Isolation and characterization of bleomycin-resistant clones of CHO cells

SUMMARYFive clones of Chinese hamster ovary cells with increased resistance to bleomycin have been isolated following ethylmethanesulphonate mutagenesis. Resistance was stable in three of the clones, but unstable in the other two. One of the stably resistant clones was cross resistant to unrelated drugs, and in contrast to the parental cells, its response to bleomycin was potentiated by tween 80. These two observations suggested a membrane alteration in the resistant clone. There was no significant difference in bleomycin-inactivating enzyme activity between the parental and resistant clones.