Effect of bleomycin on [3H]Thymidine 5'-Triphosphate incorporation into host liver and hepatoma nuclei.

The effect of bleomycin on [3H]thymidine 5'-triphosphate ([3H]TTP) incorporation into isolated sucrose nuclei from host liver and Morris hepatomas has been compared. Bleomycin stimulates [3H]TTP incorporation 13-fold in host liver and hepatoma 16 nuclei, 8-fold in hepatoma 7800 nuclei, and 3-fold in hepatoma 7777 nuclei. Differences in the nuclear membranes are not responsible for the different response of the nuclei. Nuclei, denuded of their membranes by Triton X-100 treatment, give similar results to sucrose nuclei. Analysis of DNA extracted from liver or hepatoma nuclei incubated with bleomycin indicates that bleomycin produces scissions in the nuclear DNA and that some repair synthesis takes place. Incubation of nuclei with 111indium-labeled bleomycin shows an equal binding capacity of liver and hepatoma nuclei for bleomycin. Bleomycin also stimulates incorporation of [3H]TTP in a system using chromatin or calf thymus DNA as primer. Host liver or hepatoma chromatin incubated with a DNA polymerase extracted from normal rat liver nuclei is stimulated approximately to the same extent by bleomycin. When DNA polymerase extracts from host liver and hepatoma nuclei are assayed with calf thymus DNA as primer, bleomycin has a greater stimulatory effect on [3H]TTP incorporation with host liver DNA polymerase than with hepatoma DNA polymerase in the system. We suggest that a defect in the repair system in hepatoma nuclei is responsible for the relatively lower response to bleomycin.