DNA synthesis inpermeable mouse ascites sarcoma cells.

DNA synthesis was studied in mouse ascites sarcoma cells using a permeable cell system. The sarcoma was induced by the Schmidt-Ruppin strain of Rous sarcoma virus. The cells were made permeable to nucleoside triphosphates by treatment with a hypotonic buffer containing 10 mM Tris Cl, 4 mM MgCl2, 1 mM EDTA, and 6 mM 2-mercaptoethanol (pH 8.0). DNA-synthetic activity in the permeable cells was highly dependent on four deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates, adenosine triphosphates, Mg2+, and a proper ionic environment. The activity was stimulated about 50% by the addition of an appropriate concentration of cytidine triphosphate, guanosine triphosphate, and uridine triphosphate in an assay mixture containing adenosine triphosphate and four deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates. DNA synthesis was confined to the nucleus and was sensitive to N-ethylmaleimide and DNase. The activity assayed by the permeable cell system correlated closely with the DNA-replicating activity assayed by [3H]deoxythymidine incorporation in intact cells. The close correlation between DNA synthesis in vitro and in vivo was further confirmed in cultured sarcoma cells synchronized with DNA synthesis. Analysis of the DNA synthesized in vitro by alkaline cesium sulfate density gradient centrifugation showed that over half the DNA synthesized in permeable cells was due to elongation of strands initiated in vivo. The permeable cell system appears to be a useful method for examining DNA replication of cells in suspensions.