Ultraviolet radiation-induced lethality and repair of pyrimidine dimers in fish embryos

Pimephales promelas (fathead minnow) embryos were used to show a correlation between induction of pyrimidine dimers in DNA and embryo death. Embryo killing was measured by a lack of heart-beat and blood circulation at 48 h post-ultraviolet radiation (UVR). When the embryos were exposed to various doses of UVR from a FS-40 sunlamp followed by exposure to photoreactivating light (PRL) (320-400 nm), the number of pyrimidine dimers decreased significantly. The photorepair of dimers was accompanied by a substantial increase in embryo survival. When embryo killing was examined as a function of the number of dimers present, dimers were identified as a major lesion involved in UVR-induced killing in these fish embryos. This in vivo study on photoreactivation treatment of fish embryos shows a direct association between UVR-induced pyrimidine dimers and embryo killing. In addition, when embryos were held in the dark for 9 h after UVR, 50% of the dimers were removed by excision repair.

UV radiation-induced skin tumors in Monodelphis domestica

Chronic exposure of the skin of the South American opossum (Monodelphis domestica) to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) from an FS-40 sunlamp (280-400 nm) 3 times per week for a total of 200 exposures resulted in the appearance of actinic keratoses, fibrosarcomas, squamous cell carcinomas and keratoacanthomas. At the higher doses of UVR used in this study, moderate to severe hyperplasia was also observed. The susceptibility of this animal to the induction of skin tumors by UVR in conjunction with the capacity to enzymatically photoreactive pyrimidine dimers in cutaneous DNA identifies this animal as a useful model in determining the role of pyrimidine dimers in skin tumor induction by UVR.

Ultraviolet radiation-induced histopathologic changes in the skin of the marsupial Monodelphis domestica. II. Quantitative studies of the photoreactivation of induced hyperplasia and sunburn cell formation

Induction of sunburn cells (SBCs) and hyperplasia of the epidermis of the marsupial Monodelphis domestica by ultraviolet radiation (UVR) has been studied. A dose of 500 J/m2 (approximately 1 minimal erythemal dose) from an FS-40 sunlamp induced measurable numbers of SBCs with a peak number at 32-48 h post-UVR exposure of skin to photoreactivating light suppressed the induction of SBCs by approximately 75%. Pre-UVR exposure to photoreactivating light had no effect on the induction of SBCs. Induction of hyperplasia also was suppressed to a similar extent by post-UVR photoreactivation treatment. These studies identify pyrimidine dimers in DNA as the major photoproduct involved in the induction of SBCs and hyperplasia in M. domestica by UVR.

Ultraviolet radiation-induced histopathological changes in the skin of the marsupial Monodelphis domestica. I. The effects of acute and chronic exposures and of photoreactivation treatment

Post-ultraviolet radiation (UVR) treatment of the South American opossum, Monodelphis domestica with long-wavelength radiation (320-400 nm) suppressed the induction of histopathological alterations in the skin. This study identifies DNA as a primary chromophore involved in the induction of various photobiological responses of the skin such as hyperplasia and sunburn cell formation, and also identified pyrimidine dimers as one responsible DNA lesion. The histology of skin from opossums exposed to multiple doses of UVR showed that pre-malignant changes had occurred in the skin.

Photoreactivation of UV-induced pyrimidine dimers and erythema in the marsupial Monodelphis domestica

Post-UV treatment of the gray, short-tailed opossum Monodelphis domestica with photoreactivating light (320-400 nm) suppressed the appearance of UV-induced erythema as evidenced by an increase in the dose of UV required to elicit an erythemal response. The average erythema dose for animals held in the dark following UV exposure was 620 +/- 40 J/m2, whereas 2460 +/- 110 J/m2 were required for erythema induction with animals exposed to 90 min of photoreactivating light post-UV. Pre-UV exposure to photoreactivating light had no effect on the UV induction of erythema. The dose-response for the photoreversal of pyrimidine dimers in epidermal DNA of M. domestica was similar to that for the photoreactivation of erythema induction. These data not only support the notion that DNA is the primary chromophore involved in the induction of erythema but also identify pyrimidine dimers as the major DNA change responsible for its induction. These results also identify M. domestica as a useful whole-animal system with which to determine the role of pyrimidine dimers in other photobiological responses of mammalian skin.

Induction of pyrimidine dimers in epidermal DNA of hairless mice by UVB: an action spectrum

An action spectrum for the induction of pyrimidine dimers in the epidermis of hairless mice was determined between 288 and 307 nm. The presence of pyrimidine dimers in tritium-labeled DNA extracted from exposed SKH:hairless-1 mouse skin was determined using dimer-specific nucleases from Micrococcus luteus in conjunction with sedimentation of the irradiated DNA in alkaline sucrose gradients. The rate of induction of pyrimidine dimers was maximal at 293 nm. These values were used to propose a UVB transmission curve for mouse epidermis.

Induction of pyrimidine dimers and unscheduled DNA synthesis in cultured mouse epithelial cells exposed to 254-nm- and u.v.-B radiation

The induction and fate of pyrimidine dimers and unscheduled DNA synthesis were measured in u.v.-irradiated primary, newborn SENCAR mouse epithelial cells. Unscheduled DNA synthesis was induced in a dose responsive manner by two u.v. sources, a germicidal lamp (254 nm) and an FS40 sunlamp (280--400 nm). Using the endonuclease-sensitive site assay to detect pyrimidine dimer production and excision, we examined the response of the newborn mouse cells to both u.v. sources. We were unable to detect the removal of pyrimidine dimers with either of the two sources of u.v. The speculation is made that primary, newborn mouse epidermal cells excise u.v.-induced pyrimidine dimers to an extent below the level of detection of the endonuclease-sensitive site assay but to an extent sufficient to induce unscheduled DNA synthesis.

Immunological detection of two types of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers in DNA

A hyperimmune rabbit antiserum to ultraviolet-irradiated DNA was observed to contain two activities directed against irradiated DNA. Radioimmunoassay studies demonstrated that both antigenic determinants were pyrimidine dimers as evidenced by the reduction in antibody binding to enzymatically photoreactivated irradiated DNA. Enzymatic photoreactivation specifically monomerizes pyrimidine dimers in DNA. Under conditions in which antiserum binding was measured with native DNA, binding was observed with DNA that contained both thymine-thymine and cytosine-containing dimers but not against native DNA that contained only thymine-thymine dimers. Under these assay conditions, competitive binding to irradiated DNA increased as a linear function of fluence of ultraviolet radiation. Under a second set of conditions in which binding was measured with single-stranded DNA, antibodies were bound to DNA which contained only thymine-thymine dimers. The fluence response for the increase in binding to thymine-thymine dimers was nonlinear and increased as a function of fluence squared. Binding to thymine dimers appeared to require bivalent attachment to two dimers that occurred in close proximity.

The effect of mutations in the uvrD cistron of Escherichia coli on repair resynthesis

The resynthesis step of the excision repair pathway has been examined in Escherichia coli K12 strains isogenic except for mutations in the uvrD cistron. Strains mutant at the uvrD3, uvrD101, uvrE156, and recL152 loci exhibited slight but distinct differences in their response to ultraviolet radiation. The repair capacity of the uvrD101 mutant was given special attention. Repair resynthesis in this mutant was saturated at fluences greater than about 20 J/m2. Isopycnic analysis of repaired deoxyribonucleic acid from this strain revealed a two-fold increase over its wild-type counterpart in the amount of repair replication performed after a dose of 15 J/m2. Sedimentation velocity analysis of DNA after selective photolysis of bromouracil-containing repaired regions showed that the uvrD101 mutation exerted its primary effect on the long-patch component of excision repair. The uvrD101 mutant performed long-patch repair at a larger number of sites than the number repaired by this mode in the wild-type strain; these patches were more extensive in length than the long-patch component in wild-type.

Photosensitized reactions and carcinogenesis

We present data from experiments designed to investigate the role of DNA interstrand cross-links induced by exposure to 8-MOP plus UVR and skin carcinogenesis. 8-MOP was administered topically to two strains of hairless mice, SKH:hairless-1 and HRS/J/An1, which were then exposed to UV light sources with emission in the range of 1) 300-400, 2) 320-400, and 3) predominantly 365 nm. We found no strain dependency for DNA cross-link production, but a marked strain-dependent difference in tumor susceptibility was noted. Only a small strain-dependent difference occurred in tumor incidence when TPA was administered after exposure to 8-MOP and 320-400 nm. These results suggest that the events concerned with tumor promotion are dependent on strain. Because the most effective tumorigenic wavelength spectrum was 300-400 nm, we investigated the possibility of interaction between lesions induced by the 300- to 320-nm wavelengths and the psoralen photoadducts. In the course of this experiment, we found that the tumorigenic effect was also dependent on the time interval between exposures to 8-MOP plus 365-nm light.

Induction and persistence of pyrimidine dimers in the epidermal DNA of two strains of hairless mice

The ultraviolet-light induction of DNA damage has been measured in the epidermis of hairless mice with the use of damage-specific endonucleases from Micrococcus luteus. The rates of induction of endonuclease-sensitive sites in HRS/J/Anl and Skh:hairless-1 mice were 6.1 +/- 0.5 X 10(-11) and 6.5 +/- 0.8 X 10(-11)/dalton/J/sq m from a FS40 fluorescent sun lamp (280 to 400 nm), respectively. Enzymatic photoreactivation with yeast photoreactivating enzyme showed that approximately 80% of the endonuclease-sensitive sites were cycloburyl pyrimidine dimers. In both strains of mice the pyrimidine dimers remained in high-molecular-weight DNA for 24 hr after irradiation. These data show that mouse epithelial cells in vivo have little or no capacity for the excision repair of pyrimidine dimers.