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Hyperthermia/γH2AX/ATM/DNA-PK. Heating induces histone H2AX phosphorylation at serine 139 (γH2 AX). Phosphorylated H2AX subsequently forms foci in numerous mammalian cell lines. The aim of this study was to clarify details in the mechanisms involved in the phosphorylation of H2AX after heating. The cell lines used were DNA-PKcs knockout cells, ATM knockout cells, and their parental cell lines. To elucidate mechanisms of induction of phosphorylation of H2AX after heating, ATM/ATR inhibitor (CGK733) and DNA-PK inhibitor (NU7026) were used. The intensity of γH2AX signals was assayed with flow cytometry. The thermal dose-response curve for the fluorescence intensity of γH2AX appearance in DNA-PKcs–/– cells during the heating period was similar to that observed in DNA-PKcs+/+ cells. On the other hand, the slope of thermal dose-response curve for them in ATM–/– cells was lower than that in ATM+/+ cells. Phosphorylation of H2AX after heating was suppressed by a combination of CGK733 and NU7026 in the culture medium in DNA-PKcs–/– cells, ATM–/– cells and in their parental cells. Although the phosphorylation of H2AX after heating was not suppressed by NU7026 in their parental cells, such phosphorylation was suppressed by CGK733 in their parental cells. These results indicate that ATM is the predominant protein which is active in the phosphorylation of histone H2AX after heating.

Epidemiological data on the health effects of A-bomb radiation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki provide the framework for setting limits for radiation risk and radiological protection. However, uncertainty remains in the equivalent dose, because it is generally believed that direct derivation of the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of neutrons from the epidemiological data on the survivors is difficult. To solve this problem, an alternative approach has been taken. The RBE of polyenergetic neutrons was determined for chromosome aberration formation in human lymphocytes irradiated in vitro, compared with published data for tumor induction in experimental animals, and validated using epidemiological data from A-bomb survivors. The RBE of fission neutrons was dependent on dose but was independent of the energy spectrum. The same RBE regimen was observed for lymphocyte chromosome aberrations and tumors in mice and rats. Used as a weighting factor for A-bomb survivors, this RBE system was superior in eliminating the city difference in chromosome aberration frequencies and cancer mortality. The revision of the equivalent dose of A-bomb radiation using DS02 weighted by this RBE system reduces the cancer risk by a factor of 0.7 compared with the current estimates using DS86, with neutrons weighted by a constant RBE of 10.

Exon shuffling, the juxtaposition and new combinations of exons from different genes, facilitates evolutionary changes by increasing protein diversity or by generating new function. Exon shuffling is generated as a consequence of segmental duplications. Long interspersed element (LINE)-1 (L1)-mediated 3' transduction is a potential pathway for exon shuffling by which L1 associates 3' flanking DNA in cis as a read-through transcript and carries the DNA to a new genomic location. In this pathway, however, the targets are limited to the regions located 3' to L1s. Here we propose that the genomic DNA distant from L1 may be mobilized by an alternative (trans) action of L1. A partial ATM sequence containing a single exon and flanking introns has been retrotransposed to a new genomic location on chromosome 7. There was no L1 around the exon of the authentic ATM locus. An unusual feature that the poly(A) tail tagged to the transposed sequence oriented oppositely to the ATM's transcriptional orientation suggests that a trans action of reverse transcriptase on antisense transcript has driven the duplication of genomic DNA without removing introns. Taking account of similar duplication events in previous studies, a certain class of segmental duplications in the human genome may be accounted for by the trans action of retrotransposon machinery.

Inherited mutations of the ATM gene are responsible for the human autosomal recessive disorder ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T) characterized by pleiotropic clinical manifestations. ATM mutations are also involved in the development of sporadic human cancers such as T-cell prolymphocytic leukemia and B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Little is known, however, on the association of ATM mutations with non-lymphoid malignancy. Here, we analyzed a panel of cell lines derived from human solid tumors for the presence of ATM mutations. PCR-SSCP analysis of 25 tumor cell lines revealed 50 sequence alterations in 16 cell lines. The most striking feature was a high frequency of deletions within the intronic mononucleotide tracts exclusively in the 5 colon tumor cell lines with microsatellite instability, which accounted for 62% of the sequence alterations observed here. Generation of aberrant splicing variants (497del22 or 1236del372) was associated with 2 such intronic deletions at splice acceptor sites preceding ATM exon 8 or exon 12, respectively. The level of ATM protein was partially depressed in the 3 cell lines where expression of protein-truncating 497del22 transcripts dominated. This implies that ATM is a novel mutation target of microsatellite instability where abnormal transcripts are generated indirectly by intronic mutations, which is distinct from the other mutation targets such as the type II TGF-beta receptor gene or BAX, where exonic repeats are directly affected.

There have been no reports about the effects of heavy-ion beams on the expression of the WAF1 gene, although ionizing radiation such as y-rays and X-rays is well known to induce WAF1 (p21/CIP1/sdi1) gene expression in a p53-dependent manner. In the present study, it was examined whether WAF1 accumulation was induced after carbon-ion (C-) beam or alpha-particle irradiation in four glioblastoma cell lines.A colony assay for radiosensitivity and Western blot analysis of WAF1 were applied to two human glioblastoma cell lines, A-172 bearing wild-type p53 (wtp53) and T98G bearing mutated p53 (mp53). A-172/neo and A-172/mp53 were transfected with a control vector (containing only a neo selection marker) and a mp53 expression vector respectively.The amount of WAF1 increased markedly after X-ray irradiation in A-172 and A-172/neo cells but not in T98G and A-172/mp53 cells. The level of WAF1 reached a plateau at 3-10 h after X-ray irradiation at 5 Gy in A-172 and A-172/neo cells. Likewise, the levels of WAF1 in A-172 and A-172/neo cells reached a plateau at 3-10 h and 6-24 h after C-beam (3.0 Gy) and alpha-particle (4.5 Gy) irradiation respectively. The amount of WAF1 increased markedly in a dose-dependent manner 10 h after X-ray, C-beam or alpha-particle irradiation in A-172 and A-172/neo cells but not in T98G or A-172/mp53 cells. In addition, cell survival assay showed that these cell lines were most sensitive to C-beams, less sensitive to alpha-particles and least sensitive to X-rays at 10% survival. There was no difference in sensitivity among these cell lines against C-beam and alpha-particle irradiation whereas wtp53 cells (A-172 and A-172/neo) were more sensitive to X-rays than mp53 cells (A-172/mp53 and T98G).These results indicate that C-beams and alpha-particles induce p53-dependent WAF1 accumulation as well as is the case with X-rays, suggesting that WAF1 protein accumulation may not contribute to cell killing.

Fanconi anemia (FA), an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by a progressive pancytopenia associated with congenital anomalies and high predisposition to malignancies, is a genetically and clinically heterogeneous disease. At least eight complementation groups (FA-A to FA-H) have been identified with their relative prevalence varying among the ethnical backgrounds. Recently, responsible genes, FANCA and FANCC, have been cloned. This report describes mutations of the FANCA gene, which we studied by direct sequencing of cDNA with confirmation on genomic DNA in 15 unclassified Japanese FA patients. A total of 19 sequence alterations were identified, of which 10 (six missense and four silent alterations) were likely to be nonpathogenic polymorphism. The remaining nine alterations, of which eight were novel mutations, were assumed to be pathogenic and consisted of two missense mutations and seven mutations resulting in truncation of gene product, demonstrating a wide allelic heterogeniety. The pathogenic mutations were found in 12 patients (80%); they were either homozygous or compound heterozygous in 10 patients, apparently heterozygous in two patients and none in three patients. We conclude that the sequence variability is intrinsic to the FANCA gene and that the relative prevalence of the FA-A subtype is unusually high in Japanese FA patients. Hum Mutat 13:237–244, 1999. © 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

UV-induced sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) in p53-deficient mouse cells were studied to obtain more evidence regarding the involvement of p53 protein in the DNA repair pathway as a checkpoint protein. After 5 J/m2 UV irradiation, mutant-type homozygous cells for p53-deficiency showed the same number of SCEs as the heterozygous and wild-type homozygous cells. In the heterozygous and wild-type homozygous cells, no further increase of SCEs was observed after 10 J/m2 UV irradiation. In contrast, in mutant-type homozygous cells about twice as many SCEs were induced by 10 J/m2 UV as by 5 J/m2 UV. In mutant-type homozygous cells, fractions of S-phase cells decreased just after 10 J/m2 UV irradiation, but recovered to higher than control levels within a short time, while in heterozygous and wild-type homozygous cells, the decrease in S-phase cells was prolonged by more than 6 hr and no increase above control levels was observed. Although no difference in UV sensitivity and repair of UV-induced DNA damage was found among the 3 genotypes, which were determined by the relative colony-forming ability after UV irradiation and removal of thymine dimers and (6-4) photoproducts from cellular DNA, our data strongly suggest an impaired checkpoint function in p53-deficient cells when DNA is damaged.

The chromosomal localization of the gene which complements radiation hypersensitivity of AT cells was studied by microcell-mediated chromosome transfer. A 6-thioguanine-resistant derivative of an immortalized AT cell line, AT2KYSVTG, was used as a recipient for microcell-mediated chromosome transfer from 4 strains of mouse A9 cells, 3 of which carried a human X/11 recombinant chromosome containing various regions of chromosome 11, while the other carried an intact X chromosome. HAT-resistant microcell hybrids were isolated and examined for their radiosensitivity and chromosome constitution. The microcell hybrid clones obtained from the transfer of an intact X chromosome or an X/11 chromosome bearing the pter----q13 region of chromosome 11 did not show a difference in radiosensitivity from parental AT cells, while those obtained from the transfer of X/11 chromosomes bearing either the p11----qter or the pter----q23 region of chromosome 11 exhibited a marked radioresistance which was comparable to normal human fibroblasts. A HAT-resistant but radiosensitive variant was further obtained from the microcell fusion with an A9 cell strain carrying an X/11 chromosome bearing the 11p11----qter region, in which a deletion at the 11q23 region was found. The results indicate that the gene which complements a radiosensitive phenotype of AT is located at the q23 region of chromosome 11.

A characteristic hot-filament type X-ray generator was constructed for irradiation of cultured cells. The source provides copper K, iron K, chromium K, molybdenum L, aluminium K and carbon K shell characteristic X-rays. When cultured mouse m5S cells were irradiated and frequencies of dicentrics were fitted to a linear-quadratic model, Y=αD+βD^2, the chromosomal effectiveness was not a simple function of photon energy. The α-terms increased with the decrease of the photon energy and then decreased with further decrease of the energy with an inflection point at around 10 keV. The β-terms stayed constant for the photon energy down to 10 keV and then increased with further decrease of energy. Below 10 keV, the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) at low doses was proportional to the photon energy, which contrasted to that for high energy X- or γ-rays where the RBE was inversely related with the photon energy. The reversion of the energy dependency occurred at around 1-2 Gy, where the RBE of soft X-rays was insensitive to X-ray energy. The reversion of energy-RBE relation at a moderate dose may shed light on the controversy on energy dependency of RBE of ultrasoft X-rays in cell survival experiments., Journal of radiation research. 2006, 47(2), p.103-112

The effective dose of combined spectrum energy neutrons and high energy spectrum γ-rays in A-bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki has long been a matter of discussion. The reason is largely due to the paucity of biological data for high energy photons, particularly for those with an energy of tens of MeV. To circumvent this problem, a mathematical formalism was developed for the photon energy dependency of chromosomal effectiveness by reviewing a large number of data sets published in the literature on dicentric chromosome formation in human lymphocytes. The chromosomal effectiveness was expressed by a simple multiparametric function of photon energy, which made it possible to estimate the effective dose of spectrum energy photons and differential evaluation in the field of mixed neutron and γ-ray exposure with an internal reference radiation. The effective dose of reactor-produced spectrum energy neutrons was insensitive to the fine structure of the energy distribution and was accessible by a generalized formula applicable to the A-bomb neutrons. Energy spectra of all sources of A-bomb γ-rays at different tissue depths were simulated by a Monte Carlo calculation applied on an ICRU sphere. Using kerma-weighted chromosomal effectiveness of A-bomb spectrum energy photons, the effective dose of A-bomb neutrons was determined, where the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of neutrons was expressed by a dose-dependent variable RBE, RBE(γ, D n), against A-bomb γ-rays as an internal reference radiation. When the newly estimated variable RBE(γ, D n) was applied to the chromosome data of A-bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the city difference was completely eliminated. The revised effective dose was about 35% larger in Hiroshima, 19% larger in Nagasaki and 26% larger for the combined cohort compared with that based on a constant RBE of 10. Since the differences are significantly large, the proposed effective dose might have an impact on the magnitude of the risk estimates deduced from the A-bomb survivor cohort.

A number of human homologues of yeast cell cycle checkpoint control genes have been identified recently. In this study, the sequence alterations in six of such novel human genes (hRAD1, hRAD9, hRAD17, hHUS1, CHK1 and CHES1) were analyzed by PCR-single-strand conformational polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) method on a panel of 25 human tumor cell lines in an attempt to search for possible in vivo cases where any of the checkpoint-related genes are altered in human systems. For hRAD9, hHUS1 or CHK1, no SSCP variant was detected in any of the cell lines tested, indicating a high stability of these genes in human cancer. Most of the SSCP variants found in the other three genes were due to single nucleotide base substitutions. Two cell lines were found to be homozygous for missense-type base substitutions, i.e., Saos-2 was homoallelic for 1637T → G in hRAD17; and COLO320DM for 1189G → A in CHES1, indicating a possible use of these cell lines for further study. The former nucleotide change in hRAD17, which causes a change of amino acid from arginine to lysine at codon 546, was supposed to be polymorphic. Considering that lysine, but not arginine, is the amino acid that is well conserved among fission yeast, mouse and monkey at the corresponding position, coexistence of both alleles in human may have a functional or selectional implication.

To determine the genetic effect of static magnetic fields (SMF), which are not supposed to produce any significant DNA damage, we took advantage of DNA mismatch repair (MMR) deficient cells, in which all the errors produced during DNA replication are left uncorrected. We first established a simple and less labor-intensive method to analyze genetic changes in microsatellite repetitive sequences in the MMR-deficient cells. After exposure to a strong SMF (6.34T) for 24 h, both MMR deficient HCT116 cells and proficient HeLa S3 cells did not exhibit any significant effect on microsatellite changes. Moreover, when HCT116 cells were synchronized at the G1/S boundary by aphidicolin and exposed to SMF during the whole S-phase, no increase in microsatellite changes was either observed. In contrast, irradiation by a low dose X-ray (2Gy) significantly increased microsatellite changes in HCT116 cells. This suggested that exposure to strong SMF may not induce any significant level of genetic changes in microsatellite sequences.

Acute low-dose irradiation (0.1-1 Gy, 1.33 Gy/min) of cells of a human glioblastoma cell line, A-172, induced a dose-dependent monophasic accumulation of TP53 (formerly known as p53) and CDKN1A (formerly known as WAF1). In contrast, chronic gamma irradiation (0.001 Gy/min) produced a clear biphasic response of accumulation TP53 with the first peak at 1.5 h (0.09 Gy) and the second peak at 10 h (0.54 Gy). Significantly, when the cells were preirradiated with a chronic dose of gamma irradiation for 24 h (1.44 Gy) or 50 h (3 Gy), they no longer responded to an acute challenging dose to produce a dose-dependent response of the TP53 pathway. These findings suggest that chronic irradiation at low dose rate alters the TP53-dependent signal transduction pathway. Wearing away of the TP53 pathway by chronic exposure to radiation may have important implications for radiation protection.

The ATM (A-T, mutated) gene on human chromosome 11q22.3 has recently been identified as the gene responsible for the human recessive disease ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T). In order to define the types of disease-causing ATM mutations in Japanese A-T patients as well as to look for possible mutational hotspots, reverse-transcribed RNA derived from ten patients belonging to eight unrelated Japanese A-T families was analyzed for mutations by the restriction endonuclease fingerprinting method. As has been reported by others, mutations that lead to exon skipping or premature protein truncation were also predominant in our mutants. Six different mutations were identified on 12 of the 16 alleles examined. Four were deletions involving a loss of a single exon: exon 7, exon 16, exon 33 or exon 35. The others were minute deletions, 4649delA in exon 33 and 7883del5 in exon 55. The mutations 4612del165 and 7883del5 were found in more than two unrelated families; 44% (7 of 16) of the mutant alleles had one of the two mutations. The 4612del165 mutations in three different families were all ascribed to the same T--A substitution at the splice donor site in intron 33. Microsatellite genotyping around the ATM locus also indicated that a common haplotype was shared by the mutant alleles in both mutations. This suggests that these two founder mutations may be predominant among Japanese ATM mutant alleles.

A human-mouse hybrid containing a human 11q22-23 fragment including the ATM locus was used to examine its capability to correct the cellular defect of ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T). Examination of 21 A-T-derived hybrids indicated that the acquired radioresistance was observed in the clones where the 11q22-23 fragment was transferred intact, but not in those where donor-derived 11q segment was lost. In one exceptional clone, the ATM locus was deleted from the transferred fragment, while it was still partially radioresistant. This partially radioresistant clone was found to include the mouse-derived fragment containing the Atm gene, the mouse homologue of human ATM gene. Similar association of partial radioresistance with the presence of mouse Atm gene was observed in three additional hybrids. The results indicate that the cellular A-T defect can be corrected by the mouse subchromosomal fragment containing the Atm gene as well as by the human 11q22-23 fragment containing the ATM gene, but apparently to a lesser extent in the former.

A human-mouse monochromosomal hybrid that contains a human t(X;11) translocated chromosome carrying pter--q23 segment of chromosome 11 was used to construct a panel of radiation-reduced hybrids. The hypoxhanthine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT) gene located close to the translocation breakpoint was used as a marker to select for the hybrids that preferentially retain the 11q22-23 region. Twenty-three HAT-resistant hybrids were isolated and screened by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the retention of 31 loci on 11q22-23 region. Among the 14 hybrids that had breakpoints within the 11q22-23 region, 6 hybrids contained fragments that extend either from centromere or telomere to the 5-Mb region spanned by GRIA4 and FDX, carrying various breakpoints within the region. This subpanel could be a potential resource to analyze the ataxia-telangiectasia disease locus and its neighboring region.

Segregation analysis of polymorphic sites within the retinoblastoma (RB) gene and on chromosome 13, as well as the parental origin of the lost allele in the tumor, were analyzed in 24 families with RB patients. Four mutant alleles transmitted through the germ-line and seven de novo germ-line mutant alleles were identified in 11 patients with hereditary RB. Segregation analysis within the RB gene and on chromosome 13 was useful for DNA diagnosis of susceptibility to RB in relatives of hereditary patients, even if mutations were not identified. All seven de novo germ-line mutant alleles were paternally derived. The bias toward the paternal allele for de novo germ-line mutations of the RB gene was statistically significant. Seven paternal alleles and six maternal alleles were lost in 13 non-hereditary RB tumors with no bias in the parental origin of the somatic allele loss. These results suggest that the physical environment or a deficiency in DNA repair during spermatogenesis may be associated with significant risk factors for de novo germ-line mutations.

Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) on chromosome 13 and the age of patients at operation were studied in 46 cases of retinoblastoma (RB) tumors, of which 25 were hereditary and 21 were non-hereditary. The frequency of LOH was 70% for all informative tumors, but significantly higher in non-hereditary tumors (90%) than in hereditary ones (52%). Our results suggest that LOH might be involved in the initial somatic events in non-hereditary tumors. Age at operation of patients with hereditary tumors was significantly lower than that of patients with non-hereditary tumors. Even when tumors associated with a family history were omitted from among the hereditary cases, the difference was still significant. In the case of hereditary tumors, age at operation of LOH-negative patients was significantly lower than that of LOH-positive patients. When tumors associated with a family history were omitted, the difference was still significant. The delay in development of LOH-positive tumors suggests that LOH for one chromosome 13 may be disadvantageous with respect to growth of RB tumors.

It is generally thought that the germinal mutation of tumor-suppressor genes predisposes the affected children to the development of certain types of hereditary tumors while the somatic mutation of the same genes links to the development of non-hereditary tumors. Retinoblastoma susceptibility gene (RB gene) is a prototype of such genes. We studied the parental origin of new mutation of the RB gene in the sporadic hereditary and non-hereditary retinoblastoma and osteosarcoma. The results showed a preferential involvement of parental genome in the new germinal as well as initial somatic mutations. The male-directed mutagenesis even in the somatic cells has been implicated as a reflection of germinal origin of mutation, even for non-hereditary tumors as a manifestation of mutational mosaicism associated with delayed mutation. The importance of the new mutations occurring as mosaics should be emphasized in the evaluation of cancer risks from parental exposures to radiation and chemicals.

SummaryAn immortalized cell line was established from a female ataxia telangiectasia (AT) patient by the transfection of primary skin fibroblasts with origin-defective SV40 DNA. The cell line was characterized by a hypodiploid chromosome constitution and radiation hypersensitivity. The established cell line was used as a recipient for microcell-mediated chromosome transfer. Among seven G418-resistant clones obtained by the fusion with microcells from mouse A9 cells carrying a pSV2neo-tagged normal human chromsome 11, three clones showed restoration of radiation resistance with concomitant gain of an extra intact chromosome 11, while the others contained no recognizable or deleted chromosome 11. The association of the presence of 11q14→qter region with the radioresistance suggests the presence of AT gene in this chromosomal region.

The F value, the ratio of inter- to intrachromosomal interchanges, as a biomarker for densely ionizing radiation which was proposed by Brenner and Sachs (Radiat. Res. 140, 134-142, 1994) has been a matter of repeated discussion. We examined our experimental data on radiation-induced chromosome aberrations in human peripheral blood lymphocytes for the F value as measured by the ratio of dicentrics to centric rings. Because of the rarity of aberrations, the F value showed a considerable variability, with a large error range particularly in the low-dose range of low-LET radiation. However, the data showed a general trend that the F value tended to be lower for high-LET than low-LET radiations. The differential F value was more pronounced at low doses and diminished with increasing dose; the F values of all radiations tended to converge toward a similar value at high doses. The limiting F value at the lowest doses, or the F0 value, was dependent on LET for high-energy radiations that can produce an array of DNA double-strand breaks along the track of the charged particle. However, LET and dose dependence were not seen for the low-energy photons, where spatially uncorrelated random breaks were produced by independent photoabsorption events.

The effect of cytosine arabinoside (ara-C) on the frequency of X-ray- or UV-induced chromosome aberrations was studied in cultured skin fibroblasts derived from 2 normal persons, 4 ataxia telangiectasia (AT) patients and 2 obligate AT heterozygotes. Density-inhibited cells were irradiated with X-rays or UV, post-treated with ara-C, and chromosomes in the first port-irradiation mitoses were examined. UV, a poor induced of chromosome-type aberrations in G1, caused chromosome-type aberrations (dicentrics and rings) when coupled with ara-C both in normal and AT cells, but to a much greater extent in AT cells. In AT cells, an elevated induction of both terminal deletions and chromatid aberrations was also observed by the application of UV and ara-C, and unexpectedly, UV alone induced a considerable frequency of both types of aberration. The enhancing effect of ara-C on X-irradiated cells was less pronounced than on UV-irradiated cells. The response of AT heterozygotes were virtually the same as those of normal cells. These findings suggest that ara-C can convert the UV-induced DNA damage into the type that has a potential to induce dicentrics and rings in G1 as well as to elicit a hypersensitive response of AT cells.

N- myc oncogene amplification was studied in tumor tissue DNA from Japanese retinoblastoma patients, taking into consideration their uni- or bilateral disease form, their family history, and any chromosome abnormalities. Of the 23 cases examined, seven (30%) showed a 1.9- to 2.3-fold amplification of N- myc . No correlation was found between N- myc amplification and either tumor form or family history. Two of three cases having double minute bodies in their tumors showed N- myc amplification. In two tumors with 13q deletions, one produced in the host with constitutional 13q− abnormality showed no N- myc amplification, and the other one produced in the host with normal karyotype showed an N- myc amplification. These results indicate N- myc amplification is independent of the known genetic background in retinoblastoma patients.

An action spectrum was obtained for photoreactivation (PR) of morphological abnormality arising from ultraviolet (UV)-irradiation of sea urchin sperm. The wavelength dependence of PR was measured by the restoration of the formation of normal pluteus larvae after the exposure of fertilized eggs to various fluences of monochromatic PR light (313 to 500 nm). The PR action spectrum showed a maximum around 365 nm and a secondary peak somewhere above 400 nm. High PR activity beyond 400 nm wavelengths may reflect an advantageous or adaptational ability to cope with harmful effects of solar UV radiation.

— Morphological abnormality due to the UV irradiation of sperm and its modification by photoreactivation (PR) were studied in the sea urchin, Hemicentrotus pukherrimus. When sperm was UV-irradiated and allowed to fertilize unirradiated eggs, the effect of the UV was manifested as an abnormal morphology of embryos in the gastrula or later stages. The UV-induced morphological abnormality was prevented by photoreactivation when the fertilized eggs were illuminated with visible light. In the experiments on a stage-dependent change of PR effectiveness, it was found that an illumination sufficed to effect a nearly complete PR when applied up to the onset of the first DNA synthetic phase, while the PR effectiveness declined thereafter. Illumination after the completion of DNA synthesis had little effect for PR.

Diploid fibroblast cell strains derived from 14 patients with various forms of retinoblastoma (RB) and 5 non-RB patients with constitutional chromosome anomalies involving chromosome 13 were assayed for their clonogenic survival after X-irradiation. Cells from a patient with ataxia telangiectasia (AT) was used as a radiosensitive reference strain. When compared with cell strains from 7 healthy persons as normal controls, a marked radiosensitivity was observed in strain from an AT patient. However, none of the cell strains derived from RB patients or patients with inborn anomalies in chromosome 13 showed pronounced deviation from the normal range of radiosensitivity. The findings thus did not warrant either the RB as radiosensitive genetic disease or the presence of repair locus on chromosome 13, deletion or triplication of which was previously suggested to link to radiosensitivity.

Frequencies of chromosome aberrations in peripheral blood lymphocytes from 63 Thorotrast patients were analysed basing on the age distribution of lymphocytes. The frequency and distribution of chromosome aberrations among lymphocytes are best explained if we assume that the lymphocytes are renewed as an exponential function of time and spend most of their lifetime in the distributive pool where, while exchange of lymphocytes is taking place, the lymphocytes are hit by alpha-particles from Thorotrast aggregates resulting in the formation of chromosome aberrations and killing at specific rates per hit. The model predicts that the aberration frequency is rather insensitive to the fluence rate because of modulation by cell killing by hit. Fitting the observed data to the model showed that approximately 0.8 dicentrics and rings were produced by a single path of alpha-particle and average fluence rate to lymphocytes in a group of patients with the highest aberration frequency was estimated to be about 1.5 hits or 87 rad/lymphocyte/year.

Chromosome examination of a female patient with 13/X translocation associated with retinoblastoma was carried out using peripheral blood lymphocytes and cultured skin fibroblasts. The constitutional karyotype was 46,X,t(l 3;X) (q12;p22). Q-banding analysis showed that the translocated chromosomes were of paternal origin. Studies on DNA replication pattern with Giemsa banding using the bromodeoxyuridine substitution technique revealed that the derivative X chromosome was late replicating, and the translocated chromosome 13 was affected by the spreading of lyonization. Such a functional monosomy of 13q14 may also be involved in retinal blasts, and be related to the development of retinoblastoma.

A cytogenetic survey of 200 retinoblastoma (Rb) patients revealed that approximately 8.5% of the fresh germinal mutations were microscopically detectable chromosome mutations, either interstitial deletions or rearrangements, involving 13q14. They showed a strong bias toward paternal origin, indicating a significant contribution of errors in paternal meiotic processes. The incidence of patients with Rb due to such chromosome mutations was estimated to be 1.9 x 10(-6) of live births. Age-specific incidence of Rb tumors suggested that the Rb mutations by such chromosomal mechanisms had a lower carcinogenic potential, as indicated by the later onset of disease, than other Rb mutations of germinal origin.

Chromosomal abnormality due to the ultraviolet (UV) irradiation of sperm and its modification by photoreactivation (PR) were studied in the sea urchin, Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus. When sperm was UV-irradiated and allowed to fertilize unirradiated eggs, the effect of UV was manifested as an abnormal separation of chromosomes at the anaphase of the first mitosis. The frequency of abnormal anaphase increased with UV fluence. In the UV fluence of larger than 20J/m2, more than 90% of eggs showed chromosomal abnormality. The UV-induced chromosomal abnormality was prevented by photoreactivation when the fertilized eggs were illuminated with visible light. The PR sector for the PR of chromosomal abnormality, which was comparable to the PR sector for morphological abnormality, was higher than that of cleavage delay. The UV sensitivity expressed in terms of chromosomal abnormality was significantly higher than the sensitivity expressed in terms of morphological abnormality. Photo-reactivation illumination sufficed to effect a nearly complete PR when applied up to 20 min after fertilization, while the PR effectiveness declined thereafter. Illumination after 40 min had little effect for PR.

Sea urchin eggs were irradiated with /sup 137/Cs ..gamma.. rays at various stages of the mitotic cycle, and chromosomal aberrations at the first postirradiation mitosis and embryonic abnormalities at later developmental stages were examined. The radiosensitivity of the eggs to both endpoints varied in parallel with the mitotic stage at the time of irradiation, suggesting a possible relationship between chromosomal damage and embryonic abnormalities.