Relationship between Recovery of Cell Surface Charge and Colony-forming Ability Following Radiation Damage in Three Cell-lines

Summary

Alterations in the negative surface charge after x-irradiation were investigated by cell electrophoresis in three different radiosensitive cell-lines: Burkitt lymphoma cells P3HR-1 (extrapolation number (n) = 1, D₀ = 67 R), mouse mammary carcinoma cells FM3A (D₀ = 150 R, n = 2·5), and mouse melanoma cells B16-C2W (D₀ = 160 R n = 20). The electrophoretic mobility decreased with time after irradiation and reached a minimum 4 hours after exposure. The relationship between the decrease in mobility during 4 hours and the radiation dose was the same in three cell-lines and consisted of two straight lines. In Burkitt lymphoma cells, the decrease in mobility was irreversible, whereas the negative surface charge recovered after irradiation with 50 R in FM3A, and with doses up to 500 R in C2W. The surviving fractions (colony-forming ability) and the fractions of electrophoretically-recovered cells during 24 hours after exposure showed good correlation for five dose-points in C2W.