Modification of x-ray-induced killing of HeLa S3 cells by inhibitors of DNA synthesis

After irradiation of HeLa S3 cells with 220 kv x-rays during G1, treatment with any of six inhibitors of DNA synthesis results in the progressive enhancement of cell killing (loss of colony-forming ability). Incubation with hydroxyurea, cytosine arabinoside, or hydroxylamine reduces survival five- to twentyfold in about 8 hr, following an x-ray dose of 400 rads. In contrast, treatment with 5-fluorodeoxyuridine, deoxyadenosine, or thymidine after this same dose reduces survival less than twofold during a comparable time interval. These differences occur at drug concentrations which reduce the rate of DNA synthesis by at least 95% (except in the case of hydroxylamine, which inhibits DNA synthesis to a smaller extent), but which kill no unirradiated cells during the treatment periods. When inhibition of DNA synthesis with either hydroxyurea or cytosine arabinoside is reversed by addition of appropriate precursors of DNA, the enhancement is abolished. With hydroxyurea, the rate of cell killing is dependent on the dose of x-rays previously administered, and the extent of enhancement seems to be related to the drug concentration. Imposition of a delay between irradiation and addition of hydroxyurea does not abolish the enhancement effect, but instead causes a proportional lag in its inception. Postirradiation treatment of S phase cells with either hydroxyurea or cytosine arabinoside also enhances killing. Furthermore, unlike early G1 cells, S cells (and, as shown previously, cells blocked at the G1-S transition) are sensitized by preirradiation exposure to hydroxyurea.