Molecular mechanisms of alkylation sensitivity in Indian muntjac cell lines

The responses of two Indian muntjac cell lines to two monofunctional alkylating agents were investigated. An SV40-transformed line (SVM) had an increased sensitivity to cell killing when compared to the other, euploid line (DM) after exposure both to methyl nitrosourea (MNU) and to dimethylsulphate (DMS) and also exhibited higher frequencies of sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) following alkylation. The hypersensitivity of SVM to DMS correlates with the defective repair of single-strand breaks that results in the generation of long-lived breaks in the DNA following exposure, leading eventually to the formation of chromosome aberrations. In contrast no difference is seen in the formation of long-lived breaks in the DNA of SVM and DM after treatment with biologically relevant doses of MNU; in this case hypersensitivity may be due to the loss of O6-alkylguanine-DNA-alkyltransferase activity. The conclusion that the hypersensitivites of SVM to MNU and to DMS have different molecular bases is supported by transfection of SVM with plasmids containing the protein coding region of the Escherichia coli ada+ gene; subsequent expression within the cell corrects its hypersensitivity to the cytotoxic and SCE-inducing effects of MNU but has very little influence upon the lethality, SCE induction or the repair of long-lived DNA strand breaks after exposure to DMS.