Cellular and subcellular mechanisms of photodynamic action: the 1O2 hypothesis as a driving force in recent research

Photodynamic action and chromosomal damage: a comparison of haematoporphyrin derivative (HpD) and light with X-irradiation

Chromosomal aberrations (CA) are induced in human cells (NHIK 3025) in vitro when exposed to X-rays and to haematoporphyrin derivative (HpD) plus light. At the 0 . 1 survival level X-rays induce about 10 times more breaks per chromosome than the photodynamic treatment. There is some evidence for non-random distribution of the CA induced by HpD plus light; i.e. they seem to be localized at the centromeric and telomeric regions. Such non-random distribution of CA could be explained if centromeric and telomeric chromatin were associated with the inner nuclear membrane.

Photobiology and photomedicine: the future is bright

Important events since 1966 that have helped to advance photobiology in general and photomedicine in particular are reviewed. More formal courses on photobiology are needed so that future photobiologists and photodermatologists will not have to be self-taught about the properties and action of light. The effectiveness of current phototherapies and their future improvement are discussed. Some of the areas of photobiology what will impact on photomedicine in the years to come are ultraviolet (UV) radiation effects on the immune system, the light activation of enzymes as a potential new type of photothoerapy, the development of new photosensitizers for phototherapy, the effects of near-UV radiation on cellular membranes, and, of course, the role of DNA damage and repair in mutagenesis and carcinogenesis. The future is bright for photomedicine.

Phototoxicity mechanisms: chlorpromazine photosensitized damage to DNA and cell membranes

Photosensitized damage to biological molecules is the initial process in phototoxic responses. It is now recognized that many phototoxic compounds can photosensitize damage to more than one type of biological substrate. The in vitro light-initiated reactions of phototoxic compounds with DNA, soluble proteins and membrane components can be classified by their molecular mechanisms: (1) those in which an excited state of the phototoxic compound (or an unstable species derived from it) reacts directly with the biological substrate and (2) those in which a molecule derived from the phototoxic compound (a photoproduct or an activated oxygen species) reacts with the biological substrate. This paper describes the mechanisms by which chlorpromazine photosensitizes damage to membranes, protein and DNA and compares them to the mechanisms of photosensitization by psoralens, porphyrins, dyes, and other molecules.

On the involvement of singlet oxygen in mutation induction by 8-methoxypsoralen and UVA irradiation in Escherichia coli K-12

The possible mutagenic effects induced by single oxygen, which is formed during UVA irradiation of bacterial cells pretreated with 8-methoxypsoralen (8-MOP), were investigated. As genetic endpoint, black mutation from arg-56 to arg+ was assayed in strain Escherichia coli K-12/343/113/uvrB; this system, in preliminary experiments, was rather sensitive to 8-MOP-induced photodynamic effects. To assess the involvement of singlet oxygen (1O2) in the mutation induction process, 2 tests were applied, namely, comparative mutation induction in D2O and H2O media (pH 7.0) and quenching of 1O2 with 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO). When photodynamy was performed with the indicator cells suspended in D2O buffer, the mutagenic effect was substantially higher than that obtained with cells suspended in H2O buffer; this increase was even more pronounced when the incubation mixtures were thoroughly oxygenated before irradiation. D2O itself was not mutagenic under th present experimental conditions. Addition of DABCO in concentrations of 0.1--10 mM to the irradiation mixtures effectively reduced the number of 8-MOP-induced mutant yields by about 40%. DABCO itself had no effect on cell viability or on spontaneous mutation frequency under our experimental conditions. From these 2 sets of results, and from the preliminary findings that the photomutagenic effect of 8-MOP is higher in the uvrB derivative than in the corresponding excision-repair-proficient parent strain, which is in concordance with previous observations in other E coli strains, it can be concluded that 1O2 generated upon UVA irradiation of 8-MOP solutions is probably responsible for part of the observed genetic effects.

Porphyrin-induced photodamage at the cellular and the subcellular level as related to the solubility of the porphyrin

Porphyrin-induced photodamage has been studied on small organic molecules, biomolecules, mitochondria and red cells. Water soluble components (e.g. tryptophan and glutamate dehydrogenase) are more easily destroyed by uroporphyrin than by protoporphyrin. On the other hand, lipophilic components (e.g. succinate dehydrogenase, mitochondria and red cell membranes) are more severely damaged by protoporphyrin. The results may be of importance to explain the different skin lesions in erythropoietic protoporphyria and in porphyria cutanea tarda. The photodamage is enhanced by D2O and reduced by azide. Reagents known to increase or decrease the yields of superoxide, peroxide or hydroxyl radicals have no effect on the photodamage. The results suggest that singlet oxygen is the most important reactive oxygen species.

Proflavin: an unusual mutagen

In the Salmonella typhimurium mutagenicity assay, proflavin (PF), in the dark, was shown to possess some direct-acting frameshift mutagenic activity for strains TA1537 and TA98. In the presence of microsomal enzymes from mouse, hamster and rat livers, frameshift mutagenic activity for strain TA1538 and enhanced mutagenicity for strain TA1537 was observed. Exposure of bacteria to PF in the presence of visible light resulted in base substitution (strain TA1535) as well as frameshift (TA1537, TA1538, TA98) genetic activities. The findings are taken to indicate that PF possesses direct-acting frameshift activity (TA1537 and TA98) by virtue of its ability to intercalate between DNA base-pairs. The frameshift activity (TA1538, TA98 and enhanced TA1537) seen following metabolic or photo-activation may be due to the formation of chemical adducts between the cellular DNA and oxidation products of PF (a base-displacement effect). The light-induced base-substitution activity probably results from the generation of singlet oxygen which reacts with the guanine moiety of DNA. The mutagenic photoproduct of PF appears to be stable.