Poly(ADP-ribose) and the recovery from damage in Chinese hamster cells due to 5-bromodeoxyuridine photolysis.

Exposure of Chinese hamster cells to near-u.v. light, following the uniform incorporation of 5-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdUrd) into their DNA, resulted in cell killing that was close to exponential. An inhibitor of poly(ADP-ribose) synthesis, 3-aminobenzamide (3-ABA), enhanced the cytotoxic effect of this treatment when present for 2 h at 20 mM after light exposure. The dose modifying factor was 1.4. Under conditions that resulted in a sigmoidal survival curve (a 30 min BrdUrd pulse in S phase, followed 90 min later by light exposure) the effect of 3-ABA was to remove the shoulder of the survival curve with very little change in its final slope. Using various inhibitors of ADP-ribosyl transferase (ADPRT) the enhanced cell killing was found to correlate with the inhibitors' relative potency. Cellular NAD+, the substrate for poly(ADP-ribose) synthesis, was rapidly depleted after exposure. This depletion was largely prevented by 3-ABA; the activity of ADPRT increased with the fluence of near-u.v. light; and the concentration of cellular NAD+ decreased with exposure. ADPRT activity was maximal immediately after exposure to near u.v. light and then decayed to pre-exposure levels within 30 min (37 degrees C). The enhanced cytotoxicity of BrdUrd + near-u.v. light, when followed by 3-ABA treatment, disappeared at a rate similar to that of the decay in ADPRT activity. We conclude from these results that poly(ADP-ribose) synthesis is important for the recovery from BrdUrd photolysis damage in DNA. Because this damage and its repair are relatively specific (e.g. compared to ionizing radiation) and relatively easy to manipulate, it could serve as a model system for the study of the role of poly(ADP-ribose) in the repair of DNA damage.