title: Resistance to the antibiotic Zeocin by stable expression of the Sh ble gene does not fully suppress Zeocin-induced DNA cleavage in human cells.
abstract: Zeocin is a member of the bleomycin/phleomycin family of antibiotics, known to bind and cleave DNA. We established human SK-OV-3 cells that stably express the Zeocin resistance gene (Sh ble) using an ecdysone-inducible mammalian expression system. Surprisingly, our results demonstrated that Zeocin, added in the culture medium to maintain the expression of the ecdysone receptor, was responsible for the formation of DNA strand breaks in the recombinant cells. This suggests that the Zeocin is not completely detoxified and is still able to cleave DNA, despite the stable expression of the Sh ble gene in the recombinant clones. Our study indicates that one needs to be very cautious in the interpretation of data involving stable cell lines selected with Zeocin.
authors.affiliation: IPBS, UMR 5089 CNRS, 205 Route de Narbonne, 31077 Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Manel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oliva-Trastoy
authors.forename: Manel Oliva
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Trastoy
authors.forename: Martine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Defais
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Larminat
mesh_terms: D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001761:Bleomycin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D004249:DNA Damage; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics*; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D011987:Receptors, Steroid / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D000903:Antibiotics, Antineoplastic; D011987:Receptors, Steroid; C055469:ecdysone receptor; D001761:Bleomycin; C105427:Zeocin