Cellular regulation of poly ADP-ribosylation of proteins: II. Augmentation of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase in SV40 3T3 cells following methotrexate-induced G1/S inhibition of cell cycle progression

SV40-3T3 cells were exposed in monolayer cultures to 5 × 10 −7 M methotrexate (MTX), that inhibited thymidylate synthetase, arrested cell growth without cell killing in 24 h and did not induce single- (ss) or double-strand (ds) breaks in DNA. Following 24, up to 72 h, the poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase content of attached cells was induced by 5 × 10 −7 M MTX and the augmentation of the enzyme increased with the time of exposure to the drug. Inhibition of protein or RNA synthesis abolished augmentation of enzymatic activity; so too did the initiation of maximal cell growth by thymidine + hypoxanthine, by-passing the inhibitory site of MTX. Isolation of the ADP-ribosylated enzyme protein by gel electrophoresis identified poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase protein as the molecule that was induced by 5 × 10 −7 M MTX. Under identical conditions, the poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase induction in 3T3 cells could not be demonstrated. A possible cell-cycle-dependent biosynthesis of the enzyme protein is proposed in SV40 3T3 cells.