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Xeroderma pigmentosum variant (XP-V) cells are defective in bypass replication of UVC-induced thymine dimers in DNA because they lack a novel DNA polymerase (polymerase eta). In this study the effects of UVC on S phase cells were compared in fibroblasts derived from normal donors (IDH4) and XP-V patients (CTag) and immortalized by expression of the SV40 large T antigen. These transformed fibroblasts did not activate the G(1) checkpoint or inhibit replicon initiation when damaged by UVC or gamma-rays. The transformed XP-V cells (CTag) retained the increased sensitivity to UVC-induced inhibition of DNA strand growth previously observed with their diploid counterpart. Cell cycle progression analyses showed that CTag cells displayed a stronger S phase delay than transformed fibroblasts from normal individuals (IDH4) after treatment with only 2 J/m(2) UVC. Low doses of UVC also caused a lag in CTag cell proliferation. The extent of replication of an episomal DNA (pSV011), not previously exposed to radiation, was measured after the host cells were irradiated with 1-3 J/m(2) UVC. Replication of pSV011 was barely affected in irradiated IDH4 cells. Plasmid replication was inhibited by 50% in irradiated CTag cells and this inhibition could not be accounted for by increased killing of host cells by UVC. These results suggest that even in transformed cells UVC induces DNA damage responses that are reflected in transient cell cycle arrest, delay in proliferation and inhibition of episomal DNA replication. These responses are enhanced in CTag cells, presumably because of their bypass replication defect. The accumulation of replication complexes blocked at thymine dimers and extended single-stranded regions in chromosomal DNA might sequester replication factors that are needed for plasmid and chromosomal replication. Alternatively, aberrant replication structures might activate a signal transduction pathway that down-regulates DNA synthesis.

The cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21(WAF1/CIP1/SDI1/CAP20) exists in normal human fibroblasts in a quaternary complex with a cyclin, a cyclin-dependent kinase, and proliferating cell nuclear antigen. A model was proposed in which, during p53-mediated suppression of cell proliferation following treatment with 254 nm UV radiation (UVC), the enhanced expression of p21 might inhibit DNA replication by virtue of its interactions with proliferating cell nuclear antigen. To test this model, we examined the mechanisms of inhibition of DNA replication in diploid human fibroblasts that express human papillomavirus type 16 E6, which inactivates p53. E6-expressing cells were defective in G1 checkpoint responses of induction of p21 and G1 arrest after ionizing radiation-induced damage to DNA. Accordingly, E6-expressing cells were resistant to inactivation of single-cell colony formation by ionizing radiation. E6 cells also displayed normal S-phase checkpoint responses of inhibition and recovery of replicon initiation following exposure to ionizing radiation and normal ability to bypass pyrimidine dimers during DNA replication soon after UVC irradiation (i.e., postreplication repair). However, DNA replication 6 h after UVC exposure was significantly inhibited in E6 cells in comparison to isogenic controls. This failure to maintain DNA replication in S-phase cells was associated with enhanced sensitivity to inactivation of single-cell colony formation by UVC. These results indicate that the p53-induced p21 pathway is not involved in the immediate S-phase responses to radiation-induced DNA damage of inhibition of replicon initiation and translesion bypass. However, our results demonstrate that p53 and, conceivably, p21 contribute to the ability of normal human fibroblasts to sustain DNA replication activity and form colonies following UVC irradiation.

We constructed a double-stranded plasmid containing a single cis, syn-cyclobutane thymine dimer (T[c,s]T) 385 base pairs from the center of the SV40 origin of replication. This circular DNA was replicated in vitro by extracts from several types of human cells. The dimer was placed on the leading strand template of the first replication fork to encounter the lesion. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis of replication intermediates documented the transient arrest of the replication fork by the dimer. Movement of the replication fork beyond the dimer was recognized by the appearance of a single fork arc in DNA sequences located between the T[c,s]T and the half-way point around the circular template (180 degrees from the origin). Upon completion of plasmid replication, the T[c,s]T was detected by T4 endonuclease V in about one-half (46 +/- 9%) of the closed circular daughter molecules. Our results demonstrate that extracts prepared from HeLa cells and SV40-transformed human fibroblasts (SV80, IDH4), including a cell line defective in nucleotide-excision repair (XPA), were competent for leading strand DNA synthesis opposite the pyrimidine dimer and replication fork bypass. In contrast, dimer bypass was severely impaired in otherwise replication-competent extracts from two different xeroderma pigmentosum variant cell lines.

We have examined the relationship between cis-diamminedichloroplatinum(II) (cisplatin) resistance and replicative bypass in the human ovarian carcinoma cell lines 2008, A2780, and their respective cisplatin-resistant derivatives C13* and A2780/DDP. Replicative bypass is defined as the ability of a replication complex to proceed past a DNA adduct known to block or stall the complex during synthesis. Previous studies in our laboratory have shown a 3-4-fold increase in the replicative bypass of platinum-DNA adducts in platinum-resistant murine leukemia cell lines [G. R. Gibbons et al, Carcinogenesis (Lond.), 12: 2253-2257, 1991]. To test for this effect in the human lines, we used a steady-state replication assay which measures the inhibition of DNA chain elongation (based on the incorporation of [3H]thymidine into nascent DNA strands) as a function of the number of platinum-DNA adducts present on the DNA following cisplatin treatment. With this technique we demonstrated a 4.5-fold increase in the replicative bypass ability of the C13* line compared to the 2008 line and a 2.3-fold increase in the bypass ability of the A2780/DDP line compared to the A2780 line. To confirm these results, we performed a pulse-chase replication assay on the 2008 and C13* lines. This assay differs from the first in that DNA chain elongation is measured in a time-dependent manner. With the pulse-chase assay we observed a 4.8-fold increase in the replicative bypass ability of the C13* line compared to the 2008 line. We then examined the specificity of this enhanced bypass by repeating the steady-state assay with the 2008 and C13* lines using as damaging agents 1,2-diaminocyclohexanedichloroplatinum(II), UV radiation (producing pyrimidine dimers), and benzo(a)pyrene-7,8-diol-9,10-epoxide. In both cell lines, 1,2-diaminocyclohexanedichloroplatinum(II)-DNA adducts caused a greater inhibition of DNA chain elongation than cisplatin-DNA adducts. The level of enhanced bypass of 1,2-diaminocyclohexanedichloroplatinum(II)-DNA adducts in the resistant line was 2.1-fold (approximately 2-fold less than the level of enhanced bypass observed with cisplatin-DNA adducts). There was no evidence of enhanced bypass in the resistant line when cells were treated with UV light or benzo(a)pyrene-7,8-diol-9,10-epoxide. These results indicate that the bypass response in the C13* line has some degree of specificity for cisplatin adducts. The specificity of bypass in these cell lines coincided well with the specificity of resistance to each agent.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

L1210 cell lines have been described that are sensitive to most platinum compounds (L1210/0), resistant to ethylenediamine (en)-Pt but sensitive to diaminocyclohexane (dach)-Pt (L1210/DDP), and resistant to dach-Pt but sensitive to en-Pt (L1210/DACH). We have examined the effect of the dach and en carrier ligands on the ability of Pt-DNA adducts to inhibit DNA replication. Alkaline sucrose gradient sedimentation was used to determine the influence of both carrier ligands on the inhibition of replicon initiation and DNA chain elongation. Initiation of replicons was inhibited by Pt-DNA adducts to a greater extent than chain elongation in all three cell lines. Inhibition of replicon initiation was affected by the nature of the platinum carrier ligands only in the L1210/DACH cells in which 7.8-fold more dach-Pt adducts than en-Pt adducts were required to reach 63% inhibition. However, a strong carrier ligand effect was observed on the inhibition of DNA chain elongation in both the L1210/DDP and L1210/DACH cell lines. The L1210/DDP cell line required 4-fold more en-Pt adducts than dach-Pt adducts to inhibit DNA chain elongation by 63%. In the L1210/DACH cell line, 2.7-fold more dach-Pt adducts than en-Pt adducts were required for 63% inhibition. The L1210/0 cell line demonstrated no carrier ligand specificity for inhibition of chain elongation. Significant replicative bypass of Pt-DNA adducts was observed even in the L1210/0 cell line in that greater than 50 Pt-DNA adducts per 100 kb were required for 63% inhibition. The same level of inhibition was reached with 1.25 adducts of benzo[a]pyrene diolepoxide I per 100 kb. These data suggest that L1210 cells are capable of substantial replicative bypass of Pt-DNA adducts. Furthermore, the bypass of Pt-DNA adducts is increased in resistant L1210 cells and is markedly dependent on the nature of the platinum carrier ligand.

Diploid human fibroblast strains were treated for 10 min with inhibitors of type I and type II DNA topoisomerases, and after removal of the inhibitors, the rate of initiation of DNA synthesis at replicon origins was determined. By alkaline elution chromatography, 4'-(9-acridinylamino)methanesulfon-m-anisidide (amsacrine), an inhibitor of DNA topoisomerase II, was shown to produce DNA strand breaks. These strand breaks are thought to reflect drug-induced stabilization of topoisomerase-DNA cleavable complexes. Removal of the drug led to a rapid resealing of the strand breaks by dissociation of the complexes. Velocity sedimentation analysis was used to quantify the effects of amsacrine treatment on DNA replication. It was demonstrated that transient exposure to low concentrations of amsacrine inhibited replicon initiation but did not substantially affect DNA chainelongation within operating replicons. Maximal inhibition of replicon initiation occurred 20 to 30 min after drug treatment, and the initiation rate recovered 30 to 90 min later. Ataxia telangiectasia cells displayed normal levels of amsacrine-induced DNA strand breaks during stabilization of cleavable complexes but failed to downregulate replicon initiation after exposure to the topoisomerase inhibitor. Thus, inhibition of replicon initiation in response to DNA damage appears to be an active process which requires a gene product which is defective or missing in ataxia telangiectasia cells. In normal human fibroblasts, the inhibition of DNA topoisomerase I by camptothecin produced reversible DNA strand breaks. Transient exposure to this drug also inhibited replicon initiation. These results suggest that the cellular response pathway which downregulates replicon initiation following genotoxic damage may respond to perturbations of chromatin structure which accompany stabilization of topoisomerase-DNA cleavable complexes.

Cellular capacity for postreplication repair (PRR) and sensitivity to transformation to anchorage independence (AI) were quantified in normal foreskin and xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) variant fibroblasts after treatment with UV or benzo(a)pyrene-diol-epoxide I (BPDE-I). PRR is defined here as a collection of pathways that facilitate the replication of DNA damaged by genotoxic agents. It is recognized biochemically as the process by which nascent DNA grows longer than the average distance between two lesions in the DNA template. PRR refers more directly to the elimination of gaps in the daughter-strand DNA by mechanisms which remain to be determined for human cells, but which may include translesion replication and recombination. PRR was measured in diploid human fibroblasts by analysis of the dose kinetics for inhibition of DNA strand growth in carcinogen-treated cells. Logarithmically growing foreskin fibroblasts (NHF1) displayed D0 values of 4.3 J/m2 and 0.14 microM for the inhibition of DNA synthesis in active replicons by UV and BPDE-I, respectively. XP variant cells (CRL1162) exhibited corresponding D0 values of 1.5 J/m2 and 0.16 microM. The increased sensitivity to inhibition of DNA replication by UV in these XP variant fibroblasts (2.9-fold greater than normal) was mirrored by an enhanced frequency of transformation to AI. XP variant fibroblasts (CRL1162) were 3.2 times more sensitive to transformation to AI by UV than were the normal foreskin fibroblasts. As predicted by the PRR studies, both cell types exhibited similar frequencies of AI colonies induced by BPDE-I. Apparent thresholds were observed for induction of AI by UV (normal fibroblasts, 2.7 J/m2; XP variant fibroblasts, 0.3 J/m2) and BPDE-I (both, 0.05 microM). Doses of UV and BPDE-I above these thresholds produced proportional increases in the inhibition of DNA replication in operating replicons and in the induced frequency of anchorage-independent colonies. At doses of UV and BPDE-I that produced the same degree of inhibition of DNA strand growth, BPDE-I induced a greater number of cells capable of anchorage-independent growth than did UV in both normal and XP variant fibroblasts.

Postreplication repair (PRR) was quantified in normal human fibroblasts and in xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) variant fibroblasts after treatment with UV or benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide-I (BPDE-I). PRR may be defined as the elimination of discontinuities in the daughter-strand DNA and the replicative bypass of lesions in the DNA template. Pathways of PRR reduce the number of DNA growing points that are blocked at template lesions and increase the rate of growth of nascent DNA on damaged templates. Rates of DNA synthesis and strand growth were measured in solvent- and carcinogen-treated cells by velocity sedimentation analyses of radiolabeled nascent DNA in alkaline sucrose gradients. Logarithmically growing normal fibroblasts displayed D0 values of 6.3 J/m2 and 0.37 microM for the inhibition of DNA synthesis in active replicons by UV and BPDE-I, respectively. Under identical conditions, the XP variant cells exhibited D0 values of 1.5-2.0 J/m2 and 0.27-0.31 microM. Pulse-chase experiments were performed in cells synchronized at the beginning of the S phase. Normal and XP variant cells displayed inhibition of DNA strand growth by UV, with D0 values of 21.6 and 7.0 J/m2, respectively. The D0 values for the inhibition of DNA strand growth by BPDE-I were 0.85 microM for the normal cells and 0.62-0.79 microM for the XP variant cells. The inhibitions of DNA replication by UV and BPDE-I were also analyzed in terms of DNA lesion frequencies. Based on the D0 values for inhibition of DNA replication, we concluded that the XP variant cells express maximally 25-33% of the total PRR activity observed in normal fibroblasts after UV treatment. Conceivably, this deficiency in PRR activity results in the XP variant's increased risk of cancers induced by sunlight, because XP variant cells and normal fibroblasts are equally proficient in excision repair. Both normal and XP variant fibroblasts, however, displayed similar PRR activities in response to BPDE-I treatment.

Regenerating rat liver nuclei when sonicated and centrifuged in a Cs2SO4 gradient were fractionated into three distinct bands. These bands were designated as light band (LB), middle band (MB), and heavy band (HB) according to their density. LB and MB were shown to consist of large granular particles with varying electron densities, but LB also contained remnants of nuclear membrane. When analysed by gel electrophoresis, LB and MB displayed more than 35 bands of proteins. The third fraction, HB, consisted largely of small chromatin fibers and its proteins were predominantly the four histones of the nucleosomal core particle. Following short pulses with [3H]thymidine in vivo, the specific activity of DNA in LB and MB was significantly higher than that of bulk DNA contained in HB. DNA in all three fractions became equally labelled as the duration of the labelling interval increased beyond 30 min. Newly synthesized DNA was characterized by electrophoresis on analytical 1.7% acrylamide -0.5% agarose composite gels. After a 1-min labelling interval in vivo, 17% of the rapidly labelled DNA from LB and MB was stationary at the gel origin like replication forks from E. coli, but only 3% of HB DNA had zero mobility. Electron microscopy confirmed the presence of DNA replication forks in LB, MB, and HB. With increasing time of synthesis the proportion of labelled DNA exhibiting zero mobility decreased in all three fractions. Denaturation of DNA or digestion of single-stranded DNA with S1 nuclease released newly synthesized DNA from the gel origin. Ribonuclease was without effect. DNA recovered from LB and MB also had a higher molecular weight than the HB DNA. Together these results indicate (1) that LB and MB are enriched in newly replicated DNA; (2) that an increased proportion of newly replicated DNA in LB and MB is associated with DNA replication forks; and (3) that the replicating DNA recovered in LB and MB may be associated with other nuclear constituents in situ because this DNA appears to be protected from the more frequent chain breaks introduced into the bulk of chromatin (HB) by sonication.

Initiation of DNA replication and chain growth, analyzed by alkaline sucrose gradient sedimentation, was interrupted to different extents in different cell types by irradiation with ultraviolet light. Within the first hour of irradiation DNA replication was reduced in a manner that depended on the average number of lesions per replicating unit (replicon). At low numbers of lesions per replicon, inhibition of replicon initiation was the predominant response; at higher numbers of lesions per replicon, blockage of chain growth was also observed. After irradiation with a dose that initially blocked chain growth, the rate at which cells recovered their ability to synthesize increasingly more and larger size DNA was a function both of replicon size and of excision repair capacity. Cells with small replicons recovered more rapidly than cells with large replicons, and excision repair-deficient cells recovered less rapidly than excision-competent cells. These observations indicate that excision repair capacity and replicon size play major roles in the response of DNA replication to ultraviolet damage.

In logarithmically growing cultures of human fibroblasts, benzo[a]pyrene-diol-epoxide-I (BPDE-I) treatment inhibits both replicon initiation and DNA chain elongation. In this study we have focused on the effect of BPDE-I treatment on the growth of nascent DNA strands in synchronized human fibroblasts. Cells were collected at the beginning of the S phase by replating confluent cultures in the presence of aphidicolin for 24 h. At 1 h after release from aphidicolin, cells were incubated with [3H]thymidine for 10-15 min and treated with BPDE-I for 10 min. Following different periods of incubation with unlabeled thymidine, cells were lysed on top of alkaline sucrose gradients for analysis of the size distribution of nascent DNA and its average molecular weight. After a brief pulse with the radiolabeled precursor, a unimodal distribution of nascent DNA strands was observed in control cells. Upon chase this distribution was displaced to higher average molecular weights at an approximate rate of 1 X 10(6) daltons/min. Treatment with low doses of BPDE-I (less than 0.2 microM) did not decrease this rate. Indeed the nascent DNA in BPDE-I-treated cells appeared to grow faster than in control cells. This higher rate of DNA strand growth may be related to the inhibition of replicon initiation. Treatment with 0.3 microM or 0.7 microM BPDE-I, which are doses that interfere with DNA synthesis in operating replicons in asynchronous cells, also inhibited the growth of nascent DNA strands in synchronized cells by 22 and 64%, respectively. Because of the simultaneous inhibition of replicon initiation, these values are probably underestimations of the total inhibition of DNA strand growth. The use of synchronized cells in this type of study should aid in the elucidation of mechanisms of replication of carcinogen-damaged DNA.

When confluent cultures of human fibroblasts were ultraviolet irradiated and either permeabilized or lysed, three types of DNA synthesis were subsequently observed during incubation in vitro: (A) a low level of DNA replication, which ceased after 15-30 min incubation at 37 degrees C; (B) radiation-dependent reparative gap-filling, which also ceased after 15 min at 37 degrees C; and (C) radiation-independent DNA synthesis, which was not semiconservative and proceeded at a linear rate for 1 h at 37 degrees C. Normal and xeroderma pigmentosum fibroblasts displayed different rates of radiation-dependent reparative gap-filling after lysis but similar rates of radiation-independent DNA synthesis. The rates of DNA replication and radiation-independent DNA synthesis were less in the permeable cell system than in the lysed cell system, whereas radiation-dependent reparative gap-filling was the same in both. Preparations of permeable and lysed cells activated radiation-dependent reparative gap-filling at about 15% of the rate estimated for intact cells. No radiation-dependent DNA strand breaks, as assayed by alkaline elution, were observed in the lysed cell preparation. Some radiation-dependent breaks were observed in the permeable cell preparation, but radiation-dependent DNA breakage was less than that seen in intact cells. This inability to incise DNA at damaged sites could account for the low rate of activation of reparative gap-filling in vitro. DNA strand breaks were produced in fibroblast preparations nonspecifically during lysis or permeabilization and incubation in vitro, and this breakage of DNA probably was responsible for the radiation-independent DNA synthesis.

The "pigmented xerodermoid" was previously defined on the basis of mild clinical symptoms that suggested it might be similar to but distinct from xeroderma pigmentosum (XP). XP and pigmented xerodermoid cell cultures were irradiated with ultraviolet light and unscheduled DNA synthesis, strand breakage during repair, chain growth during semiconservative DNA replication with or without caffeine, and the recovery of DNA replication were determined. It is concluded that a pigmented xerodermoid cell culture is indistinguishable from the XP variant and the former term is therefore redundant. The defect common to these cell types appears to be the loss of a gene product that permits normal cells to replicate DNA without interruption at damaged sites (u.v.-induced pyrimidine dimers). The consequence of this loss is that replication forks are blocked more frequently and at lower doses in XP variant cells. The correlation between this defect and high levels of actinic carcinogenesis in these patients points to an important role for perturbations in DNA replication in human carcinogenesis.

Mutagenesis, clastogenesis, and carcinogenesis, may all be S-phase dependent processes within carcinogen-damaged human cells. Carcinogens have been shown to inhibit replicative DNA synthesis in S phase cells and the mechanisms of inhibition have been identified. It is proposed that the sequelae of carcinogen action (mutations, sister-chromatid exchanges, chromosome aberrations) are the consequence of the production of lesions in the DNA template which interfere with the ability of DNA polymerase to synthesize a complementary strand without error. Mis-instructive lesions in the template give rise to base-substitution mutations in nascent strands as DNA polymerase inserts an incorrect but complementary base. Non-instructive base lesions and sterically interfering bulky adducts in the template inhibit DNA polymerase and cause the growing points of nascent DNA strands to be blocked. This blockage perpetuates discontinuities in daughter strands. These discontinuities are eliminated by a process known as post-replication repair. Blocked growing points may be relieved by un-directed insertion of DNA precursors to span the non-instructive lesions. Transient dislocation of the primer terminus from the damaged template may occur at palindromic or repetitive sequences. Reannealing of the primer terminus beyond the site of damage may allow bypass of blocking lesions with a consequence of deletion or insertion of genetic information. DNA at the site of blocked growing points may be a substrate for other enzymes involved in DNA metabolism. Single-strand gaps in daughter strands may be recognized by Rec A-like proteins which catalyze paranemic invasion of sister duplex strands. Recombination intermediates generated at sites of blocked growing points may be resolved by a pathway that produces either sister-chromatid exchanges or the insertion of a patch of parental template DNA within the daughter strand. Single-strand-specific endonuclease may attack regions of denatured DNA at blocked growing points producing double-strand breaks which appear to be intermediates in the formation of chromatid aberrations. The utilization of each of these pathways of post-replication repair will depend upon the precise structure of the template lesion, the sequence context in which the lesion is embedded in the template strand, and stochastic processes.

DNA repair and replication were examined in diploid human fibroblasts after treatment with (+/-)-r-7,t-8-dihydroxy-t-9,10-epoxy-7,8,9,10-tetrahydrobenzo[a]pyrene (BPDE-I). Unscheduled DNA synthesis exhibited a linear response to BPDE-I concentrations up to 1.5 microM and a saturation plateau after higher concentrations. Maximal unscheduled DNA synthesis was observed in the first hour after treatment with synthesis diminishing progressively thereafter. Half-maximal unscheduled DNA synthesis was seen within 4-6 h after treatment with 0.7 microM BPDE-I. DNA replication was inhibited by BPDE-I in a dose- and time-dependent fashion. The mechanisms of this inhibition were characterized by velocity sedimentation of pulse-labeled nascent DNA in alkaline sucrose gradients. Very low concentrations of BPDE-I (0.03 and 0.07 microM) were found to inhibit replicon initiation by up to 50% within 30-60 min after treatment. Recovery of initiation following these low concentrations was evident within 3 h after treatment. Higher concentrations of carcinogen inhibited DNA synthesis in active replicons. This effect was manifested by a reduction in incorporation of precursor into replication intermediates of greater than 1 X 10(7) Da with the concurrent production of abnormally small nascent DNA. When viewed 45 min after treatment with 0.17 microM BPDE-I the combination of these two effects partially masked the inhibition of replicon initiation. However, even after treatment with 0.33 microM BPDE-I an effect on initiation was evident. These results reveal a pattern of response to BPDE-I that is quite similar to that produced by 254 nm radiation.

Replicative DNA synthesis in normal human fibroblasts was inhibited by 50% when they were X-irradiated (8 Gy) and made permeable 30 min later, whereas only a slight inhibition (20%) was observed in similarly treated ataxia-telangiectasia cells. Treatment of irradiated normal cells with caffeine (2 mM) before permeabilization reversed the inhibitory effects of X-rays, buf caffeine had no effect on DNA synthesis in permeable ataxia-telangiectasia cells. Diadenosine tetraphosphate (0.1 mM) did not affect DNA synthesis in permeable normal fibroblasts.

Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) variant cells are characterized by an abnormal pattern of replication of DNA damaged by 254 nm radiation (u.v.). To see whether benzo[a]pyrene-diol-epoxide-I (BPDE-I) elicits the same response, we have compared the effects of u.v. and BPDE-I on DNA replication in XP variant and normal skin fibroblasts. Doses of u.v. that only affected replicon initiation in normal cells, inhibited DNA strand growth in the XP variant. These results were confirmed by measurements of the rate of growth of single-stranded nascent DNA in cells synchronized at the beginning of the S phase. Identical analyses using BPDE-I, however, indicated that the two cell types were equally sensitive to the inhibitions of both replicon initiation and DNA strand growth. These results indicate that the XP variant phenotype cannot be recognized in vitro by the pattern of response of fibroblasts to the inhibition of DNA replication by BPDE-I.

DNA replication was examined in ultraviolet-irradiated human fibroblasts and HeLa cells. The principal effect of exposures to low radiation fluences (less than 1.3 J/m2) was a reduced synthesis of molecules about one-half replicon in size resulting from an inhibition of replicon initiation. As the fluence of radiation was increased, inhibitory effects on strand elongation and joining masked the effect on replicon initiations.