Characteristics of infection by RSV. I. Non-requirement for the S phase of cellular DNA synthesis

Possible effect of the cell synchronization method on the pattern of 5-bromodeoxyuridine incorporation into early synthesized DNA

Synchronously and asynchronously growing chick embryo fibroblasts have been used to study the pattern of 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation into DNA. In the synchronous cell system, the density of unifilarly substituted DNA is about 0.010 g/ml higher during first half of S phase than during second half of S phase. The density of unifilarly substituted DNA isolated from asynchronously growing cells is similar to that of DNA synthesized during the second half of S phase of synchronously growing cells for a given concentration of analogue in culture medium. Reassociation kinetics experiments have shown the oversubstitution to occur at the level of early synthesized repeated and/or intermediate DNA sequences. It is then assumed that the oversubstitution is due to some metabolic changes caused by the synchronization procedure itself. As BrdU incorporation into early replicating DNA is known to induce alterations of the cell metabolism, the implication of this phenomenon is discussed at the level of the inhibition of transformation which takes place when chick embryo fibroblasts are infected with Rous sarcoma virus during G1 and subsequently treated with BrdU during early S phase.

Study of pp60v-src protein kinase activity in synchronized chicken embryo fibroblasts infected with Rous sarcoma virus

Chicken embryo fibroblast (CEF) cultures, synchronized by the addition of serum to stationary cells, were exposed to Schmidt-Ruppin strain of Rous Sarcoma Virus (SR-RSV) and the appearance of pp60v-src protein kinase activity was examined through the cell cycle. In cells infected either at the beginning or at the end of G1, the onset of pp60v-src protein kinase activity was coincidental, closely following mitosis, with a delay between the infection of cells with SR-RSV and the appearance of protein kinase activity of about 20 and 16 h, respectively. In cells infected during the S phase this delay was 16 h, as observed for late G1 cells. These experiments show that the activity of pp60v-src protein kinase, which cannot be detected before the first mitosis following infection does not depend on G1. The aphidicolin prevented protein kinase activity if added before or at the beginning of S phase, but not if added later, which is presumably related to the inhibition of S phase, required for provirus integration. The use of colcemid, which suppresses cell division, did not inhibit but delayed the appearance of protein kinase activity. These results show that the synthesis of an active oncogene product, such as pp60v-src protein kinase, depends on both S phase and mitosis.

Incorporation of 5-bromodeoxyuridine in the total and ribosomal DNA of synchronously dividing chick embryo fibroblasts

The pattern of 5-bromodeoxyuridine incorporation into ribosomal DNA is quantitatively different from that for total DNA. It is concluded that 5-bromodeoxyuridine incorporation along the DNA chain is not a random process.

Probable synchronous replication of mitochondrial DNA in cultures of chick embryo fibroblasts

Cultures of chick embryo fibroblasts were synchronized using a procedure previously described. The profile of incorporation of tritiated thymidine showed a main peak of nuclear DNA replication followed by a small peak between 18 and 24 hr after induction of the cell division, and representing 10 to 25% of the main peak. To identify this small peak, cells were treated with ethidium bromide(EB) chloramphenicol (CAP) or 9-B-D arabinofuranosyl adenine (Ara-A). When EB (1 mug ml-1) and CAP(25mug ml-1) were added at time of induction of mitosis (T0) or 14 hr later (T14) the small peak was suppressed whereas the main peak was not decreased. On the contrary, only the main peak was suppressed when Ara-A was added at T0 or T14. These results suggest that the peak might correspond to the synchronous replication of the mitochondrial DNA during the G2 and M phases of the cell division cycle.