• 1 September 1986
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 6  (5) , 1171-1175
Abstract
Lymphocytes of standard human blood cultures were treated with bleomycin, aphidicolin and a combination of these two agents. A synergistic effect on chromosome damage was obvious when the two agents were used simultaneously. Various experiments showed that (a) Aphidicolin induces chromosome breakage only in cells in the S-phase; (b) Despite the quantitative differences in response to bleomycin among individuals, the frequency of chromatid breakages becomes high when the two agents are used together. The data suggest a differential DNA repair capacity among human subjects, since aphidicolin is known to inhibit DNA polymerase .alpha., which is necessary for DNA replication and DNA repair.