Gene mutation, quantitative mutagenesis, and mutagen screening in mammalian cells: study with the CHO/HGPRT system

We have employed CHO cells to develop and define a set of stringent conditions for studying mutation induction to TG resistance. Several lines of evidence support the CHO/HGPRT system as a specific-locus mutational assay. The system permits quantification of mutation at the HGPRT locus induced by various physical and chemical mutagens. The quantitative nature of the system provides a basis for the study of structure-function relationships of various classes of chemical mutagens. The intra- and interlaboratory reproducibility of this system suggests its potential for screening environmental agents for mutagenic activity

Quantitative and molecular analyses of mutation in a pSV2gpt transformed CHO cell line

Following NDA-mediated gene transfer we have isolated a cell line useful for studying gene mutation at the molecular level. This line, AS52, derived from a hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (HGPRT) deficient Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line, carries a single copy of the E. coli xanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (XGPRT) gene (gpt) and exhibits a spontaneous mutant frequency of 20 TG/sup r/ mutants/10/sup 6/ clonable cells. As with HGPRT/sup -/ mutants, XGPRT/sup -/ mutants can be selected in 6-thioguanine. AS52 (XGPRT/sup +/) and wild type CHO (HGPRT/sup +/) cell exhibit almost identical cytotoxic responses to various agents. We observed significant differences in mutation induction by UV light and ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS). Ratios of XGPRT/sup -/ to HGPRT/sup -/ mutants induced per unit dose (J/m/sup 2/ for UV light and ..mu..g/ml for EMS) are 1.4 and 0.70, respectively. Preliminary Southern blot hybridization analyses has been performed on 30 XGPRT/sup -/ AS52 mutants. A majority of spontaneous mutants have deletions ranging in size from 1 to 4 kilobases (9/19) to complete loss of gpt sequences (4/19); the remainder have no detectable (5/19) or only minor (1/19) alterations. 5/5 UV-induced and 5/6 EMS-induced mutants do not show a detectable change. Similar analyses are underway for mutations induced by x-irradiation and ICR 191 treatment