Compartmentation of Deoxypyrimidine Nucleotides for Nuclear DNA Replication in S Phase Mammalian Cells

DNA synthesis in S phase Chinese hamster embryo fibroblast cells in the presence of exogenous 3H-dUrd shows incorporation of the labeled precursor with very little dilution by the large unlabeled intracellular precursor pools. Full mixing would predict a specific activity 10-fold less than that measured. This coupled with the finding that 80% of the radioactivity derived from the exogenous 3H-dUrd appears in the karyoplasts implies a compartmentation where 3H-dUMP and 3H-dTTP derived from exogenous 3H-dUrd do not mix freely with endogenous cytoplasmic pools.