Characterization and radiation response of a heat-resistant variant of V79 cells.

A thermoresistant variant of the established cell line V79-S171-W1 was isolated after treatment with nitrosoguanidine and repeated heat treatments at 42.6 to 43 degrees C, and showed an enhanced ability to survive at 42.6, 43.5, and 44.5 degrees C. The rates of inactivation of the normal and heat-resistant lines differed by approximately a factor of 2 over this temperature range. This level of thermoresistance was stable for the first 80 doublings, but was lost by 120 doublings. This may have been due to a reversion to the normal V79 line since there was no continuous selection pressure and the thermoresistant variant, which was designated at HR7, had a longer average doubling time. Transient thermotolerance was induced in both the V79 and HR7 cells by a 10-min exposure to 44.5 degrees C. After 3 hr incubation at 37 degrees C, both cell lines had an identical sensitivity to further exposure to 44.5 degrees C. Thus the long-term thermoresistance of the HR7 cells may be due to a permanent induction of a low level of thermotolerance. The (ionizing) radiation survival curves and the ability to repair sublethal radiation damage were identical for the thermoresistant variant and the parent cell line.