Deoxyribonucleotide pools in mouse-fibroblast cell lines with altered ribonucleotide reductase.

Mutant cells lines of 3T6 mouse fibroblasts, resistant to thymidine and deoxyadenosine, have an altered allosteric regulation of the enzyme ribonucleotide reductase (Meuth, M. and Green, H., Cell, 3, 367, 1974). Compared to 3T6, these lines contain larger pools of deoxynucleoside triphosphates, in particular deoxycytidine triphosphate, but show a normal rate of DNA synthesis. Addition of thymidine or deoxyadenosine to 3T6 cells results in large accumulations of the corresponding triphosphates and a dramatic decrease in the dCTP pool, concomitant with inhibition of DNA synthesis. Addition of thymidine to the mutant cell lines also leads to an increase in the dTTP pool but does not result in a depletion of dCTP or inhibition of DNA synthesis. Addition of deoxyadenosine only leads to a small increase of the dATP pool. In general the change in the allosteric regulation of bibonucleotide reductase is reflected in the deoxynucleotide pools.