Mutagenic action of monochromatic UV radiation in the solar range on human cells

Mutations to ouabain resistance (selecting for base modifications at the co-dominant Na+K+-dependent ATP-ase locus) and thioguanine resistance (selecting for a wide range of genetic changes at the recessive hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase locus) were measured in a repair-proficient human lymphoblastoid line with defined monochromatic radiations in the UVC (254 nm), UVB (302 nm, 313 nm), UVA (334 nm, 365 nm) and visible (405 nm) ranges. No mutations were detected at wavelengths in the range 334-405 nm. At 254 nm and 313 nm, both mutations to thioguanine resistance and survival were consistent with those expected from the relative levels of cyclobutane-type pyrimidine dimers induced. However, at 313 nm, the ratio of ouabain-resistant to thioguanine-resistant mutants is 10 times higher than at 254 nm, indicating that a unique type of pre-mutagenic base damage is induced at the longer wavelength. Radiation in the UVA (334 nm) range reduced the induction of mutations by a UVC (254 nm) wavelength at both mutation markers. These results suggest, first, that distinct types of biologically expressed genetic damage may be induced in the UVB region of sunlight and, second, that strong interactions may occur between the different wavelength regions of sunlight that can modify the expression of this genetic damage in human cells.     

Lack of induction of non-targeted mutations in intact bacteriophage by UVB (313 nm), UVA (334 nm, 365 nm) and visible (405 nm) irradiation of host cells

Mutation to virulence has been measured in intact bacteriophage lambda 15 infected into host cells pre-treated with UVC (254 nm), UVB (313 nm), UVA (334 nm, 365 nm) or visible (405 nm) radiations. We have confirmed that UVC radiation leads to a large enhancement (maximum enhancement factor of 140 in wild-type) of the background spontaneous mutation frequency (non-targeted mutagenesis) and have further shown that this is at least partially dependent on excision repair (maximum enhancement factor of 14 in uvrA strain). In contrast, UVB (313 nm) radiation enhances the mutation frequency by less than a factor of 2. Longer wavelength UVA radiation (334 nm, 365 nm) actually reduces the mutation frequency to 25% of the background levels presumably by reducing the levels of viral replication occurring in the host cells. A visible wavelength (405 nm) has no effect on mutation frequency over the fluence range employed.     

Mutations induced by ultraviolet light

The different ultraviolet (UV) wavelength components, UVA (320-400 nm), UVB (280-320 nm), and UVC (200-280 nm), have distinct mutagenic properties. A hallmark of UVC and UVB mutagenesis is the high frequency of transition mutations at dipyrimidine sequences containing cytosine. In human skin cancers, about 35% of all mutations in the p53 gene are transitions at dipyrimidines within the sequence 5'-TCG and 5'-CCG, and these are localized at several mutational hotspots. Since 5'-CG sequences are methylated along the p53 coding sequence in human cells, these mutations may be derived from sunlight-induced pyrimidine dimers forming at sequences that contain 5-methylcytosine. Cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) form preferentially at dipyrimidines containing 5-methylcytosine when cells are irradiated with UVB or sunlight. In order to define the contribution of 5-methylcytosine to sunlight-induced mutations, the lacI and cII transgenes in mouse fibroblasts were used as mutational targets. After 254 nm UVC irradiation, only 6-9% of the base substitutions were at dipyrimidines containing 5-methylcytosine. However, 24-32% of the solar light-induced mutations were at dipyrimidines that contain 5-methylcytosine and most of these mutations were transitions. Thus, CPDs forming preferentially at dipyrimidines with 5-methylcytosine are responsible for a considerable fraction of the mutations induced by sunlight in mammalian cells. Using mouse cell lines harboring photoproduct-specific photolyases and mutational reporter genes, we showed that CPDs (rather than 6-4 photoproducts or other lesions) are responsible for the great majority of UVB-induced mutations. An important component of UVB mutagenesis is the deamination of cytosine and 5-methylcytosine within CPDs. The mutational specificity of long-wave UVA (340-400 nm) is distinct from that of the shorter wavelength UV and is characterized mainly by G to T transversions presumably arising through mechanisms involving oxidized DNA bases. We also discuss the role of DNA damage-tolerant DNA polymerases in UV lesion bypass and mutagenesis.     

Photoreactivation implicates cyclobutane dimers as the major promutagenic UVB lesions in yeast.

Previously we compared the mutational specificities of polychromatic UVB (285-320 nm) and UVC (254 nm) light in the SUP4-o gene of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Striking similarities in the types and distributions of induced SUP4-o mutations were consistent with roles for cyclobutane dimers and pyrimidine(6-4)pyrimidone photoproducts in mutation induction by UVB. To assess the relative importance of cyclobutane dimers, we have now examined the effect of photoreactivation (PR), which specifically reverses these lesions, on UVB and UVC induction of SUP4-o mutations. PR reduced the frequencies of both UVB and UVC mutagenesis by approximately 75%. Collections of 138 and 158 SUP4-o mutants induced by treatment with UVB plus PR or UVC plus PR, respectively, were characterized by DNA sequencing and the results were compared to those for 208 UVB and 211 UVC-induced mutants analyzed earlier. PR decreased the frequency of UVB-induced G.C----A.T transitions by 85%, diminished the substitution frequencies at individual sites by 64% on average, and reduced the mutation frequencies at the five UVB hotspots by 87%. A more detailed examination revealed that the transition frequencies at the 3' base of 5'-TC-3' and 5'-CC-3' sequences were decreased by 90% and 72%, respectively. Finally, PR appeared to occur to the same extent on both the transcribed and non-transcribed strands of SUP4-o. Similar results were obtained for PR following UVC irradiation. Our findings indicate that cyclobutane dimers are responsible for the majority of UVB mutagenesis in yeast.     

Involvement of 5-methylcytosine in sunlight-induced mutagenesis.

In human skin cancers, more than 30 % of all mutations in the p53 gene are transitions at dipyrimidines within the sequence context CpG, i.e. 5'-TCG and 5'-CCG, found at several mutational hotspots. Since CpGs are methylated along the p53 gene, these mutations may be derived from solar UV-induced pyrimidine dimers forming at sequences that contain 5-methylcytosine. In Xorder to define the contribution of 5-methylcytosine to sunlight-induced mutations, we have used mouse fibroblasts containing the CpG-methylated lacI transgene as a mutational target. We sequenced 182 UVC (254 nm UV)-induced mutations and 170 mutations induced by a solar UV simulator, along with 75 mutations in untreated cells. Only a few of the mutations in untreated cells were transitions at dipyrimidines, but more than 95% of the UVC and solar irradiation-induced mutations were targeted to dipyrimidine sites, the majority being transitions. After UVC irradiation, 6% of the base substitutions were at dipyrimidines containing 5-methylcytosine and only 2.2% of all mutations were transitions within this sequence context. However, 24% of the solar light-induced mutations were at dipyrimidines that contain 5-methylcytosine and most of them were transitions. Two sunlight-induced mutational hotspots at methylated CpGs correlated with sequences that form the highest levels of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers after irradiation with sunlight but not with UVC. The data indicate that dipyrimidines that contain 5-methylcytosine are preferential targets for sunlight-induced mutagenesis in cultured mammalian cells, thus explaining the large proportion of p53 mutations at such sites in skin tumors in vivo.     

Mutagenic specificity in DNA base sequence by irradiation of health lamp light (UV-B) in Escherichia coli.

A shuttle vector, pZ189, carrying a bacterial suppressor tRNA marker gene, was irradiated with health lamp (HL) light containing UV-B. Plasmid mutations were scored by transforming an indicator strain of Escherichia coli carrying a suppressive blue amber mutation in the beta-galactosidase gene. Plasmid survival was also measured by transforming activity of the indicator strain. The majority of mutations induced by HL light were GC-AT transitions (69%) and the rest were transversions (31%). Some hot-spots in the mutations were observed by sequencing the suppressor gene. Mutagenic specificity in DNA base sequences induced by HL in E. coli agrees well with previous reports about 254-nm or 313-nm light effects on mammalian cells. This agreement may depend on the substitution of the inserted base instead of a G residue at the opposite site of a damaged C residue from conformational change of DNA structure in both bacterial and mammalian cells.     

Sequence specificity of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers in DNA treated with solar (ultraviolet B) radiation.

Cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers were quantified at the sequence level after irradiation with solar ultraviolet (UVB) and nonsolar ultraviolet (UVC) light sources. The yield of photoproducts at specific sites was dependent on the nucleotide composition in and around the potential lesion as well as on the wavelength of ultraviolet light used to induce the damage. Induction was greater in the presence of 5' flanking pyrimidines than purines; 5' guanine inhibited induction more than adenine. UVB irradiation increased the induction of cyclobutane dimers containing cytosine relative to thymine homodimers. At the single UVC and UVB fluences used, the ratio of thymine homodimers (T mean value of T) to dimers containing cytosine (C mean value of T, T mean value of C, C mean value of C) was greater after UVC compared to UVB irradiation.     

Comutagenesis of sodium arsenite with ultraviolet radiation in Chinese hamster V79 cells

Summary Solar ultraviolet radiation has been associated with the induction of skin cancer. Recent studies have indicated that near-ultraviolet, especially UVB, is mutagenic. Exposure to trivalent inorganic arsenic compounds has also been associated with increased skin cancer prevalence. Trivalent arsenic compounds are not mutagenicper se, but are comutagenic with a number of cancer agents. Here, we test the hypothesis that arsenite enhances skin cancer via its comutagenic action with solar ultraviolet radiation. Irradiation of Chinese hamster V79 cells with UVA (360 nm), UVB (310 nm) and UVC (254 nm) caused a fluence-dependent increase in mutations at thehprt locus. On an energy basis, UVC was the most mutagenic and UVA the least. However, when expressed as a function of toxicity, UVB was more mutagenic than UVC. Nontoxic concentrations of arsenite increased the toxicity of UVA, UVB and UVC. Arsenite acted as a comutagen at the three wavelengths; however, higher concentrations of arsenite were required to produce a significant (P < 0.05) comutagenic response with UVB. The increased mutagenicity of UVB and UVA by arsenite may play a role in arsenite-related skin cancers.     

UVA-induced cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers form predominantly at thymine-thymine dipyrimidines and correlate with the mutation spectrum in rodent cells

Ligation-mediated PCR was employed to quantify cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer (CPD) formation at nucleotide resolution along exon 2 of the adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (aprt) locus in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells following irradiation with either UVA (340–400 nm), UVB (295–320 nm), UVC (254 nm) or simulated sunlight (SSL; λ > 295 nm). The resulting DNA damage spectrum for each wavelength region was then aligned with the corresponding mutational spectrum generated previously in the same genetic target. The DNA sequence specificities of CPD formation induced by UVC, UVB or SSL were very similar, i.e., in each case the overall relative proportion of this photoproduct forming at TT, TC, CT and CC sites was ~28, ~26, ~16 and ~30%, respectively. Furthermore, a clear correspondence was noted between the precise locations of CPD damage hotspots, and of ‘UV signature’ mutational hotspots consisting primarily of C→T and CC→TT transitions within pyrimidine runs. However, following UVA exposure, in strong contrast to the above situation for UVC, UVB or SSL, CPDs were generated much more frequently at TT sites than at TC, CT or CC sites (57% versus 18, 11 and 14%, respectively). This CPD deposition pattern correlates well with the strikingly high proportion of mutations recovered opposite TT dipyrimidines in UVA- irradiated CHO cells. Our results directly implicate the CPD as a major promutagenic DNA photoproduct induced specifically by UVA in rodent cells.     

Published data on mutagenesis by ionizing radiation of plasmids in solution probably reflect in part the specificity of adventitious transition metal ions complexed to the DNA

A number of recent papers show that single base changes induced by mutagenesis with ionizing radiation of genes on plasmids in solution, followed by transfection into mammalian or bacterial cells for assay, are mostly at G:C base pairs, with mutagenic hot spots. Genes irradiated in mammalian or bacterial cells, on the other hand, have comparable numbers of base changes at all sites, with no evidence for hot spots. The differences are ascribed to induction of many base change mutations in vitro by reactions catalyzed by adventitious transition metal ions complexed to the DNA. Reasons are given why this process should play a much smaller role in vivo.     

Published data on mutagenesis by ionizing radiation of plasmids in solution probably reflect in part the specificity of adventitious transition metal ions complexed to the DNA.

A number of recent papers show that single base changes induced by mutagenesis with ionizing radiation of genes on plasmids in solution, followed by transfection into mammalian or bacterial cells for assay, are mostly at G:C base pairs, with mutagenic hot spots. Genes irradiated in mammalian or bacterial cells, on the other hand, have comparable numbers of base changes at all sites, with no evidence for hot spots. The differences are ascribed to induction of many base change mutations in vitro by reactions catalyzed by adventitious transition metal ions complexed to the DNA. Reasons are given why this process should play a much smaller role in vivo.     

Mutation spectra induced by 1-nitropyrene 4,5-oxide and 1-nitropyrene 9,10-oxide in the supF gene of human XP-A fibroblasts

1-Nitropyrene 4,5-oxide and 1-nitropyrene 9,10-oxide are oxidative metabolites that are responsible for the mutagenicity of 1-nitropyrene. In this study, the mutation spectra induced by oxidative metabolites in human cells were determined using a shuttle vector assay. The mutation frequencies induced by 1-nitropyrene 9,10-oxide were 2-3 times higher than those induced by 1-nitropyrene 4,5-oxide. The base substitutions induced by 1-nitropyrene 4,5-oxide were G --> A transitions, G --> C transversions, and G --> T transversions. In the case of 1-nitropyrene 9,10-oxide, G --> A transitions, G --> T transversions, A --> G transitions and G --> C transversions were observed. Most base substitution mutations induced by oxidative metabolites occurred at the guanine sites in the supF gene. These sequence-specific hot spots were commonly identified as 5'-GA sequences for both metabolites. On the other hand, the sequence-specific hot spots at the adenine sites were identified as 5'-CAC sequences for 1-nitropyrene 9,10-oxide. These results suggest that the oxidative metabolites of 1-nitropyrene induce sequence-specific DNA mutations at the guanine and adenine sites at high frequency.     

Repair and recombination of nonreplicating UV-irradiated phage DNA in E. coli II. Stimulation of RecF-dependent recombination by excision repair of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers and of other photoproducts

Summary Three aspects of recombination of UV-irradiated nonreplicating lambda phage DNA were addressed: the photoproduct(s) responsible, the role of UvrABC-mediated excision repair, and the dependence on RecF function.Cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers appeared responsible for some recombination because photoreactivation reduced the frequency of 254-nm-stimulated recombination and because photosensitized 313-nm irradiation stimulated recombination. Other photoproducts seemed recombinogenic as well, because high fluences of 254-nm irradiation stimulated recombination considerably more, per cyclobutane dimer induced, than photosensitized 313-nm irradiation, and because photoreactivation did not eliminate 254-nm stimulated recombination. For both treatments, much, but not all, of the recombination was UvrABC-dependent. Recombination was mostly RecF-dependent, but was not affected by recB recC or recE mutationsThe first paper in this series is Hays et al., (1985)     

Similarities in sunlight-induced mutational spectra of CpG-methylated transgenes and the p53 gene in skin cancer point to an important role of 5-methylcytosine residues in solar UV mutagenesis

In the p53 gene of human sunlight-associated skin cancers, 35 % of the mutations involve trinucleotide sequences with the rare base 5-methylcytosine (5'PymCG). In order to determine the involvement of 5-methylcytosine in sunlight-induced mutations, we have analyzed the cII transgene in mouse cells, a mutational target gene that we found is methylated at most CpG sequences. We report that the mutational spectra produced by irradiation with 254 nm UVC radiation and simulated sunlight, respectively, differ most dramatically by the much higher involvement of dipyrimidine structures containing 5-methylcytosine in the solar UV mutation spectrum (32 % versus 9 % of all mutations). A distinct mutational hotspot induced by simulated sunlight occurs at a sequence 5'TmCG and is associated with high levels of cis-syn cyclobutane pyrimidine dimer formation. A comparison of sunlight-induced mutational spectra of the cII and lacI transgenes, as well as the p53 gene in skin tumors, shows that 5-methylcytosine is involved in 25 to 40 % of all mutations in all three systems. The combined data make a strong case that cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers forming preferentially at dipyrimidine sequences with 5-methylcytosine are responsible for a considerable fraction of the mutations induced by sunlight in mammalian cells.     

The role of DNA polymerase iota in UV mutational spectra

UVB (280-320 nm) and UVC (200-280 nm) irradiation generate predominantly cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) and (6-4) photoproducts in DNA. CPDs are thought to be responsible for most of the UV-induced mutations. Thymine-thymine CPDs, and probably also CPDs containing cytosine, are replicated in vivo in a largely accurate manner by a DNA polymerase eta (Pol eta) dependent process. Pol eta is a DNA damage-tolerant and error-prone DNA polymerase encoded by the POLH (XPV) gene in humans. Another member of the Y family of error-prone DNA polymerases is POLI encoding DNA polymerase iota (Pol iota). In order to clarify the specific role of Pol iota in UV mutagenesis, we have used an siRNA knockdown approach in combination with a supF shuttle vector which replicates in mammalian cells, similar as we have previously done for Pol eta. Synthetic RNA duplexes were used to efficiently inhibit Pol iota expression in 293 T cells. The supF shuttle vector was irradiated with 254 nm UVC and replicated in 293 T cells in presence of anti-Pol iota siRNA. Surprisingly, there was a consistent reduction of recovered plasmid from cells with Pol iota knockdown and this was independent of UV irradiation of the plasmid. The supF mutant frequency was unchanged in the siRNA knockdown cells relative to control cells confirming that Pol iota does not play an important role in UV mutagenesis. UV-induced supF mutants were sequenced from siRNA-treated cells and controls. Neither the type of mutations nor their distribution along the supF gene were significantly different between controls and siRNA knockdown cells and were predominantly C to T and CC to TT transitions at dipyrimidine sites. These results show that Pol iota has no significant role in UV lesion bypass and mutagenesis in vivo and provides some initial data suggesting that this polymerase may be involved in replication of extrachromosomal DNA.     

Reactive oxygen species mediate lethality induced by far-UV in Escherichia coli cells

The involvement of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the induction of DNA damage to Escherichia coli cells caused by UVC (254 nm) irradiation was studied. We verified the expression of the soxS gene induced by UVC (254 nm) and its inhibition by sodium azide, a singlet oxygen (1O2) scavenger. Additional results showed that a water-soluble carotenoid (norbixin) protects against the lethal effects of UVC. These results suggest that UVC radiation can also cause ROS-mediated lethality.     

The influence of the wavelength of ultraviolet radiation on survival,mutation induction and DNA repair in irradiated chinese hamster cells

Chinese hamster ovary cells were used to compare the cytotoxicity and mutagenicity of far-UV radiation emitted by a low-pressure mercury, germicidal lamp (wavelength predominantly 254 nm) with that of near-UV radiation emitted by a fluorescent lamp with a continuous spectrum (Westinghouse “Sun Lamp”), of which only the radiation with wavelengths greater than 290 nm or greater than 310 nm was transmitted to the cells. The radiation effects were compared on the basis of an equal number of pyrimidine dimers, the predominant lesion induced in DNA by far-UV, for the induction of which much more energy is needed with near-UV than with 254-nm radiation.The numbers of dimers induced were determined by a biochemical method detecting UV-endonuclease-susceptible sites. The equivalence of these sites with pyrimidine dimers was established, qualitatively and quantitatively, in studies with enzymic photoreactivation in vitro and chromatographic analysis of dimers.On the basis of induced dimers, more cells were killed by >310-nm UV than by >290-nm UV; both forms of radiation were more cytotoxic than 254-nm UV when equal numbers of dimers were induced. Moreover, 5–6 times as many mutants were induced per dimer by >310-nm UV than by >290-nm UV; the latter appeared approximately as mutagenic as 254-nm UV. The differences in lethality and mutagenicity were not caused by differences in repair of dimers: cells with an equal number of dimers induced by either 254-nm or near-UV showed the same removal of sites susceptible to a UV endonuclease specific for dimers, as well as an identical amount of repair replication.The results indicate that near-UV induces, besides pyrimidine dimers, other lesions that appear to be of high biological significance.     

RecA Expression in Response to Solar UVR in the Marine Bacterium Vibrio natriegens

Solar ultraviolet radiation may produce daily stress on marine and estuarine communities as cells are damaged and repair that damage. Reduction in the earth's stratospheric ozone layer has increased awareness of the potential effects that ultraviolet radiation may have in the environment, including how marine bacteria respond to changes in solar radiation. We examined the use of the bacterial RecA protein as an indicator of the potential of bacteria to repair DNA damage caused by solar UV irradiation using the marine bacterium Vibrio natriegens as a model. RecA is universally present in bacteria and is a regulator protein for the so-called Dark Repair Systems, which include excision repair, postreplication recombinational repair, and mutagenic or SOS repair. Solar UVB and UVA both reduced V. natriegens viability in seawater microcosms. After exposure to unfiltered solar radiation or radiation in which UVB was blocked, survival dropped below 1%, whereas visible light from which UVA and UVB had been filtered had no effect on survival. Using a RecA-specific antibody for detection, RecA protein was induced by solar radiation in a diel pattern in marine microcosms conducted in the Gulf of Mexico. Peak induction was observed at dusk each day. Although RecA expression was correlated with the formation of UVB-induced cyclobutyl pyrimidine dimers, longer wavelength UVA radiation also induced recA gene expression. Our results demonstrate that RecA-regulated, light-independent repair is an important component in the ability of marine bacteria to survive exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation and that RecA expression is a useful monitor of bacterial repair after exposure to solar UVR.     

Distribution and repair of bipyrimidine photoproducts in solar UV-irradiated mammalian cells. Possible role of Dewar photoproducts in solar mutagenesis

In order to better understand the relative contribution of the different UV components of sunlight to solar mutagenesis, the distribution of the bipyrimidine photolesions, cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPD), (6-4) photoproducts ((6-4)PP), and their Dewar valence photoisomers (DewarPP) was examined in Chinese hamster ovary cells irradiated with UVC, UVB, or UVA radiation or simulated sunlight. The absolute amount of each type of photoproduct was measured by using a calibrated and sensitive immuno-dot-blot assay. As already established for UVC and UVB, we report the production of CPD by UVA radiation, at a yield in accordance with the DNA absorption spectrum. At biologically relevant doses, DewarPP were more efficiently produced by simulated solar light than by UVB (ratios of DewarPP to (6-4)PP of 1:3 and 1:8, respectively), but were detected neither after UVA nor after UVC radiation. The comparative rates of formation for CPD, (6-4)PP and DewarPP are 1:0.25 for UVC, 1:0. 12:0.014 for UVB, and 1:0.18:0.06 for simulated sunlight. The repair rates of these photoproducts were also studied in nucleotide excision repair-proficient cells irradiated with UVB, UVA radiation, or simulated sunlight. Interestingly, DewarPP were eliminated slowly, inefficiently, and at the same rate as CPD. In contrast, removal of (6-4)PP photoproducts was rapid and completed 24 h after exposure. Altogether, our results indicate that, in addition to CPD and (6-4)PP, DewarPP may play a role in solar cytotoxicity and mutagenesis.