0000000001020198
AUTHOR
Ilka Preuss
O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase activity in breast and brain tumors.
The DNA repair protein O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) is a main determinant of resistance of tumor cells to the cytostatic activity of chemotherapeutic alkylating agents (methylating and chloroethylating nitrosoureas) and is effective in protecting normal cells against genotoxic and carcinogenic effects resulting from DNA alkylation. Therefore, the level of expression of MGMT is significant for the response of both the tumor and the non-target tissue following application of nitrosoureas in tumor therapy. To determine the expression of MGMT in tumor tissue, we have assayed MGMT activity in 68 breast carcinomas and 38 brain tumors. There was a wide variation of MGMT expression…
Protective effect of O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) on the cytotoxic and recombinogenic activity of different antineoplastic drugs
The DNA repair protein O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) removes alkyl groups from the O6 position of guanine in DNA and thus may protect cells against genotoxic effects of agents inducing this lesion. To analyze quantitatively the level of protection mediated by MGMT against antineoplastic drugs, we determined the cytotoxic and recombinogenic (sister-chromatid exchange inducing) effects of various chemotherapeutic agents in a pair of isogenic Chinese hamster cell lines deficient and proficient for MGMT, generated upon transfection with human MGMT cDNA. Furthermore, we compared the responses of the human cell lines HeLa MR (MGMT deficient) and HeLa S3 (MGMT proficient) to the va…