Caffeine as a repair inhibitor and its action on the normal cell cycle in protozoa

Caffeine has been demonstrated to inhibit repair of ionizing radiation damage, UV, and chemical DNA damage. The mechanism of caffeine action is not completely established at the present time but it has been clearly demonstrated that excision repair is inhibited in prokaryotes. The levels of caffeine which inhibit DNA repair are well tolerated by unirradiated organisms but radiation might impose an extra stress which would cause the irradiated organism to die from the normal caffeine sensitive function. The authors have tested synchronized protozoans at various times in the growth cycle for caffeine sensitivity. They infer sensitivity by the measured disruption of the normal growth cycle induced by a pulse treatment with lethal levels of caffeine. Some parts (G1) of the cell cycle show little sensitivity while late cycle (late S) may be quite sensitive. The relationship of cyclic caffeine sensitivity to repair inhibition is not obvious