[Potential chromosome radiation damages in mammalian cells studied by chemical modification and premature condensation of the chromosomes].

Chinese hamster cells in culture, exposed to a dose of 2 Gy during the G2 phase of the cell cycle, were used to compare the results obtained from investigations of chromosome lesions after chemical modification by caffeine (10(-3) and 10(-2) M) and after premature condensation of chromosomes. The data obtained exhibited a similarity not only in the total yield of aberrations (which was thrice as high as that in metaphases with the same radiation dose), but also in the frequency of aberrations of different types. On the basis of the data obtained the potential radiation-induced chromosome lesions could be quantitated.