Xeroderma pigmentosum variant and normal fibroblasts show the same response to the inhibition of DNA replication by benzo[a]pyrene-diol-epoxide-I.

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.