

G2 chromatid aberrations: kinetics and possible mechanisms.

Chromatid breaks and exchanges are induced by radiation in G2 mammalian cells. Breaks are at a maximum number at about 30 min after irradiation and decrease apparently exponentially with time between irradiation and sampling. Few breaks are observed immediately following exposure, probably as a result of selection of mitotic cells where chromosomes are condensed and there is consequently a lack of time for expression of damage. The change in frequency of breaks with time, from 30 min after radiation exposure and onwards, can be interpreted in two possible ways: either in terms of a repair process or in terms of a change in radiosensitivity through G2. However, our results with an inhibitor of repair of DNA double-strand breaks (ara A) and with "transient hypothermia" which extends the G2 phase, argue for an interpretation based on rejoining of chromatid breaks, possibly reflecting the repair of a subclass of dsb. Data from experiments with irradiated and restriction endonuclease treated radiosensitive mutant rodent lines indicate that enhanced levels of conversion of dsb into chromosomal aberrations may be largely independent of repair rates of bulk dsb. In CHO cells and in human lymphocytes exchanges initially increase rapidly with time and then remain at a constant frequency, supporting the notion of a uniform chromosomal radiosensitivity throughout most of G2 and providing further evidence that the mechanism for mis-joining broken chromatids (leading to exchanges) is different from that for rejoining of chromatoid breaks. Ratios of breaks to exchanges were found to vary in different cell lines and at different times during treatment with inhibitors or at altered temperatures, possibly (in different cell lines) indicating different levels of enzymes involved in misjoining, but suggesting that the mechanisms of chromosomal rejoining and misjoining are independent, at least to some degree.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Restriction-endonuclease-induced DNA double-strand breaks and chromosomal aberrations in mammalian cells.

Restriction endonucleases (RE) can be used to mimic and model the clastogenic effects of ionising radiation. With the development of improved techniques for cell poration: electroporation and recently streptolysin O (SLO), it has become possible more confidently to study the relationships between DNA double-strand breaks (dsb) of various types (e.g. blunt or cohesive-ended) and the frequencies of induced metaphase chromosomal aberrations or micronuclei in cytokinesis-blocked cells. Although RE-induced dsb do not mimic the chemical end-structure of radiation-induced dsb (i.e. the 'dirty' ends of radiation-induced dsb), it has become clear that cohesive-ended dsb, which are thought to be the major type of dsb induced by radiation, are much less clastogenic than blunt-ended dsb. It has also been possible, with the aid of electroporation or SLO to measure the kinetics of dsb in cells as a function of time after treatment. These experiments have shown that some RE (e.g. Pvu II) are extremely stable inside CHO cells and at high concentrations persist and induce dsb over a period of many hours following treatment. Cutting of DNA by RE is thought to be at specific recognition sequences (as in free DNA) although the frequencies of sites in native chromatin available to RE is not yet known. DNA condensation and methylation are both factors limiting the numbers of available cutting sites. Relatively little is known about the kinetics of incision or repair of RE-induced dsb in cells. Direct ligation may be a method used by cells to rejoin the bulk of RE-induced dsb, since inhibitors such as araA, araC and aphidicolin appear not prevent rejoining, although these inhibitors have been found to lead to enhanced frequencies of chromosomal aberrations. 3-Aminobenzimide, the poly-ADP ribose polymerase inhibitor is the only agent that has so far been shown to inhibit rejoining of RE-induced dsb. Data from the radiosensitive xrs5 cell line, where chromosomal aberration frequencies are higher after RE treatments than in their normal parental CHO line, indicates that the xrs dsb repair pathway is involved in the repair of these dsb. We found that cells treated simultaneous with Pvu II and T4 ligase yielded lower levels of chromosomal damage than in the WT parental line indicating that Pvu II induced dsb retain their ability to be blunt-end ligated inside the cell.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Radiosensitive Chinese hamster irs2 cells show enhanced chromosomal sensitivity to ionizing radiation and restriction endonuclease induced blunt-ended double-strand breaks.

The Chinese hamster irs2 cell line shows cellular hypersensitivity to ionizing radiation although the induction and repair of double-strand breaks (dsb) in bulk DNA is normal. Here we report that irs2 shows chromosomal hypersensitivity to ionizing radiation and the restriction endonuclease PvuII. The ratio of induced chromosomal aberrations in irs2 versus V79 was similar to that for survival (factor of between 2 and 4). PvuII was administered during cell poration with the bacterial toxin streptolysin O. We also report that when streptolysin O porated irs2 and V79 cells were treated with PvuII, and dsb assayed by neutral filter elution, equivalent numbers of dsb were induced in the two lines as a function of time following treatment. Our data show that irs2 has a DNA damage processing defect that leads to enhanced conversion of blunt-ended dsb into visible chromosomal damage.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Response of ataxia telangiectasia cells to restriction endonuclease induced DNA double-strand breaks: I. Cytogenetic characterization.

Ataxia telangiectasia (AT) and normal human lymphoblastoid cell lines have been treated with either X-rays or the restriction endonucleases PvuII and BamHI using streptolysin-O poration, and the frequencies of micronuclei or chromosomal aberrations measured. We report that AT cells (AT-PA) are hypersensitive to the restriction endonucleases PvuII and BamHI, inducing DNA double-strand breaks (dsb) with either blunt or cohesive termini, respectively. Our data indicates that AT-PA cells have a dsb processing defect that leads to a higher rate of conversion of dsb into chromosomal aberrations than in normal cells. AT-PA cells showed up to a 5-fold enhanced sensitivity to PvuII over the normal (N-SW) line, a result of an increase in frequencies of chromatid aberrations. Chromosome-type aberrations appeared not to be increased in AT-PA cells over those induced in the normal N-SW line. Particularly striking was the appearance in AT-PA of high frequencies of chromatid aberrations at the 24 h sampling time. BamHI also caused enhanced aberration frequencies in AT-PA cells although the cohesive-ended dsb caused by BamHI still appeared to be less effective in causing chromosomal aberrations than the blunt-ended dsb caused by PvuII in both AT-PA and N-SW, as we have previously reported for Chinese hamster cells. The enhanced effectiveness of cohesive-ended dsb in AT-PA cells over normal cells may be a result of altered processing of dsb by AT-PA cells or may be caused by conversion of some cohesive-ended dsb into blunt-ended dsb by exonuclease digestion before ligation can take place.

Ataxia Telangiectasia↗