Mimosine inflicts breaks in DNA in vivo

Comet assay was used to monitor the appearance and accumulation of DNA brea ks in mammalian cells treated with mimosine. The results showed that the ra te of break accumulation was the same in exponentially growing mouse erythr oleukemia cells and in quiescent human peripheral blood lymphocytes. It did not depend on the stage of the cell cycle and was not connected with the m echanism of DNA replication. Mimosine caused a slow-down of DNA replication , changes in the progression of the cells through the cell cycle and apopto sis. The conclusion was drawn that these effects of mimosine on DNA synthes is and the cell cycle were a result of the introduction of breaks into DNA.