DNA DAMAGE AND MUTATIONS INDUCED BY SOLAR UV RADIATION

摘要

Exposure of individuals to sunlight creates DNA damage, and subsequently mutations, in actively dividing cells of the basal layer of the epidermis. Mutations in oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes are crucial early events in the development of non-melanoma skin tumors. The precise identification of DNA lesions and DNA sequence alterations induced by environmental solar UV radiation in cultured cells represents a powerful approach for elucidating the mechanism of sunlight mutagenesis, as well as the genotoxic basis of multistage photocarcinogenesis in humans. Such investigations are analysed here, along with data obtained in human and experimentally UV-induced murine skin cancer.