Response to ionising radiation in Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Response to DNA-damaging agents in cultured cells from patients with X-linked duchenne muscular dystrophy phenotype: male DMD, female DMD, possible carriers

Using blood cultures the response to gamma (γ) radiation was examined in a male DMD and his mother, in a female DMD and her mother and in a normal control. In a series of experiments chromosome aberrations were determined after 3 separate γ-irradiation dose levels: 0, 150, 300 rads. The DMD patients showed a response to ionising radiations different from control, in fact the percentage of aberrations was lower than the control. In this preliminary study a slight difference between normal and possible carriers was also found.

Tissue culture studies of muscle disorders: Part 1. Techniques, cell growth, morphology, cell surface

Tissue culture has been used extensively in studies of human inherited disorders, and its application in the field of the neuromuscular disorders has increased rapidly in recent years. This review, covering the period 1977 to 1984, deals with tissue culture studies of both human and animal muscle disorders, although Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) figures prominently because of the overwhelming interest in that disorder. The review is in two parts. In the first part, I discuss technical innovations in the field, the morphology and growth of cells, and a variety of studies related to the cell surface. Important findings in relation to DMD include reports of abnormal growth rates and reduced lifespan of DMD cells, hypersensitivity to DNA-damaging agents, abnormal cell-to-cell and cell-to-substratum adhesion, and a more "fluid" cell membrane. However, these findings are controversial or have so far been reported only by single laboratories.

A sensitive assay for detecting hypersensitivity to ionizing radiation in lymphoblastoid lines from patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and primary neuronal degenerations

Hypersensitivity to the lethal effects of DNA-damaging agents is usually demonstrated using the classical colony-forming ability assay with cultured fibroblast lines. Based on the ability of viable cells in lymphoblastoid lines (Epstein-Barr virus-transformed B lymphocytes) to exclude the vital dye trypan blue, we have developed a more rapid survival assay which has been useful in detecting hypersensitivity to ionizing radiation in certain diseases characterized by primary degeneration of excitable tissue. We now present a complete description of this post-X-ray survival assay. We also demonstrate the suitability of both our assay and our method of data analysis for detecting hypersensitivity to ionizing radiation. This demonstration is based on a detailed analysis of assay results with lymphoblastoid lines from 28 normal donors, 3 ataxia telangiectasia (AT) patients, 2 obligate AT heterozygotes, 7 patients with diseases characterized by cellular hypersensitivity to ultraviolet radiation (UV), and 10 Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients.