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DNA Degradation in Chinese Hamster Ovary Cells after Exposure to Hyperthermia¹

Department of Radiology, University of Utah Medical Center, Salt Lake City, Utah 84132

Chinese hamster ovary cells grown in suspension showed a progressive reduction in the size of their nuclear DNA to 50 to 60S fragments after hyperthermia (43–48°). This DNA degradation was not a homogeneous response but was observed only in cells incapable of attaching to a substratum after acute heating. The DNA degradation was associated with the inability of cells to exclude the vital stain, trypan blue. The degradation process appeared to be a result of nucleolytic enzyme digestion which accompanies cell necrosis. A similar phenomenon was observed in heated monolayer cells but only after significantly greater time-temperature exposures. Our results show that cellular subpopulations can be separated after hyperthermia and that these subpopulations are biochemically distinct and characterized by different viability.

¹ This investigation was supported by USPHS Grants CA-25957, CA-27817, and CA-29578 awarded by the National Cancer Institute, Department of Health and Human Services.

² To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at Department of Radiology, University of Utah Medical Center, Salt Lake City, Utah 84132.

³ Present address: Department of Medicine, Section of Hematology/Oncology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4031 W. Markham, Little Rock, Ark. 72201.

Received 11/ 2/81. Accepted 7/26/82.

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