The DNA Content of Some Mammalian Cells Measured by Flow Cytometry and its Influence on Radiation Sensitivity

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Abstract
The DNA content of nine mammalian cell lines was determined by flow cytometry. Using radiobiological data from this and other laboratories a correlation between DNA mass and 1/D0 for X-rays, α-particles, and heavy ions could be established when the quantities were plotted on a log-log scale. The slopes of the regression lines amounted to 0·65 (X-rays), 0·64 (α-particles) and 0·74 (heavy ions). A similar correlation was found between DNA content and mean inactivation dose. The rather uniform slopes close to 2/3 suggest that radiosensitivity may depend on the surface area of the sensitive target, (cell nucleus) indicating a possible non-uniform distribution of radiosensitive sites within the nucleus.