Hypersensitivity of skin fibroblasts from basal cell nevus syndrome patients to killing by ultraviolet B but not by ultraviolet C radiation

Journal Article · Thu Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 1990 · Cancer Research; (USA)

OSTI ID:7025587

Applegate, L A; Goldberg, L H; Ley, R D; Ananthaswamy, H N ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston (USA)

Basal cell nevus syndrome (BCNS) is an autosomal dominant genetic disorder in which the afflicted individuals are extremely susceptible to sunlight-induced skin cancers, particularly basal cell carcinomas. However, the cellular and molecular basis for BCNS is unknown. To ascertain whether there is any relationship between genetic predisposition to skin cancer and increased sensitivity of somatic cells from BCNS patients to killing by UV radiation, we exposed skin fibroblasts established from unexposed skin biopsies of several BCNS and age- and sex-matched normal individuals to either UV-B (280-320 nm) or UV-C (254 nm) radiation and determined their survival. The results indicated that skin fibroblasts from BCNS patients were hypersensitive to killing by UV-B but not UV-C radiation as compared to skin fibroblasts from normal individuals. DNA repair studies indicated that the increased sensitivity of BCNS skin fibroblasts to killing by UV-B radiation was not due to a defect in the excision repair of pyrimidine dimers. These results indicate that there is an association between hypersensitivity of somatic cells to killing by UV-B radiation and the genetic predisposition to skin cancer in BCNS patients. In addition, these results suggest that DNA lesions (and repair processes) other than the pyrimidine dimer are also involved in the pathogenesis of sunlight-induced skin cancers in BCNS patients. More important, the UV-B sensitivity assay described here may be used as a diagnostic tool to identify presymptomatic individuals with BCNS.

• OSTI ID: 7025587
• Journal Information: Cancer Research; (USA), Vol. 50:3; ISSN 0008-5472
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
FIBROBLASTS
RADIOSENSITIVITY
SKIN
CARCINOMAS
BIOLOGICAL RADIATION EFFECTS
CELL CULTURES
DNA REPAIR
MAN
PYRIMIDINE DIMERS
SURVIVAL TIME
ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION
ANIMAL CELLS
ANIMALS
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
BIOLOGICAL RECOVERY
BIOLOGICAL REPAIR
BODY
CONNECTIVE TISSUE CELLS
DISEASES
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
MAMMALS
NEOPLASMS
ORGANS
PRIMATES
RADIATION EFFECTS
RADIATIONS
RECOVERY
REPAIR
SOMATIC CELLS
VERTEBRATES
560120* - Radiation Effects on Biochemicals
Cells
& Tissue Culture