Correlation between micronuclei induction and cell survival in V79 cells exposed to paclitaxel (taxol) in conjunction with radiation.

Exposure of V79 cells to different doses of gamma-irradiation resulted in a dose-dependent decline in their survival. The treatment of cells with paclitaxel before irradiation resulted in a further decline in the cell survival. Conversely, the micronuclei frequency increased with the increasing dose of radiation in both irradiated and paclitaxel + irradiated cultures at all the three post-irradiation time periods studied. However, no significant difference among the frequencies of micronuclei was found at 16, 22 and 28 h post-exposure. The trend for cell proliferation was similar to that of cell survival. The cell proliferation declined with increasing dose of radiation. The paclitaxel treatment further reduced cell proliferation compared to the irradiated control group. The dose response for all the parameters for both groups was linear quadratic. The biological response between micronuclei induction and cell survival was also determined. The cell survival and micronuclei formation were inversely related and the correlation between cell survival and micronuclei formation (biological response) was linear quadratic for both irradiated and paclitaxel + irradiated groups.