Increased efficiency of photoreversal of UV-induced dimers in the DNA of chick embryo fibroblasts with post-UV dark time

DNA-repair by photolyase reveals dynamic properties of nucleosome positioning in vivo

Nucleosomes exert a repressive influence on the biological functions of DNA by restricting the access of proteins to DNA. To investigate how intrinsic properties of nucleosomes modulate DNA-accessibility in vivo, we studied DNA repair by photolyase in the yeast URA3 gene. Formation of DNA lesions (cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers, CPDs) and photolyase activity are controlled precisely by light. Preceding work revealed that photolyase repairs nucleosome-free DNA rapidly, while repair of nucleosomes is inhibited severely. The high-resolution data presented here show slow repair in the center of nucleosomes and a gradual increase towards the periphery. This pattern was observed in all nucleosomes and demonstrates that dynamic properties facilitate DNA accessibility. Since the URA3 nucleosomes can occupy alternate positions, the repair data are most consistent with nucleosome mobility that moves CPDs in linker DNA where they are repaired rapidly. A partial and transient unfolding or disruption of nucleosomes, however, may not be excluded. In addition, repair heterogeneity was found between closely spaced sites, indicating that structural properties of nucleosomes contribute to damage processing. Moreover, nucleosome-specific modulation of photolyase was found on the transcribed and non-transcribed strand. This is in contrast to homogeneous repair of the transcribed strand by nucleotide excision repair, and reveals fundamental differences in how both repair systems interact with nucleosomes and transcription.

Detection of photorepair of UV-induced thymine dimers in human epidermis by immunofluorescence microscopy

To investigate the effect of visible light on the level of UV-induced thymine dimers in human epidermal cells in vivo, we exposed volunteers to UV-B alone, or to a serial combination of UV-B and visible light. Dimers were assayed in skin sections by immunofluorescence microscopy with a monoclonal antibody against the cyclobutyl thymine dimer. The dimer-specific fluorescence from epidermal cell nuclei, identified by counterstaining with propidium iodide, was quantified through computer-mediated image processing and analysis. After a single UV exposure (2-3 MED), significant dimer-specific fluorescence was measured, but no difference could be detected between skin kept in the dark after UV-irradiation and that exposed to visible light. In three other experiments, the UV dose was split into 3 parts (1 MED each), given at 2.5-h intervals. Half of the skin area was exposed to visible light following each dose fraction. After the second and third dose fractions, skin areas treated with visible light clearly showed lower levels of dimers (i.e., about 40% reduced) than skin kept in the dark. The results provide evidence that photorepair of dimers does occur in human skin, but not immediately after a first UV exposure of naive skin.

Kinetics of unscheduled DNA synthesis in UV-irradiated chicken embryo fibroblasts

Unscheduled DNA synthesis induced by 254-nm UV radiation in chicken embryo fibroblasts was examined for 24 h following irradiation, while cells were kept in the dark. The effect on this repair process of a 2-4 h exposure to photoreactivating light immediately after UV was studied. Initial [3H]thymidine incorporation in the light-treated cells was only slightly different from that in cells not exposed to light, but a distinct difference in rate and cumulative amount of unscheduled DNA synthesis was seen several hours after irradiation. By varying the UV dose and the time allowed for photoreactivation, the amount of dimers (determined as sites sensitive to a M. luteus UV-endonuclease) and non-dimers could be changed. The results of these experiments suggest that excision repair of dimers, rather than non-dimer products, is responsible for the unscheduled DNA synthesis seen after UV irradiation.

The effect of post-UV dark incubation on survival of chick-embryo fibroblasts after photoreactivation

A survival assay with chick-embryo fibroblasts was used to study photoreactivation of ultraviolet (UV) irradiation-induced damage. The kinetics of the photoreactivation was studied as a function of the length of a post UV dark incubation period of from 0 to 18 h at 38.5 degrees C. The logarithmic survival curve with no photoreactivation had a Do of about 4.3 J/m2 giving approximately 0.8% relative plating efficiency after a UV dose of 21 J/m2. At this dose the efficiency of photoreactivation (survival increase per unit blacklight dose) increased with post UV incubation time reaching a maximum at 4-6 h, then declining until there was little photoreactivation observed for times longer than about 11 h. The possibility that this effect was produced by pre-UV perturbations of the cell cycle was eliminated by the fact that the same results were achieved after several rather different trypsinization protocols. The shape of the photoreactivation vs. blacklight curve at the time of peak efficiency showed a threshold up to about 3 kJ/m2, a rising portion and a plateau after 12-16 kJ/m2 when the survival increased by a factor of roughly 8.

Critique on the analysis of photorepair in chick-embryo fibroblasts

It is shown that the data by Van de Merwe and Bronk on photoreactivation of chick-embryo fibroblasts do not support the particular application of the Rupert -Harm model used in the paper by Pendrys [6]. Further, it is shown that for blacklight intensities greater than 17 W/m2 at 365 nm, there is approximate reciprocity (i.e. the extent of photoreactivation of available dimers is determined primarily by total blacklight fluence).

A model of the kinetics of photorepair in chick embryo fibroblasts

Recent measurements of the photorepair of UV-induced dimers in chick embryo fibroblasts have shown that the efficiency of photorepair is a function of time after UV exposure. Photorepair is enhanced if the time between UV exposure and photoreactivation is increased. A model is presented which fits the experimental data within the accuracy of the measurements. The disappearance of damaged sites follows first-order rate kinetics, similar to the kinetics of photorepair shown to exist in E. coli. However, some of the chromosomal DNA is protected from enzymatic activity, presumably by the histones and other proteins associated with eukaryotic DNA. The effective number of damaged sites available for repair increases monotonically with time after UV damage. At 37 degrees C all sites become available after 9-12 h. Immediately after UV exposure, about 75% of the DNA is shielded from photorepair.

Enhanced survival and decreased mutation frequency after photoreactivation of UV damage in rat kangaroo cells

The effect of pyrimidine dimers on cytotoxicity, DNA repair and mutagenesis was studied in cells, derived from the rat kangaroo, which possess photoreactivating capabilities. A significant enhancement in colony-forming ability was achieved after UV irradiation in exponentially growing cells if photoreactivating light treatment followed the UV irradiation. If photoreactivation treatment was delayed 24 h after UV irradiation, no significant increase in survival was observed. Assays of pyrimidine dimers, unscheduled DNA synthesis, and survival in contact-inhibited cells all confirmed a minor role of dark excision repair and a major role of photoreactivation. Photoreactivation decreased the frequency of mutations to 6-thioguanine resistance to a greater extent than the alteration seen in survival. Approximately 1.6 times the dose must be given to get equal killing in photoreactivated cells, whereas 4 times the dose must be given to obtain equal mutation frequencies in light-treated cells. This suggests that the removal of dimers is more effective in mutant reduction than enhancement of survival.

The shape of the blacklight dose photoreactivation curve for chick embryo fibroblasts

The curves of UV (254 nm) induced pyrimidine dimers (endonuclease sensitive sites) vs. photoreactivating blacklight (365 nm) dose for cultured chick embryo fibroblasts reveal several new features. When the cells are incubated in the dark at 37 degrees following UV (254 nm) treatment, the efficiency of subsequent photorepair increases for the first few hours post-UV. The efficiency then remains approximately constant for several hours. Photorepair data obtained during this later period were plotted as the logarithm of dimer-enzyme complexes available for photoreactivation vs. blacklight (365 nm) dose. For a fixed damaging UV (254 nm) dose, the resulting curve has a shoulder of approximately 6-10 kJ/m2 followed by a straight line portion with a slope of magnitude about 1.5 X 10(-4) m2/J for UV doses up to 15 J/m2. For higher UV doses the shoulder remains about the same, but the slope decreases in magnitude. The shoulder is interpreted to indicate that a light-dependent step is necessary to activate the enzyme. The decrease in slope with increased UV dose together with some split photoreactivation dose experiments suggests that some site-to-site motion and multiple site function of the photorepair enzyme molecules may come into play at the higher levels of damage, but the evidence indicates that these complications are relatively unimportant at low UV doses.