Induction and repair of single-strand DNA breaks after X-irradiation of human fibroblasts deficient in glutathione.

Using the unwinding technique in weak alkali, the induction and repair of DNA single-strand breaks was determined after aerobic and anerobic X-irradiation of human fibroblasts, obtained from a patient suffering from 5-oxoprolinuria, and from a clinically healthy control. The metabolic disorder associated with 5-oxprolinuria is a deficiency in glutathione synthetase activity resulting in a greatly reduced glutathione content in the cells. A small dose-modifying effect of oxygen (o.e.r. = 1.1) was found for these cells in comparison to an o.e.r. of 2.5 for control cells with normal glutathione content. No significant difference was found between the repair capacity of cells with normal and deficient glutathione content, and repair was nearly completed within 60 min of anoxic irradiation in each case. In contrast, after aerobic irradiation of glutathione-deficient cells repaired less than 70 per cent of the breaks during the same period. When the glutathione-deficient cells were incubated with either dithiothreitol or mercaptopropionylglycine directly after aerobic irradiation, almost complete repair was obtained within 60 Min. The data are interpreted as indicating that the repair mechanism for oxically and anoxically induced single-strand breaks is qualitatively different, and requires glutathione in the former case.