Thioguanine resistance, ouabain resistance and sister chromatid exchanges in V79/AP4 Chinese hamster cells treated with potassium dichromate.

The biological activity of potassium dichromate (K2Cr2O7) was assayed in V79/AP4 Chinese hamster cells by measuring two mutational end points, thioguanine (TG) resistance and ouabain (OUA) resistance, and two non-mutational end points, cytotoxicity and sister chromatid exchanges (SCE). By exposing the cells for 1 h to the chemical, all biological end points examined were affected by the treatment in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover the combined use of the two selective systems indicated that chromium induces base-pair substitutions in mammalian cells in culture.