Effect of bleomycin and irradiation on G2 progression

The interaction of bleomycin and x-irradiation on the induction of G2 delay in Chinese hamster ovary cells was investigated utilizing the mitotic selection procedure for cell cycle analysis. Following the addition of BLM, the number of cells selected in mitosis remained at control level for a refractory period and then decreased. The location of the transition point, i.e., the age in G2 at which cells become refractory to a progression blockade, was concentration-dependent, ranging from the S/G2 boundary at low concentrations to the G2/M boundary at high concentrations. Depending upon the concentration of the drug used and the duration of exposure, the mitotic rate either decreased to zero or else leveled off at some intermediate value and then recovered to the control level. The duration of BLM-induced division delay was thus dependent upon the concentration used and the duration of exposure. When cells were treated with pulses of bleomycin (10-500 μg/ml) in addition to x-irradiation, the mitotic rate declined as with exposure to x-ray alone. However, the recovery from radiation-induced division delay and the subsequent reappearance of mitotic cells in the selection window was delayed until the cells had recovered from their BLM-induced division delay. This implies that, in contrast to the synergistic effects observed for cell lethality, BLM and radiation do not interact in the production of a progression blockade and the resultant division delay