title: Gene-specific repair in human CD4+ lymphocytes reflects transcription and proliferation.
abstract: We have measured the gene-specific repair of ultraviolet irradiation (UV)-induced cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPD) in freshly isolated human peripheral blood CD4+ T-lymphocytes. Two populations of CD4+ lymphocytes were assayed: resting and proliferating cells. DNA repair was assessed in the essential gene dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) as well as in each of its strands, in the proliferation inducible c-myc gene and in the inactive delta-globin gene. Transcription rates in these genes were determined by nuclear run-on assay in the two cell populations. The rate of DHFR transcription increased 10-fold from resting to proliferating lymphocytes. Transcripts from c-myc were present only in proliferating cells, and we detected no delta-globin transcripts in either cell population. During the 24-h period after UV irradiation, there was little or no repair in any of the genes in the resting cells; there was some repair in the transcribed strand of the DHFR gene, but no repair in its nontranscribed strand. In the proliferating cells where the transcription of DHFR was much increased, the repair was efficient. The delta-globin gene was not expressed in either cell population, but it was more efficiently repaired in the proliferating than in the resting cells. We suggest that the gene-specific repair activity in CD4+ lymphocytes can reflect the proliferative state of the cells as well as the transcriptional state of the gene.
authors.affiliation: Metabolism Branch, National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Bartośova
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pirśel
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Reinhold
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stetler-Stevenson
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zajac-Kaye
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: May
authors.forename: I D
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Horak
authors.forename: V A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Bohr
mesh_terms: D001345:Autoradiography; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000528:radiation effects; D002453:Cell Cycle; D002455:Cell Division; D002470:Cell Survival; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D015342:DNA Probes / Q000032:analysis; D004260:DNA Repair; D016259:Genes, myc / Q000235:genetics; D005914:Globins / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D011740:Pyrimidine Dimers / Q000032:analysis; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D013762:Tetrahydrofolate Dehydrogenase / Q000235:genetics; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000528:radiation effects; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays
chemical_list: D015342:DNA Probes; D011740:Pyrimidine Dimers; D005914:Globins; D013762:Tetrahydrofolate Dehydrogenase