Ultraviolet B (UVB) Induces Down-regulation of Parkin Gene Expression

Abstract

Ultraviolet (UV) irradiation induces cellular damage. A variety of cellular responses for repairing cellular damage including DNA damage occur after UV irradiation. During the repair processes, expression and activation of various molecules are regulated depending on the types of cellular damage. Parkin is an E3 ligase and act as a tumor suppressor. Recently, it has been reported that Parkin is involved in the DNA repair process. In the current study, we investigated whether UVB irradiation influences expression of Parkin. Parkin expression transiently decreased after UVB irradiation both at the mRNA and protein levels, but returned to normal levels thereafter. Taken together with cell viability data, Parkin expression is down-regulated during UVB-induced suppression of cell growth and is increased again in accordance with recovery of UVB-induced cell growth inhibition. However, Parkin overexpression or knockdown did not influence UVB-induced cell growth inhibition and recovery. We propose that Parkin could be a useful molecular marker for evaluating conditions of cells after UVB irradiation.