Analysis of intracellular ribonucleotide pools in a drug‐treated human cancer cell line using capillary zone electrophoresis

Capillary zone electrophoresis was used to separate and identify intracellular ribonucleotides and nucleotide analogues from ribavirin‐ and guanine‐treated HeLa cells, a human cervical carcinoma cell line. Nine ribonucleotides in HeLa cell extracts were identified and quantitated. In cell extracts, the average ATP/ADP ratio was 6.5 and the average energy charge of the HeLa cells was 0.92. In HeLa cells treated with guanine, the GTP pool increased to 309% of control values. When cells were treated with ribavirin, the GTP pool was reduced to 33% of nondrug treated controls. Ribavirin triphosphate reached levels of 113.25 nmols/107 cells, while ribavirin diphosphate reached levels of 4.96 nmols/107 cells.