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Biomedical subjects

W K Sinclair

Publications and source records attributed to W K Sinclair.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Modesl of growth in mammalian cells.

The increase of cell volume as a function of time was studied throughout the generation cycle in synchronous cultures of Chinese hamster cells using a Coulter aperture and a multichannel analyzer calibrated against known cell volumes. The experimental results were compared to a mathematical model of cell volume increase which considered the effect of the distribution of individual cell generation times on the progress of the population. Several modes of volume increase, including linear and exponential, were considered. The mean volume vs. time curve was rounded at the ends of the cycle even when linear growth was assumed. The experimental results show that cell volume increased in a smooth fashion as a function of time, with no discontinuities in rate detectable at periods when cells may have been undergoing metabolic shifts as, for example, through the phases associated with DNA synthesis, G(1), S, G(2). A statistical test on the comparison of the modal cell volume vs. time data to the predictions of linear and exponential growth models accepted both hypotheses within the resolution of these experiments. However, exponential growth was favored over linear growth in one cell line. Volume dispersion was almost constant with time in both sublines which is also consistent with exponential growth. Limitations of the electronic technique of volume measurement and indications for future experiments are discussed.

Bacteriological Techniques↗

Sensitivity of synchronized Chinese hamster cells to ultraviolet light.

The age response for lethality of Chinese hamster cells to ultraviolet light shows that they are resistant in G(1), sensitive as they move into and through the S phase and resistant again in G(2) and mitosis. Survival curves determined at different times in the cycle reveal that mitotic cells are the most resistant fraction, much more resistant than S cells, and more resistant than either G(1) or G(2) cells. The extent to which the age response is ilfluenced by nucleic acid and protein synthesis was investigated by using inhibitors of these processes. In the presence of inhibitors of DNA or protein synthesis added to G(1) cells before exposure, cell survival neither declines to the minimum survival of S cells nor rises subsequently to the resistance of G(2) cells. If, before exposure, DNA synthesis is arrested in the middle of S, when survival is at a minimum, the subsequent rise in survival during G(2) is not prevented. However when cycloheximide is added before exposure, during the middle of S, this rise is prevented. When actinomycin D, an inhibitor of RNA synthesis is added prior to exposure the age response is affected only slightly. Postirradiation treatment of G(1) and mid-S cells with inhibitors of DNA or protein synthesis maintains survival at a level characteristic of the age of the cells.

Aging↗

Cysteamine: differential x-ray protective effect on Chinese hamster cells during the cell cycle.

Cysteamine present during x-irradiation protects synchronized Chinese hamster cells in culture against lethal damage at all stages of the cell cycle. The effect is greatest for cells irradiated at sensitive stages such as G(1) and least for resistant cells; for example, late S (dose-modifying factors 4.2 and 2.7, respectively). The effect of 50 millimolar cysteamine is to render almost invariant the normally variant x-ray age response for lethality. This suggests that there are two components of x-ray damage, only one of which is age dependent, and it is against this component that cysteamine protects the cell. Cystamine, however, has no protective effect upon these cells at any stage of the cell cycle.

Animals↗