Effects of inhibition of intercellular communication on repair of damage induced by ionizing radiation

The authors have observed an inhibition of repair of damage induced by ionising radiation when B16 cells in culture were exposed to α-glycyrrhetinic acid (AGA) for 48 h. The compound does not appear to act as a ''classical'' radiosensitizer, as indicated by observations that up to 6 Gy the survival curves obtained when cells were plated out immediately after irradiation in the presence or absence of AGA were virtually superimposable. Indeed, it appeared that at 8 Gy the AGA acted to diminish the effect irradiation