Control of DNA Repair Linked to Neuroblastoma Differentiation

Abstract

Mouse neuroblastoma cells, which can be induced to undergo reversible differentiation in culture, have been used as a model to investigate the effects of ultra-violet (U.V.) radiation on terminally-differentiated nerve cells. Differentiated neuroblastoma cells were found to be extremely sensitive to U.V.-radiation when compared with proliferating cells from the same clone. However, normal resistance was regained if the differentiated cells were allowed to proceed to the next G1 phase of the cell-cycle before irradiation. Neuroblastoma cells in the differentiated mode are capable of carrying out some excision repair of DNA damage, but they appear to lack a repair mechanism present in proliferating cells.