Repair of sister-chromatid exchange-inducing lesions in mutagen-treated cultures of human whole blood and purified fresh or frozen lymphocytes

Repair of mutagen-induced lesions that result in sister-chromatid exchanges was evaluated in 10 normal individuals. The mutagens used were mitomycin C (MMC), 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide (4NQO), and N-methyl-N'nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG). Cultures of whole blood, freshly purified lymphocytes, or purified lymphocytes cryopreserved for 6 months were analyzed after the mutagen treatments. All 3 mutagens induced reparable damage as evaluated by comparison of sister-chromatid exchanges between cultures that were given time to repair induced damage before 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdUrd) was added to the culture medium with those where BrdUrd was added immediately after the administration of the mutagens (MMC or 4NQO) or at culture initiation (MNNG). Repair of mutagen-induced DNA damage was detected in all 3 culture types; thus cryopreservation did not appear to alter the capacity of lymphocytes to repair mutagen-induced lesions. Quantitative differences in apparent repair capabilities were observed among individuals. Variability also existed among the different culture types within an individual, suggesting that caution should be exercised in interpreting these apparent differences.