The Effect of Colcemid on the Repair of UVC-Induced DNA Damages in Chinese Hamster Ovary Cells

In our previous study, we found that colcemid, an inhibitor of mitotic spindle, promotes UVC-induced apoptosis in Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO-K1). A brief treatment of colcemid on cells after UV irradiation could synergistically reduce the cell proliferation. In this study, colcemid was found to hinder the restoration of genomic integrity following UV irradiation based on results of the nucleoid size analysis and the comet assay. On the other hand, according to an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, colcemid did not affect the excision of [6-4] photoproducts or cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers induced by UV irradiation. Thus, we hypothesize that colcemid probably affected the step(s) after the oligonucleotide excision i.e. gap-filling and ligation during nucleotide excision repair pathways. This idea is consistent with the observation that colcemid promoted the cell death induced by UV or cisplatin but not by X-ray. * Manuscript