Studies of the UVC-sensitivity of non-tumorigenic and tumorigenic human cell hybrids (HeLa x skin fibroblasts)

The UVC-sensitivities of a non-tumorigenic and a tumorigenic human cell hybrid (HeLa x skin fibroblasts) are compared and contrasted. The tumorigenic cells differ from the non-tumorigenic cells in that they have lost one copy each of chromosomes 11 and 14. For exponentially growing cultures, the tumorigenic cells are considerably more resistant than the non-tumorigenic cells. For confluent cultures, the differential in photosensitivity is much less. Flow cytometric studies of cell cycle distributions of both exponentially growing and confluent cultures of these cells indicate that the differences in photosensitivity cannot be explained by differences in cell cycle distribution. Studies of the kinetics of potentially lethal damage repair (PLDR) in confluent cultures of both cell lines indicate little or no recovery over the first 6h followed by an increase in survival over the next 12-24h. These data are consistent with previously published observations in human skin fibroblasts where the kinetics of PLDR reflected the kinetics of thymine dimer loss. The data are not consistent with 6-4 photoproducts being a potentially lethal lesion since such damage is rapidly repaired in human cells. (author)