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This review summarizes the results of experiments conducted in the Institute for Environmental Sciences for the past 21 years, focusing on the biological effects of long-term low dose-rate radiation exposure on mice. Mice were chronically exposed to gamma rays at dose-rates of 0.05, 1 or 20 mGy/day for 400 days to total doses of 20, 400 or 8000 mGy, respectively. The dose rate 0.05 mGy/day is comparable to the dose limit for radiation workers. The parameters examined were lifespan, neoplasm incidence, antineoplasm immunity, body weight, chromosome aberration(s), gene mutation(s), alterations in mRNA and protein levels and trans-generational effects. At 20 mGy/day, all biological endpoints were significantly altered except neoplasm incidence in the offspring of exposed males. Slight but statistically significant changes in lifespan, neoplasm incidences, chromosome abnormalities and gene expressions were observed at 1 mGy/day. Except for transient alterations in the mRNA levels of some genes and increased liver neoplasm incidence attributed to radiation exposure, the remaining biological endpoints were not influenced after exposure to 0.05 mGy/day. Results suggest that chronic low dose-rate exposure may induce small biological effects.

Skin exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) has been a major public concern because of its genotoxicity. We established recently three action spectra of UVR biological effects using inflammation, mutagenicity, and mutation induction suppression (MIS) as indicators to evaluate UVR risk for mammalian skin. MIS is an antigenotoxic epidermis-specific response by which the increase of the mutant frequency (MF) levels off above a certain UVR dose. Here, based on these spectra, the mutation load of the skin after sunlight exposure was evaluated utilizing the spectral solar-UVR intensity data which had been measured at Tsukuba, Japan by the Japan Meteorological Agency. We estimated the daily variation of the solar-UVR effectiveness (effect per second) for the three indicators, and revealed that the effectiveness efficiency (effect per dose) of midday sunlight is 3-4-fold higher than those in the early morning and late afternoon. Based on the daily variations of mutagenicity and MIS effectiveness, we further estimated MFs induced after every one-hour sunlight exposure and reached a remarkable prediction that MFs should be suppressed to a constant level during 9:00-15:00 by MIS. The estimates agreed well with the equivalent values directly determined at Sendai, a site close to Tsukuba, although a small difference was detected for the epidermis at the dose range where the suppressed MFs were predicted. We propose the use of observed minimum inflammation/erythema doses to improve the difference. Our method could provide reliable estimates of sunlight genotoxicity to evaluate skin cancer probabilities.

UVA1 exerts its genotoxicity on mammalian skin by producing cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) in DNA and preferentially inducing solar-UV-signature mutations, C → T base substitution mutations at methylated CpG-associated dipyrimidine (Py-mCpG) sites, as demonstrated previously using a 364 nm laser as a UVA1 source and lacZ-transgenic mice that utilize the transgene as a mutational reporter. In the present study, we confirmed that a broadband UVA1 source induced the same mutation profiles in mouse epidermis as the UVA1 laser, generalizing the previous result from a single 364 nm to a wider wavelength range of UVA1 (340-400 nm). Combined with our previous data on the mutation spectra induced in mouse epidermis by UVB, UVA2 and solar UVR, we proved that the solar-UV-signature mutation is commonly observed in the wavelength range from UVB to UVA, and found that UVA1 induces this mutation more preferentially than the other shorter wavelength ranges. This finding indicates that the solar-UV-signature mutation-causing CPDs, which are known to prefer Py-mCpG sites, could be produced with the energy provided by the longer wavelength region of UVR, suggesting a photochemical reaction through the excitation of pyrimidine bases to energy states that can be accomplished by absorption of even low-energy UVR. On the other hand, the lower proportions of solar-UV-signature mutations observed in the mutation spectra for UVB and solar UVR indicate that the direct photochemical reaction through excited singlet state of pyrimidine bases, which can be accomplished only by high-energy UVR, is also involved in the mutation induction at those shorter wavelengths of UVR. We also found that the solar-UV signature prefers 5'-TCG-3' to 5'-CCG-3' as mutational target sites, consistent with the fact that UVA induces CPDs selectively at thymine-containing dipyrimidine sites and that solar UVR induces them preferably at Py-mCpG sites. However, the mutation spectrum in human p53 gene from non-melanoma skin cancers shows the opposite preference for 5'-CCG-3' sites. This apparent discrepancy in the site preference seems to result from the lack of 5'-TCG-3' sites mutable to missense mutations on the nontranscribed strand of human p53 gene, which should be evolutionally acquired under selective pressure from the sun.

UVR causes erythema, which has been used as a standardized index to evaluate the risk of UVR for human skin. However, the genotoxic significance of erythema has not been elucidated clearly. Here, we characterized the wavelength dependence of the genotoxic and erythematic effects of UVR for the skin by analyzing the induction kinetics of mutation and inflammation in mouse skin using lacZ-transgenic mice and monochromatic UVR sources. We determined their action spectra and found a close correlation between erythema and an epidermis-specific antigenotoxic response, mutation induction suppression (MIS), which suppressed the mutant frequencies (MFs) to a constant plateau level only 2-3-fold higher than the background MF at the cost of apoptotic cell death, suggesting that erythema may represent the threshold beyond which the antigenotoxic but tissue-destructive MIS response commences. However, we unexpectedly found that MIS attenuates remarkably at the border wavelengths between UVA and UVB around 315 nm, elevating the MF plateaus up to levels ∼40-fold higher than the background level. Thus, these border wavelengths can bring heavier mutation loads to the skin than the otherwise more mutagenic and erythematic shorter wavelengths, suggesting that erythema-based UVR risk evaluation should be reconsidered.

In an attempt to evaluate the roles of the mismatch repair gene Msh2 in genome maintenance and in development during the fetal stage, spontaneous mutations and several developmental indices were studied in Msh2-deficient lacZ-transgenic mouse fetuses. Mutation levels in fetuses were elevated at 9.5 dpc (days post coitum) when compared to wild-type mice, and the level of mutations continued to increase until the fetuses reached the newborn stage. The mutation levels in 4 different tissues of newborns showed similar magnitudes to those in the whole body. The levels remained similar after birth until 6 months of age. The molecular nature of the mutations examined in 12.5 dpc fetuses of Msh2(+/+) and Msh2(-/-) revealed unique spectra which reflect errors produced during the DNA replication process, and those corrected by a mismatch repair system. Most base substitutions and simple deletions were reduced by the presence of the Msh2 gene, whereas G:C to A:T changes at CpG sequences were not affected, suggesting that the latter change was not influenced by mismatch repair. On the other hand, analysis of developmental indices revealed that there was very little effect, including the presence of malformations, resulting from Msh2-deficiencies. These results indicate that elevated mutation levels have little effect on the development of the fetus, even if a mutator phenotype appears at the organogenesis stage., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

To understand the effect of calorie restriction on genome maintenance systems, the age-dependent accumulation of mutations in animals maintained on high and low calorie diets was examined using lacZ-transgenic mice. Mice were fed a diet of 95 kcal/w or 65 kcal/w from 2 to 17 months of age. The mutation frequencies in the lacZ gene in epithelial tissues from the small intestine were examined at 12 and 17 months. Mutation frequencies were found to be lower in mice fed with a low calorie diet than in mice fed with a high calorie diet at the two age points. The molecular nature of the mutations was examined with DNA sequencing. It showed a predominance of transversions from G:C to T:A, and this is a typical type of mutation induced by reactive oxygen species. The fraction of this type of mutation among the different types of mutations detected was not affected by calorie restriction. The percentage of the other types of mutation was not influenced either. These results suggest that calorie restriction reduces the age-dependent accumulation of mutations by stimulating or inducing various types of DNA protection and repair systems rather than protecting cells against any specific type of DNA alteration., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Ultraviolet (UV) light induces specific mutations in the cellular and skin genome such as UV-signature and triplet mutations, the mechanism of which has been thought to involve translesion DNA synthesis (TLS) over UV-induced DNA base damage. Two models have been proposed: "error-free" bypass of deaminated cytosine-containing cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) by DNA polymerase η, and error-prone bypass of CPDs and other UV-induced photolesions by combinations of TLS and replicative DNA polymerases--the latter model has also been known as the two-step model, in which the cooperation of two (or more) DNA polymerases as misinserters and (mis)extenders is assumed. Daylight UV induces a characteristic UV-specific mutation, a UV-signature mutation occurring preferentially at methyl-CpG sites, which is also observed frequently after exposure to either UVB or UVA, but not to UVC. The wavelengths relevant to the mutation are so consistent with the composition of daylight UV that the mutation is called solar-UV signature, highlighting the importance of this type of mutation for creatures with the cytosine-methylated genome that are exposed to the sun in the natural environment. UVA has also been suggested to induce oxidative types of mutation, which would be caused by oxidative DNA damage produced through the oxidative stress after the irradiation. Indeed, UVA produces oxidative DNA damage not only in cells but also in skin, which, however, does not seem sufficient to induce mutations in the normal skin genome. In contrast, it has been demonstrated that UVA exclusively induces the solar-UV signature mutations in vivo through CPD formation.

DNA repair defends against naturally occurring or disease-associated DNA damage during the long lifespan of neurons and is implicated in polyglutamine disease pathology. In this study, we report that mutant huntingtin (Htt) expression in neurons causes double-strand breaks (DSBs) of genomic DNA, and Htt further promotes DSBs by impairing DNA repair. We identify Ku70, a component of the DNA damage repair complex, as a mediator of the DNA repair dysfunction in mutant Htt-expressing neurons. Mutant Htt interacts with Ku70, impairs DNA-dependent protein kinase function in nonhomologous end joining, and consequently increases DSB accumulation. Expression of exogenous Ku70 rescues abnormal behavior and pathological phenotypes in the R6/2 mouse model of Huntington's disease (HD). These results collectively suggest that Ku70 is a critical regulator of DNA damage in HD pathology.

The effect of dose rate on radiation-induced mutations in two somatic tissues, the spleen and liver, was examined in transgenic gpt delta mice. These mice can be used for the detection of deletion-type mutations, and these are the major type of mutation induced by radiation. The dose rates examined were 920 mGy/min, 1 mGy/min and 12.5 microGy/min. In both tissues, the number of mutations increased with increasing dose at each of the three dose rates examined. The mutation induction rate was dependent on the dose rate. The mutation induction rate was higher in the spleen than in the liver at the medium dose rate but was similar in the two tissues at the high and low dose rates. The mutation induction rate in the liver did not show much change between the medium and low dose rates. Analysis of the molecular nature of the mutations indicated that 2- to 1,000-bp deletion mutations were specifically induced by radiation in both tissues after high- and low-dose-rate irradiation. The occurrence of deletion mutation without any sequence homology at the break point was elevated in spleen after high-dose-rate irradiation. The results indicate that the mutagenic effects of radiation in somatic tissues are dependent on dose rate and that there is some variability between tissues.

In an attempt to evaluate the role of the Xpc gene in maintaining genomic stability in vivo under normal conditions, the age-dependent accumulation of spontaneous mutations in different tissues was analyzed in Xpc-deficient lacZ-transgenic mice. Brain, testis, and small intestine revealed no effects from the Xpc-deficiency, whereas liver, spleen, heart, and lung showed an enhanced age-related accumulation of mutations in Xpc-deficient mice. In the spleen, the effect was not obvious at 2 and 12 months of age, but became apparent at 23 months. The magnitude of the observed effect at an advanced age was similar in the liver, spleen and heart, but was comparatively smaller in the lung. Haploinsufficiency was observed in liver and spleen but not in heart and lung. Analysis of DNA sequences in the mutants revealed that the frequency of G:C to T:A changes were elevated in the liver and heart of Xpc-deficient aged mice, supporting the possible involvement of XPC in base excision repair of oxidized guanine. The occurrence of two or more mutations within a single lacZ gene was termed a multiple mutation and was also elevated in old Xpc-deficient mice. Among the clones examined, two mutant clones showed as many as four mutations within a short stretch of DNA. This is the first demonstration to support suggestions for the existence of a role for XPC in the suppression of multiple mutations. These multiple mutations could conceivably be generated by error-prone trans-lesional DNA synthesis. Overall, these results indicate that there may be diverse roles or mechanisms through which XPC participates in genome maintenance in different tissues.

A triplet mutation is defined as multiple base substitutions or frameshifts within a three-nucleotide sequence which includes a dipyrimidine sequence. Triplet mutations have recently been identified as a new type of UV-specific mutation, although the mechanism of their formation is unknown. A total of 163 triplet mutations were identified through an extensive search of previously published data on UV-induced mutations, including mutations from skin, skin cancer, and cultured mammalian cells. Seven common patterns of sequence changes were found: Type I, NTC-->TTT; Type IIa, NCC-->PyTT or PyCT (Py, pyrimidine); Type IIb, TCC-->PuTT or PuCT (Pu, purine); Type III, NCC-->NAT or NTA; Type IV, NTT-->AAT; Type Va, NCT-->NTX; and Type Vb, PuCT-->XTT (N and X, independent anonymous bases). Furthermore, it is suggested that the type of UV lesion responsible for each of these triplet mutation classes are (a) pyrimidine(6-4)pyrimidone photoproducts for Types I, IIb, III, IV and Vb, (b) cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers for Type Va, and (c) Dewar valence isomers for Types IIa and IIb. These estimations are based primarily on results from previous studies using photolyases specific for each type of UV lesion. A model is proposed to explain the formation of each type of triplet mutation, based on error-prone translesional DNA synthesis opposite UV-specific photolesions. The model is largely consistent with the 'A-rule', and predicts error-prone insertions not only opposite photolesions but also opposite the undamaged template base one-nucleotide downstream from the lesions.

Mutations of the Xpc gene cause a deficiency in global genome repair, a subpathway of nucleotide excision repair (NER), in mammalian cells. We used transgenic mice harboring the lambda-phage-based lacZ mutational reporter gene to study the effect of an Xpc null mutation (Xpc-/-) on damage induction, repair and mutagenesis in mouse skin epidermis after UVB irradiation. UVB induced equal amounts of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) and pyrimidine(6-4)pyrimidone photoproducts (64PPs) in mouse skin epidermis of Xpc-/- and wild-type mice. CPDs were not significantly removed in either of the mouse genotypes by 12h after irradiation, whereas removal of 64PPs was observed in the wild-type. Irradiation with 300 and 400J/m2 UVB increased the lacZ mutant frequency in the Xpc-/- epidermis to at least twice as high as in the wild-type. Ninety-nine lacZ mutants isolated from the UVB-exposed epidermis of Xpc(-/-)mice were analyzed and compared with mutant sequences from irradiated wild-type mice. The spectra of the mutations in the two genotypes were both highly UV-specific and similar in the dominance of C-->T transitions at dipyrimidine sites; however, Xpc-/- mice had a higher frequency of two-base tandem substitutions, including CC-->TT mutations, three-base tandem substitutions and double base substitutions that were separated by one unchanged base in a three-base sequence (alternating mutations). These tandem/alternating mutations included a remarkably large number of triplet mutations, a recently reported, novel type of UV-specific mutation, characterized by multiple base substitutions or frameshifts within a three-nucleotide sequence containing a dipyrimidine. We concluded that the triplet mutation is a UV-specific mutation that preferably occurs in NER deficient genetic backgrounds.

Knockout mutations in both alleles of the Xpa gene give rise to a complete deficiency in nucleotide excision repair (NER) in mammalian cells. We used transgenic mice harboring the lambda-phage-based lacZ mutational reporter gene to study the effect of Xpa null mutation (Xpa(-/-)) on damage induction, repair, and mutagenesis in mouse skin epidermis after UVB irradiation. UVB induced equal amounts of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) and pyrimidine(6-4)pyrimidone photoproducts (64PPs) in mouse skin epidermis of Xpa(-/-) and wild-type mice. Neither photolesion was removed in the Xpa(-/-) epidermis by 12 hr after irradiation whereas removal of 64PPs was observed in the epidermis of wild-type mice. Irradiation with 200 and 300 J/m(2) UVB increased the lacZ mutant frequency in the epidermis of Xpa(-/-) mice, but the induced mutant frequencies were not significantly different from those previously determined for wild-type mice. One-hundred lacZ mutants isolated from the UVB-exposed epidermis of Xpa(-/-) mice were analyzed and compared with mutant sequences previously determined for irradiated wild-type mice. The distribution of the mutations along the lacZ transgene and the preferred dipyrimidine context of the UV-specific mutations were similar in mutants from the Xpa(-/-) and wild-type mice. The spectra of the mutations in the two genotypes were both highly UV-specific and similar in a dominance of C --> T transitions at dipyrimidine sites; however, Xpa(-/-) mice had a higher frequency than wild-type mice of two-base tandem substitutions, including CC --> TT mutations, three-base tandem mutations and double base substitutions that were separated by one unchanged base in a three-base sequence (alternating mutations). These tandem/alternating mutations included a remarkably large number of triplet mutations, a recently reported, novel type of UV-specific mutation, characterized by multiple base substitutions or frameshifts within a three-nucleotide sequence containing a dipyrimidine. We conclude that the triplet mutation is a UV-specific mutation that preferably occurs in NER-deficient genetic backgrounds.

A C-terminal 183 amino acid-truncated mutation of the mouse Xpg gene (XpgDeltaex15) gives rise to a partial deficiency in nucleotide excision repair in homozygously affected cells. We studied the effect of this mutation on UVB-induced mutagenesis in mouse skin, using transgenic mice harboring lambda-phage-based bacterial lacZ genes as a mutational reporter. UVB increased the lacZ mutant frequency in the epidermis moderately in the homozygous mutant mice, but significantly higher than in the wild-type or the heterozygous mice, whereas background mutant frequencies were not appreciably different among the three mouse genotypes. Ninety-eight lacZ mutant sequences isolated from the UVB-exposed epidermis of the XpgDeltaex15-homozygous mice were analyzed and compared with mutant sequences from the wild-type mice. The spectra of the mutations in the two mouse genotypes were not significantly different, and they were highly UV-specific. There were frequent C --> T transitions at dipyrimidine sites and several CC --> TT tandem mutations, although the UV-specific mutations occurred more frequently at CpG sites in the mutant mice. The distribution of the mutations observed in the lacZ transgene and the preferred sequence context of the UV-specific C --> T mutations (5'-TC-3' > 5'-CC-3' > 5'-CT-3') in the Xpg-mutant mice were similar to those found in the wild-type mice. Despite these similarities, we detected a previously unrecognized type of the UV-induced mutation only in the Xpg mutant (6/98 in the mutation spectrum of the mutant vs. 0/76 in the wild-type; P = 0.035), which is characterized by multiple base substitutions or frameshifts within a three-nucleotide sequence containing a dipyrimidine. We propose that this putative new class of mutation, which we refer to as a "triplet mutation", is characteristic of UV-induced mutation in an excision-repair-deficient background., ((c) 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

We studied the mutations induced in skin by sunlight using transgenic Muta mice. Noon sunlight during summer at Sendai, Japan induced mutations efficiently in both epidermis and dermis. The mutant frequency (MF) in epidermis reached nearly 0.5% during the first 40 min irradiation but became saturated at this level with the appearance of skin inflammation after further irradiation. At the equivalent inflammatory dose, sunlight was twice as genotoxic as 313 nm-peak UVB. The 81 mutations detected in 80 lacZ transgene mutants isolated from the sunlight-exposed epidermis were dominated by C --> T transitions (89%), occurring exclusively at dipyrimidine sites, and also included a CC --> TT tandem substitution. Thus, the sunlight-induced mutation spectrum is highly UV-specific, quite similar to that induced by UVB but significantly different from that induced by UVA. Although oxidative damage-related C --> A transversions were detected only in five mutants (6%), their frequency was elevated to at least 15 times the background level, suggesting that the contribution of UVA-mediated oxidative stress is comparatively small but considerable. An analysis of bases adjacent to the mutated cytosines revealed that the sunlight-induced mutations prefer 5'-TC-3' dipyrimidine sites to 5'-CC-3' and 5'-CT-3'. The distribution of the frequent C --> T transition sites in the transgene was well associated with the CpG motif, which is known to be completely methylated in the gene, and quite similar to that induced by UVB rather than that by UVA. Thus, the UVB component contributes to the sunlight-induced mutations in the mammalian skin much more than the UVA component, whose influence through reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated mutagenesis is still appreciable.

In an attempt to evaluate the possible role of mutations in the age-dependent increase of tumor incidence, we studied the mutational burden that accumulates in the aging process in different parts of the digestive tract in mice. The mutations were monitored in lacZ genes integrated in the mouse genome. The digestive tract was divided into the esophagus, stomach, proximal, medial, and distal part of the small intestine, and the colon. Epithelial tissues were separated from these tissues with the exception of the esophagus, in which case the whole tissue was examined. At a young age, the mutant frequencies as well as the molecular nature of the mutations were similar among the tissues examined. In old age, on the other hand, mutant frequencies were elevated to different degrees among the tissues; they were high in the small intestine and colon, intermediate in the stomach, and low in the esophagus. The molecular characteristics of the mutations also revealed distinct tissue-specificity; there were elevated rates of a small deletion mutation in the esophagus, G:C to T:A transversion in the proximal small intestine, and multiple mutations in the distal small intestine and colon. The results indicate that different parts of the digestive tract suffer from different kinds of mutational stress in the aging process. The nature of the multiple mutations suggests the presence of a mutator phenotype based on an imbalance in deoxyribonucleotide pools.

A possible mutagenic effect of 2.45 GHz radiofrequency exposure was examined using lacZ-transgenic Muta mice. Pregnant animals were exposed intermittently at a whole-body averaged specific absorption rate of 0.71 W/kg (10 seconds on, 50 seconds off which is 4.3 W/kg during the 10 seconds exposure). Offspring that were exposed in utero for 16 hours a day, from the embryonic age of 0 to 15 days, were examined at 10 weeks of age. To minimize thermal effects, the exposure was given in repeated bursts of 10 seconds of exposure followed by 50 seconds of no exposure. Mutation frequencies at the lacZ gene in spleen, liver, brain, and testis were similar to those observed in non-exposed mice. Quality of mutation assessed by sequencing the nucleotides of mutant DNAs revealed no appreciable difference between exposed and non-exposed samples. The data suggest that the level of radiofrequency exposure studied is not mutagenic when administered in utero in short repeated bursts.

We studied the kinetics of mutation induction in skin epidermis and dermis of UVA-irradiated transgenic Muta mice and analyzed the sequence changes in 80 lacZ transgene mutants from the irradiated epidermis. The mutant frequency increased linearly in both the epidermis and dermis up to 240 kJ/m2 UVA, twice as efficiently in the epidermis as in the dermis, without provoking any inflammatory reactions in the exposed skin. The 83 mutations detected in the UVA-exposed epidermis were dominated by C-->T transitions (88%), found almost exclusively at dipyrimidine sites, and specified by four occurrences of CC-->TT tandem substitutions, suggesting that UV-specific photoproducts induced in DNA have a major role in the genotoxicity. No T-->G transversions, which have been considered as a UVA signature mutation, and few mutations suggesting the relevance of oxidative damage were recovered in the present study. An analysis of the bases adjacent to the mutated cytosines revealed that the 3'-cytosine of dipyrimidine sites is the preferred target of UVA-induced C-->T transition. Moreover, C-->T transitions were induced at dipyrimidine sites associated with CpG much more frequently by UVA than by UVB, forming hotspots at several of these sites. These results suggest that UVA contributes more to the formation of recurrent or hotspot mutations at methylated CpG sites in the mammalian genome than UVB, since methylation of the CpG motif is observed entirely in the lacZ transgenes and is known to enhance the formation of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers by longer wavelength UV.

Spectra of ionizing radiation mutagenesis were determined by sequencing X-ray-induced endogenous tonB gene mutations in Escherichia coli polA strains. We used two polA alleles, the polA1 mutation, defective for Klenow domain, and the polA107 mutation, defective for flap domain. We demonstrated that irradiation of 75 and 50 Gy X-rays could induce 3.8- and 2.6-fold more of tonB mutation in polA1 and polA107 strains, respectively, than spontaneous level. The radiation induced spectrum of 51 tonB mutations in polA1 and 51 in polA107 indicated that minus frameshift, A:T-->T:A transversion and G:C-->T:A transversion were the types of mutations increased. Previously, we have reported essentially the same X-ray-induced tonB mutation spectra in the wild-type strain. These results indicate that (1) X-rays can induce minus frameshift, A:T-->T:A transversion and G:C-->T:A transversion in E. coli and (2) presence or absence of polymerase I (PolI) of E. coli does not have any effects on the process of X-ray mutagenesis.

We recently reported the kinetics of mutation induction by UVB in the skin epidermis and dermis of transgenic Muta trade mark mice [Ikehata and Ono, Mutat Res 508:41-47, 2002]. In the present study we determined the complete DNA sequence of the lacZ transgene in 208 mutants isolated from the dermis and epidermis of UVB-irradiated and control mice. The resulting mutation patterns for the dermis and epidermis were similar, although two CC-->TT tandem substitutions, one of the signature mutations for UV insult, were detected only among the UVB-induced epidermal mutants. The spectra of the UVB-induced and control mutations were both dominated by C-->T transitions (83% and 62%); however, the C-->T transitions from irradiated mice occurred almost exclusively in dipyrimidine sites, while those from control mice preferred CpG sites. Thus, the mutation spectrum detected for the irradiated skin tissues was different from the background spectrum and UV-specific, confirming the utility of the transgenic system for UVB-induced mutation studies in vivo. An analysis of the bases adjacent to the mutated cytosines from irradiated mice revealed that the dipyrimidine sites preferred for UVB-induced mutation were 5'-TC-3' > 5'-CC-3' > 5'-CT-3'. Among mutants from irradiated mice, C-->T transitions were recovered frequently at dipyrimidine sites associated with CpG. We showed that CpG sites in the lacZ transgene of Muta trade mark mice were heavily methylated in both the epidermis and dermis. Thus, CpG methylation could contribute to the UVB-induced recurrent or hotspot mutations in the mammalian genome., (Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

The time and dose dependence of ultraviolet B (UVB)-induced mutant frequency (MF) in skin epidermis and dermis was studied with transgenic Muta mice harboring lambdagt10lacZ shuttle vector. Mutants of the lacZ transgene appearing in these tissues after 0.5kJ/m(2) UVB irradiation were fully expressed in 3-7 days, and the frequencies of those fully expressed mutants were maintained for at least the following 3 weeks. These fully expressed MFs increased dose-dependently, with the initial slope for the epidermis four times larger than that for dermis. Surprisingly, in epidermis, an inhibition of the dose-dependent mutation induction was evident after irradiation above 0.5kJ/m(2) UVB, lowering the increment more than eight-fold, while such suppression was not observed in dermis. This anticarcinogenic epidermal response disappeared with dose fractionation when the fractions were delivered at 4-week intervals, but not when delivered every day, showing that the induced mutation suppression is maintained under continual repetitive exposure, without which it expires within 4 weeks. These results suggest that repetition of heavy sun exposure at long intervals, e.g. recreational sunbathing every summer, is more likely to cause skin cancer than every day continual exposure even if the total UV doses are the same.

Presents information on a study which compared age-dependent changes of mutation in different tissues of the digestive tract of mice and found tissue-specificity in terms of mutant frequency as well as the molecular nature of mutation. Comparison of mutant frequencies in the different tissues; Mutational burdens of different digestive tract tissues in the aging process.