Gene amplification in fibroblasts from ataxia telangiectasia (AT) patients and in X-ray hypersensitive AT-like Chinese hamster mutants

In search of functions involved in the regulation of gene amplification, and given the relevance of chromosome breakage in initiating the process, we analyzed the gene amplification ability of cells hypersensitive to inducers of DNA double-strand breaks and defective in cell cycle control: two human fibroblast strains derived from patients affected by ataxia telangiectasia (AT) and two hamster mutant cell lines belonging to complementation group XRCC8 of the rodent X-ray-sensitive mutants. These mutants are considered hamster models of AT cells. To measure gene amplification, the frequency and the rate of occurrence of N-(phosphonacetyl)-l-aspartate resistant cells were determined. In both …