Strand specificity for UV-induced DNA repair and mutations in the Chinese hamster HPRT gene.

DNA excision repair modulates the mutagenic effect of many genotoxic agents. The recently observed strand specificity for removal of UV-induced cyclobutane dimers from actively transcribed genes in mammalian cells could influence the nature and distribution of mutations in a particular gene. To investigate this, we have analyzed UV-induced DNA repair and mutagenesis in the same gene, i.e. the hypoxanthine phosphoribosyl-transferase (hprt) gene. In 23 hprt mutants from V79 Chinese hamster cells induced by 2 J/m2 UV we found a strong strand bias for mutation induction: assuming that pre-mutagenic lesions occur at dipyrimidine sequences, 85% of the mutations could be attributed to lesions in the nontranscribed strand. Analysis of DNA repair in the hprt gene revealed that more than 90% of the cyclobutane dimers were removed from the transcribed strand within 8 hours after irradiation with 10 J/m2 UV, whereas virtually no dimer removal could be detected from the nontranscribed strand even up to 24 hr after UV. These data present the first proof that strand specific repair of DNA lesions in an expressed mammalian gene is associated with a strand specificity for mutation induction.     

Additive roles of XPA and MSH2 genes in UVB-induced skin tumorigenesis in mice

We have made xeroderma pigmentosum group A gene (XPA)-knockout mice (XPA(-/-) mice). The XPA(-/-) mice had no detectable activity for nucleotide excision repair (NER) and showed a high incidence of UVB-induced skin tumorigenesis. We have also found that cell lines derived from skin cancers in UVB-irradiated XPA(-/-) mice become tolerant to UV-irradiation and showed abnormal UV-induced cell cycle checkpoints and decreased mismatch repair (MMR) activity. These results suggested that the MMR-downregulation may help cells escape killing by UV-irradiation and thus MMR-deficient clones are selected for during the tumorigenic transformation of XPA(-/-) cells. In this report, we examined whether the incidence of UVB-induced skin tumorigenesis is enhanced in XPA(-/-)MSH2(-/-), XPA(-/-) and MSH2(-/-) mice when compared with that in wild-type mice. Our results indicate that the MSH2-deficiency caused a high incidence of spontaneous and UVB-induced skin tumorigenesis and the XPA and MSH2 genes have additive roles in the UV-induced skin tumorigenesis.     

UV-induced skin carcinogenesis in xeroderma pigmentosum group A (XPA) gene-knockout mice with nucleotide excision repair-deficiency

Nucleotide excision repair (NER) removes a wide variety of lesions from the genome and is deficient in the genetic disorder, xeroderma pigmentosum (XP). In this paper, an in vitro analysis of the XP group A gene product (XPA protein) is reported. Results of an analysis on the pathogenesis of ultraviolet (UV)-B-induced skin cancer in the XPA gene-knockout mouse are also described: (1) contrary to wild type mice, significant bias of p53 mutations to the transcribed strand and no evident p53 mutational hot spots were detected in the skin tumors of XPA-knockout mice. (2) Skin cancer cell lines from UVB-irradiated XPA-knockout mice had a decreased mismatch repair activity and an abnormal cell cycle checkpoint, suggesting that the downregulation of mismatch repair helps cells escape killing by UVB and that mismatch repair-deficient clones are selected for during the tumorigenic transformation of XPA (-/-) cells. (3) The XPA-knockout mice showed a higher frequency of UVB-induced mutation in the rpsL transgene at a low dose of UVB-irradiation than the wild type mice. CC-->TT tandem transition, a hallmark of UV-induced mutation, was detected at higher frequency in the rpsL transgene in the XPA-knockout mice than the wild type mice. This rpsL/XPA mouse system will be useful for further analysing the role of NER in the mutagenesis induced by various carcinogens. (4) The UVB-induced immunosuppression was greatly enhanced in the XPA-knockout mice. It is possible that an enhanced impairment of the immune system by UVB irradiation is involved in the high incidence of skin cancer in XP.     

Silymarin protects epidermal keratinocytes from ultraviolet radiation-induced apoptosis and DNA damage by nucleotide excision repair mechanism

Solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation is a well recognized epidemiologic risk factor for melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers. This observation has been linked to the accumulation of UVB radiation-induced DNA lesions in cells, and that finally lead to the development of skin cancers. Earlier, we have shown that topical treatment of skin with silymarin, a plant flavanoid from milk thistle (Silybum marianum), inhibits photocarcinogenesis in mice; however it is less understood whether chemopreventive effect of silymarin is mediated through the repair of DNA lesions in skin cells and that protect the cells from apoptosis. Here, we show that treatment of normal human epidermal keratinocytes (NHEK) with silymarin blocks UVB-induced apoptosis of NHEK in vitro. Silymarin reduces the amount of UVB radiation-induced DNA damage as demonstrated by reduced amounts of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) and as measured by comet assay, and that ultimately may lead to reduced apoptosis of NHEK. The reduction of UV radiation-induced DNA damage by silymarin appears to be related with induction of nucleotide excision repair (NER) genes, because UV radiation-induced apoptosis was not blocked by silymarin in NER-deficient human fibroblasts. Cytostaining and dot-blot analysis revealed that silymarin repaired UV-induced CPDs in NER-proficient fibroblasts from a healthy individual but did not repair UV-induced CPD-positive cells in NER-deficient fibroblasts from patients suffering from xeroderma pigmentosum complementation-A disease. Similarly, immunohistochemical analysis revealed that silymarin did not reduce the number of UVB-induced sunburn/apoptotic cells in the skin of NER-deficient mice, but reduced the number of sunburn cells in their wild-type counterparts. Together, these results suggest that silymarin exert the capacity to reduce UV radiation-induced DNA damage and, thus, prevent the harmful effects of UV radiation on the genomic stability of epidermal cells.     

Increased UV resistance of a xeroderma pigmentosum revertant cell line is correlated with selective repair of the transcribed strand of an expressed gene.

A UV-resistant revertant (XP129) of a xeroderma pigmentosum group A cell line has been reported to be totally deficient in repair of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) but proficient in repair of 6-4 photoproducts. This finding has been interpreted to mean that CPDs play no role in cell killing by UV. We have analyzed the fine structure of repair of CPDs in the dihydrofolate reductase gene in the revertant. In this essential, active gene, we observe that repair of the transcribed strand is as efficient as that in normal, repair-proficient human cells, but repair of the nontranscribed strand is not. Within 4 h after UV at 7.5 J/m2, over 50% of the CPDs were removed, and by 8 h, 80% of the CPDs were removed. In contrast, there was essentially no removal from the nontranscribed strand even by 24 h. Our results demonstrate that overall repair measurements can be misleading, and they support the hypothesis that removal of CPDs from the transcribed strands of expressed genes is essential for UV resistance.     

Terminally differentiated human neurons repair transcribed genes but display attenuated global DNA repair and modulation of repair gene expression

Repair of UV-induced DNA lesions in terminally differentiated human hNT neurons was compared to that in their repair-proficient precursor NT2 cells. Global genome repair of (6-4)pyrimidine-pyrimidone photoproducts was significantly slower in hNT neurons than in the precursor cells, and repair of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) was not detected in the hNT neurons. This deficiency in global genome repair did not appear to be due to denser chromatin structure in hNT neurons. By contrast, CPDs were removed efficiently from both strands of transcribed genes in hNT neurons, with the nontranscribed strand being repaired unexpectedly well. Correlated with these changes in repair during neuronal differentiation were modifications in the expression of several repair genes, in particular an up-regulation of the two structure-specific nucleases XPG and XPF/ERCC1. These results have implications for neuronal dysfunction and aging.     

Differential role of basal keratinocytes in UV-induced immunosuppression and skin cancer

Cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) and 6-4 photoproducts (6-4PPs) comprise major UV-induced photolesions. If left unrepaired, these lesions can induce mutations and skin cancer, which is facilitated by UV-induced immunosuppression. Yet the contribution of lesion and cell type specificity to the harmful biological effects of UV exposure remains currently unclear. Using a series of photolyase-transgenic mice to ubiquitously remove either CPDs or 6-4PPs from all cells in the mouse skin or selectively from basal keratinocytes, we show that the majority of UV-induced acute effects to require the presence of CPDs in basal keratinocytes in the mouse skin. At the fundamental level of gene expression, CPDs induce the expression of genes associated with repair and recombinational processing of DNA damage, as well as apoptosis and a response to stress. At the organismal level, photolyase-mediated removal of CPDs, but not 6-4PPs, from the genome of only basal keratinocytes substantially diminishes the incidence of skin tumors; however, it does not affect the UVB-mediated immunosuppression. Taken together, these findings reveal a differential role of basal keratinocytes in these processes, providing novel insights into the skin's acute and chronic responses to UV in a lesion- and cell-type-specific manner.     

DNA strand specificity for UV-induced mutations in mammalian cells.

The influence of DNA repair on the molecular nature of mutations induced by UV light (254 nm) was investigated in UV-induced hprt mutants from UV-sensitive Chinese hamster cells (V-H1) and the parental line (V79). The nature of point mutations in hprt exon sequences was determined for 19 hprt mutants of V79 and for 17 hprt mutants of V-H1 cells by sequence analysis of in vitro-amplified hprt cDNA. The mutation spectrum in V79 cells consisted of single- and tandem double-base pair changes, while in V-H1 cells three frameshift mutations were also detected. All base pair changes in V-H1 mutants were due to GC----AT transitions. In contrast, in V79 all possible classes of base pair changes except the GC----CG transversion were present. In this group, 70% of the mutations were transversions. Since all mutations except one did occur at dipyrimidine sites, the assumption was made that they were caused by UV-induced photoproducts at these sites. In V79 cells, 11 out of 17 base pair changes were caused by photoproducts in the nontranscribed strand of the hprt gene. However, in V-H1 cells, which are completely deficient in the removal of pyrimidine dimers from the hprt gene and which show a UV-induced mutation frequency enhanced seven times, 10 out of 11 base pair changes were caused by photoproducts in the transcribed strand of the hprt gene. We hypothesize that this extreme strand specificity in V-H1 cells is due to differences in fidelity of DNA replication of the leading and the lagging strand. Furthermore, we propose that in normal V79 cells two processes determine the strand specificity of UV-induced mutations in the hprt gene, namely preferential repair of the transcribed strand of the hprt gene and a higher fidelity of DNA replication of the nontranscribed strand compared with the transcribed strand.