A ninth complementation group in xeroderma pigmentosum, XP I

Varying sensitivity of human skin fibroblasts to polychromatic ultraviolet light

The inactivation of normal and xeroderma pigmentosum cells has been compared following exposure to environmentally relevant wavelengths of ultraviolet light or to the more commonly investigated 254-nm ultraviolet light. The sensitivity of xeroderma pigmentosum cells to polychromatic long-wavelength ultraviolet light was greatly lower than that observed using 254-nm light. Such variations in the relative sensitivities of normal and xeroderma pigmentosum cells support the likelihood that the lesions which contribute to cellular alterations induced by solar wavelengths of ultraviolet light are different from those which predominate at 254 nm.

Microinjection of partially purified protein factor restores DNA damage specifically in group A of xeroderma pigmentosum cells

Microinjection of cell extracts prepared from both human placenta and HeLa cells into xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) cells of complementation group A restores unscheduled DNA synthesis (UDS) in these cells after UV irradiation [de Jonge, A., Vermeulen, W., Klein, B. & Hoeijmakers, J. (1983) EMBO J. 2, 637-641]. These cells also showed normal resistance to UV irradiation. The half-life of the factors in the cell extracts corresponding to the UDS activity (factor A) was 14 hr in XP cells of group A, and the maximal level of UDS was exerted 2 hr after microinjection. The factors were sensitive to protease treatment but not to RNase treatment and were found to be approximately equal to 160 and approximately equal to 90 kDa by gel filtration. These two fractions of the factor(s) acted specifically in XP cells of complementation group A among complementation groups A, B, C, D, F, G, and probably E and H.

Unscheduled DNA synthesis in xeroderma pigmentosum cells after microinjection of yeast photoreactivating enzyme

Photoreactivating enzyme (PRE) from yeast causes a light-dependent reduction of UV-induced unscheduled DNA synthesis (UDS) when injected into the cytoplasm of repair-proficient human fibroblasts (Zwetsloot et al., 1985). This result indicates that the exogenous PRE monomerizes UV-induced dimers in these cells competing with the endogenous excision repair. In this paper we present the results of the injection of yeast PRE on (residual) UDS in fibroblasts from different excision-deficient XP-strains representing complementation groups A, C, D, E, F, H and I (all displaying more than 10% of the UDS of wild-type cells) and in fibroblasts from two excision-proficient XP-variant strains. In fibroblasts belonging to complementation groups C, F and I and in fibroblasts from the XP-variant strains UDS was significantly reduced, indicating that pyrimidine dimers in these cells are accessible to and can be monomerized by the injected yeast PRE. The UDS reduction in the XP-variant strains is comparable with the effect in wild-type cells. In cells from complementation groups C, F and I the reduction is less than in wild-type and XP-variant cells. Fibroblasts belonging to groups A, D, E and H did not show any reduction in UDS level after PRE injection and illumination with photoreactivating light. These results give evidence that the genetic repair defect in some XP-strains is probably due to an altered accessibility of the UV-damaged sites.

Immortalization of xeroderma pigmentosum cells by simian virus 40 DNA having a defective origin of DNA replication

A simian virus 40 (SV40) DNA fragment, encompassing the whole early region and having a defective origin of DNA replication, has been used to transform human fibroblast cells derived from two xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) patients. Two of the SV40-transformed XP cell lines, belonging to complementation group C, had acquired the characteristic of indefinite life-span in culture. These XP cell lines synthesize T antigen as shown by immunofluorescence and retain the high sensitivity to UV irradiation. Detailed karyotype analysis shows very few chromosomal changes, while the transfecting SV40 DNA is integrated into cellular DNA sequences. These are the first immortalized XP cell lines derived from complementation group C. In view of the extreme difficulty in obtaining immortalized human fibroblasts, we suggest a possible advantage of replication defective SV40 DNA molecules for immortalizing human fibroblast cells of any source.

Human DNA repair defects

A number of human genetic diseases have come to be described as being defective in DNA repair. The minimum criterion on which this assignment is based is hypersensitivity to the clastogenic or lethal action of specific DNA damaging agents. In one disease, xeroderma pigmentosum, the molecular evidence for a defect in DNA repair is unequivocal. This condition then acts as a model for dissecting others. For the other diseases the formal evidence for defects in repair is less secure or even lacking. The evidence for repair in each disease is assembled together with any methods that have been used to support the differential diagnosis or for prenatal diagnosis. Attempts to clone human DNA repair genes are in hand and may provide the necessary evidence to decide if all the putative DNA repair defective diseases are genuine. Neoplastic disease and neurological degeneration together with immune defects are frequent clinical features linking this set of diseases, suggesting that effective DNA repair may be important in many aspects of human health.

Microinjection of Micrococcus luteus UV-endonuclease restores UV-induced unscheduled DNA synthesis in cells of 9 xeroderma pigmentosum complementation groups

The UV-induced unscheduled DNA synthesis (UDS) in cultured cells of excision-deficient xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) complementation groups A through I was assayed after injection of Micrococcus luteus UV-endonuclease using glass microneedles. In all complementation groups a restoration of the UV-induced UDS, in some cells to the repair-proficient human level, was observed. Another prokaryotic DNA-repair enzyme, T4 endonuclease V, restored the UV-induced UDS in a similar way after microinjection into XP cells. Since both enzymes specifically catalyse only the incision of UV-irradiated DNA, we conclude that this activity is impaired in cells of all 9 excision-deficient XP complementation groups tested.

Xeroderma pigmentosum patients from the Federal Republic of Germany: decrease in post-UV colony-forming ability in 30 xeroderma pigmentosum fibroblast strains is quantitatively correlated with a decrease in DNA-incising capacity

A total of 16 normal and 46 XP fibroblast strains from the Mannheim Collection were investigated for colony-forming ability following exposure to both UV light and the "UV-like" carcinogen (Ac)2ONFln. The dose-response experiments included up to 13 dose levels. The exponential segments of the curves were analysed by linear regression and the negative reciprocal of the regression coefficient (D0) was calculated for each cell strain. For quantitating the DNA-incising capacity, DNA elution curves were determined at several UV dose levels. Plotting the initial velocities of the elution curves versus the UV dose yielded a regression line, the slope of which was used to obtain the characteristic value E0. Comparing D0 with E0 values showed that cell strains in which colony-forming ability was reduced suffered a reduction of DNA-incising capacity of the same magnitude. There were only 3 exceptional strains in which reduction of DNA-incising capacity was less pronounced than reduction of colony-forming ability. We have previously shown (Fischer et al. 1982) that D0 values from 27 XP strains of the Mannheim Collection were correlated with clinical symptoms. This correlation is now being extended by relating colony-forming ability to the magnitude of the DNA incision defect. From our data we conclude that the best quantitative biochemical denominator to explain the sun sensitivity of XP is that of a defective incision of UV-damaged DNA. A considerable similarity in sensitivity towards both UV light and (Ac)2ONFln was found in 16 normal and 46 XP strains. This seems to indicate that UV- and (Ac)2ONFln-induced DNA damage are removed to a large extent by the same pathways in human fibroblasts.