Effects of X-irradiation and sodium butyrate on cell-cycle traverse on normal and radiosensitive lymphoblastoid cells.

We have used a multi-parameter flow-cytometric technique to analyse changes in cell-cycle phase distribution (early and late G1, S and G2+M phases) for normal and X-ray-sensitive (ataxia-telangiectasia, A-T) lymphoblastoid cells exposed to X-irradiation and sodium butyrate (either alone or in combination). Sodium butyrate, an inhibitor of histone deacetylase, is a useful pharmacological tool for determining the proposed role of a histone acetylation-based chromatin surveillance system in controlling cell-cycle responses to DNA damage. We report that X-irradiated A-T cells (acute doses up to 1.5 Gy) demonstrate deficiencies in the capacity to traverse G1 and G2+M phases, although we can find no evidence of the specific involvement of a sodium butyrate-sensitive process in normal cells or abnormalities in the responses of A-T cells to the drug. We conclude that abnormal cellular control of G1 transition in A-T may be the basis of disturbed cellular differentiation in vivo, particularly in non-proliferating tissues under conditions of accumulated environmental or spontaneous DNA damage.