Effects of methylnitrosourea on visualization of acridine orange binding to DNA in mouse lymphoma L-1210 cells

The purpose of this study is to examine effects of methylnitrosourea (MNU) on electron microscopic visualization of acridine orange (AO) binding to DNA in mouse lymphoma L-1210 cells and to demonstrate alteration of the euchromatin/heterochromatin ratio by morphometry. [3H] uridine uptake into RNA molecule is inhibited and percentage of AO positive cells is decreased to approximately 20% of that of the untreated control cells by treatment of the lymphoma cells with MNU. When the MNU-treated cells are cultured in the presence of 3-amino-benzamide, a specific inhibitor of poly(ADP-ribose) synthetase, the depression in RNA synthesis is prevented, and percentage of AO positive cells as well as numbers of AO chromatin interaction products per single cell nucleus are also completely recovered as compared to those in the untreated cells. In the MNU-treated cells the decreased number of AO positive cells coincides with a reduced [3H] uridine uptake as well as with a lowered euchromatin/heterochromatin ratio. The results suggest that visualization of AO chromatin interaction products in the proliferating cells is related not only to RNA synthesis in the cells, but also to the euchromatin/heterochromatin ratio.