Differential sensitivity of muntjac lymphocyte chromosomes to mitomycin C, bromodeoxyuridine and hydroxylamine at different cell-cycle stages.

Quantitative and qualitative analyses were made of aberrations induced by 3 hitherto well-known mutagens, mitomycin C (MC), 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BUdR and hydroxylamine hydrochloride (HA), in muntjac chromosomes, during different stages of the cell cycle. The sensitivity to MC was increased in G1, reached its maximum in early S and was considerably decreased in late S and G2 stage treated cells. BUdR induced maximal aberrations when given during the synthetic phase and the cells in G1 and G2 were least affected. The sensitivity of the cells to HA in terms of induced chromosomal aberrations increased as they moved through the cell cycle, i.e. more damage was observed in cells treated in late S and G2 stage than in those treated at G1 and early S stages. While there were defined patterns of cell-cycle stage-dependent sensitivity for all 3 chemicals, the chromosomal sites being preferentially affected by each were found to be specific and invariant at different stages. Thus, it is presumed that the functional state of such "preferred sites" at one or other stage of the cell cycle is the factor responsible for the stage-dependent sensitivity of a cell towards these chemicals.