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.