Enhanced DNA excision repair in CCRF-CEM cells resistant to 1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea, quantitated using the single cell gel electrophoresis (Comet) assay.

Enhanced DNA repair activity is important for the development of cellular resistance to alkylating agents. Here, we quantitated the kinetics of DNA excision repairs initiated by 1,3-bis(2-chloroethyl)-1-nitrosourea (BCNU) in human leukemia CCRF-CEM cells. CEM cells that had been established resistant to BCNU (CEM-R) were evaluated in comparison with parental CEM cells (CEM-S). The excision repair kinetics were quantitated as the amount of DNA single strand breaks, which were generated from the incision/excision of the damaged DNA and were diminished by the rejoining of renewed DNA, using the single cell gel electrophoresis (Comet) assay. CEM-R cells were 10-fold more resistant to BCNU than CEM-S cells, and also showed cross-resistance to melphalan and cisplatin. In response to the treatment with BCNU, both CEM-S and CEM-R cells initiated an incision/excision reaction at the end of the incubation period, and completed the rejoining process within 4 hr. While CEM-S cells could not repair the damage induced by the high concentration of BCNU, CEM-R cells completed the repair process regardless of BCNU concentrations, suggesting enhanced excision repairs in CEM-R cells. The excision repair activity of CEM-R cells was increased with regard to the incision reaction and to the rate of the repair. Similar results were obtained using ultraviolet C, suggesting enhanced nucleotide excision repair in CEM-R cells. Thus, the enhanced DNA excision repairs were successfully quantitated in the resistant leukemic cell line using the Comet assay. The evaluation of the repair activity may predict the sensitivity of cancer cells to chemotherapy and provide a clue to overcome the resistance.