Effect of doxorubicin on wild-type and deoxyadenosine-resistant mouse leukemia L1210 cells

Wild-type (WT) mouse leukemia L1210 cells express steady-state levels of the mRNA and protein for p53. However, the p53 expressed by the wild-type cells is a mutant form of p53. A deoxyadenosine-resistant L1210 cell line (Y8) derived from the parental WT L1210 cells does not maintain constitutive levels of p53 mRNA or protein. Upon DNA damage, induced by doxorubicin, neither the WT nor the Y8 cells block in G0/G1; the cells block in G2/M. However, treatment of the Y8 cells with doxorubicin results in a much greater fraction of cells becoming apoptotic compared to the WT cells. Doxorubicin treatment resulted in the induction of p53 mRNA in the WT cells, but not the Y8 cells. WAF1, c-myc and Bax mRNAs were also induced by doxorubicin in the WT cells but not in the Y8 cells. The constitutive levels of WAF1 and Gadd45, unexpectedly seen in the p53-deficient Y8 cells, decreased following doxorubicin treatment. The comparison of the effects of DNA damage, as measured by mRNA levels, induced by X-irradiation or doxorubicin were found to vary between the WT and Y8 cells and for the particular mRNA studied. The effect of doxorubicin or X-irradiation on the cell cycle could be overridden in the WT cells by caffeine. Comparisons of DNA damage induced by doxorubicin or X-irradiation show that although the Y8 cells are more sensitive to these damaging agents than the WT cells, the effects on gene expressions are not identical.