Detection of endonuclease III- and 8-oxoguanine glycosylase-sensitive base modifications in gamma-irradiated DNA and cells by the aldehyde reactive probe (ARP) assay.

Ionizing radiation generates diverse DNA lesions that differentially induce cell death and mutations. In the present study, calf thymus DNA (400 microg/ml) and HeLa cells were irradiated by (60)Co gamma-rays, and abasic (AP) sites and endonuclease (Endo)III- and 8-oxoguanine glycosylase (hOGG1)-sensitive base modifications in DNA were quantitated by the aldehyde reactive probe (ARP) assay. The irradiation of calf thymus DNA in phosphate buffer generated 91 Endo III- and 100 hOGG1-sensitive base modifications and 110 AP sites per 10(6) base pairs (bp) per Gy. The yield of the lesions in Tris buffer was 41- to 91-fold lower than that in phosphate, demonstrating a radioprotective effect of Tris. The HeLa cell chromosomal DNA contained 12 Endo III- and 3.8 hOGG1-sensitive base modifications and less than 1 AP sites per 10(6) bp as endogenous damage, and their level was increased by irradiation. The yields of the damage at 1 Gy (roughly equivalent to the lethal dose of HeLa cells [1.6-1.8 Gy]) were 0.13 Endo III, 0.091 hOGG1, and 0.065 AP sites per 10(6) bp, showing that irradiation with a lethal dose brought about only a marginal increase in base damage relative to an endogenous one. A comparison of the present data with those reported for DNA strand breaks supports the primary importance of double-strand breaks and clustered lesions as lethal damages formed by ionizing radiation.