The Relationship of the Metabolic State of Deoxyribonucleic Acid during X-Irradiation to HeLa S3 Giant Cell Formation

Abstract

The probability of giant cell formation as a function of the position of the cell in the DNA metabolic cycle at time of X-irradiation has been examined by autoradiographically determining the retention of labeled cells in irradiated populations. The frequency of labeled giant cells in the population 1 to 5 weeks after irradiation is practically the same as at time zero, regardless of whether the great majority of the labeled cells are in DNA synthesis at the time of irradiation or in the phase before or after DNA synthesis. A tendency for cells in synthesis at the time of irradiation to be slightly more capable of forming giant cells indicate that these cells are somewhat less likely to undergo abortive mitotic action which leads to lytic death in these cultures.