Journal of Cell Science, Vol 18, Issue 3 455-490, Copyright © 1975 by Company of Biologists

JOURNAL ARTICLES

The induction of DNA synthesis in the chick red cell nucleus in heterokaryons during the first cell cycle after fusion with HeLa cells

RT Johnson and AM Mullinger

Induction of DNA synthesis in embryonic chick red cells has been examined during the first and second cell cycles after fusion with HeLa cells synchronized in different parts of G1 and S-phase. The data indicate that: (i) the younger the embryonic blood the more rapidly the red cells are induced into DNA synthesis; (ii) the greater the ratio of HeLa to chick nuclei in the heterokaryon, the more rapidly the induction occurs; (iii) DNA synthesis in the chick nucleus can continue after the HeLa nucleus has left S-phase and entered either G2 or mitosis; (iv) the induction potential of late S-phase HeLa is somewhat lower than that of early or mid S-phase cells; (v) less than 10% of the chick DNA is replicated during the first cycle after fusion and only a small proportion (15%) of the chick nuclei approach the 4C value of DNA during the second cycle after fusion; (vi) the newly synthesized DNA is associated either with the condensed regions of the nucleus or with the boundaries between condensed and non-condensed regions; (vii) the chick chromosomes at the first and second mitosis after fusion are in the form of PCC prematurely condensed chromosomes); they are never fully replicated and are often fragmentary; (viii) DNA synthesis in the chick nuclei is accompanied by an influx of protein (both G1 and S-phase protein) from the HeLa component of the heterokaryon.