Xeroderma Pigmentosum Lines Research Articles

Minimal ionizing radiation sensitivity in a large cohort of xeroderma pigmentosum fibroblasts

We have examined our ionizing radiation survival data for 33 xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) primary fibroblast lines and compared the data to that of 53 normal fibroblast lines, 7 Cockayne syndrome (CS) lines, 4 combined XP/CS lines and 8 ataxia-telangiectasia fibroblast lines. Although there are differences in radiosensitivity between cell lines within each class, we have no convincing evidence that XP lines as a group are more sensitive to ionizing radiation than the general population. However, because the XP phenotype may lead to premature ageing, especially of sun-exposed tissues, we would still advocate caution when XP patients come to radiotherapy. Our results confirm the extreme ionizing radiation hypersensitivity of ataxia-telangiectasia; they are also consistent with a tendency for slight hypersensitivity in CS, but not (necessarily) in combined XP/CS.

Striking differences in cellular catalase activity between two DNA repair-deficient diseases: xeroderma pigmentosum and trichothiodystrophy

Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) and trichothiodystrophy (TTD) are two recessively transmitted human diseases characterized by DNA repair deficiency. While XP is associated with a very high incidence of cancer on skin exposed to sunlight, TTD is not a cancer-prone disease. Therefore, unrepaired UV-induced DNA lesions do not appear to be enough to give rise to tumors. In order to understand the differences between these two syndromes, we measured catalase activity in cellular extracts, UV irradiated or not, and quantified H2O2 production following in vitro UV irradiation. We confirmed on 21 different XP diploid fibroblast lines that catalase activity was decreased on average by a factor of five as compared to controls, while XP heterozygote lines exhibited intermediary responses. All seven TTD lines we tested were deficient in UV-induced lesion repair and exhibited a high level of catalase activity. However, molecular analysis of catalase transcription showed no difference between normal, XP and TTD cell lines. This was confirmed by Western blots where the amount of catalase subunits was identical in all cell lines studied. Finally, UV irradiation induces five and three times more H2O2 production in XP lines compared with TTD or controls respectively. These striking differences between TTD and XP indicate that UV light, directly or indirectly, together with defective oxidative metabolism may increase the initiation and/or the progression steps in the XP environment compared to TTD. This may partly explain the different tumoral phenotype observed between the two diseases.

Host cell reactivation by human cells of DNA expression vectors damaged by ultraviolet radiation or by acid-heat treatment.

We utilized a plasmid vector host cell reactivation assay to probe the biological functioning of DNA expression vectors and their encoded genes. We studied the effect of ultraviolet radiation or acid-heat treatment on the transient expression of genes transfected into normal human cells and into DNA repair deficient (xeroderma pigmentosum) cells and modification of gene expression by sodium butyrate. U.v. inactivation of transient expression of the bacterial gpt gene contained in a non-replicating expression vector plasmid, pSV2catSVgpt, was much greater in three xeroderma pigmentosum lines than in the four other human cell lines tested. In contrast, treatment of pSV2catSVgpt with acid and heat to produce apurinic sites resulted in a similar slope of the inactivation curve of the bacterial cat gene in the repair deficient and repair proficient cells. Thus, u.v. damage of DNA expression vectors was subject to repair by the normal host cells, but acid-heat treatment resulted in damage (apurinic sites) that was handled in a similar manner by excision repair deficient and excision repair proficient human cells. In both normal and xeroderma pigmentosum cells sodium butyrate treatment of cells resulted in a greater stimulation of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase expression with u.v. damaged than with undamaged plasmid. This assay thus permits examination of the effects of defined types of DNA damage on plasmid expression and study of its modulation by cellular repair activities.

Chromosomal instability in cell lines derived from patients with xeroderma pigmentosum.

The chromosomes of four cell lines derived from skin biopsies of four patients with xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) were studied and compared with corresponding controls. In the early passages, all XP lines had normal chromosome constitution with rates of polyploidy and chromosome aberrations within the range found in the controls. In the later passages, the XP cell lines had higher levels of chromosome abnormalities. The degree of abnormalities varied greatly among the XP lines; two lines had very high level of polyploidy (up to 50%) and cells with chromosome aberrations (up to 79%), the other two XP lines had a normal level of polyploidy and a slightly higher incidence of cells with chromosome aberrations than normal. The most common type of aberration was dicentrics.