title: DNA damage induced by 193-nm radiation in mammalian cells.
abstract: The contribution of DNA damage to the effects of 193-nm excimer laser radiation on mammalian cells in culture was studied in order to evaluate the mutagenic potential of this UV wavelength in vivo. Two approaches were taken: measurement of pyrimidine dimer-specific endonuclease-sensitive sites/megabase and comparison of the 193-nm radiation-induced cytotoxicity in normal versus DNA repair-deficient cells. The formation of pyrimidine dimer-specific endonuclease-sensitive sites/megabase was inversely related to the thickness of the cytoplasm overlying the nuclei of normal human fibroblasts (NHF) and Chinese hamster ovary cells. The results of these measurements and a calculation of the absorption coefficient of cytoplasm indicate that each 1 micron of cytoplasm attenuates the incident radiation by greater than 90% and, therefore, the nuclear DNA in tissue will be highly protected from 193-nm radiation by overlying cytoplasm. The reduction in colony-forming ability induced by 254-nm, 193-nm, and X-ray radiation was measured in NHF, xeroderma pigmentosum (group A) cells, and ataxia telangiectasia cells. Xeroderma pigmentosum (group A) cells were 16.5 times more sensitive to 254-nm radiation but only 3.5 times more sensitive to 193-nm radiation than NHF cells, indicating that cyclobutylpyrimidine dimers were not the major lethal lesion formed at 193 nm. AT cells were 3.4 times more sensitive to X-rays than NHF cells, but these cell types were almost equally sensitive to 193-nm radiation, indicating that 193 nm did not induce the same type of lethal lesions as X-rays.
authors.affiliation: Wellman Laboratories of Photomedicine, Department of Dermatology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston 02114.
authors.forename: I E
authors.initials: IE
authors.lastname: Kochevar
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Walsh
authors.forename: H A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Green
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sherwood
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Shih
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Sutherland
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000528:radiation effects; D006224:Cricetinae; D003412:Cricetulus; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000528:radiation effects / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004247:DNA / Q000528:radiation effects*; D004249:DNA Damage; D004260:DNA Repair; D004307:Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays
chemical_list: D004247:DNA