Histochemical and biochemical studies in ultraviolet irradiated tissue culture.

Damage to subcellular organelles by ultraviolet irradiation of tissue culture was investigated by studying their marker enzymes using histochemical and biochemical techniques. It was observed that mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, plasma membranes and lysosomes are affected by the ultraviolet light. The enzymes start showing alterations as early as at 5 minutes of irradiation and the different enzymes diminish markedly by the third hour. It has been suggested that the alterations in the enzymes are due to effect on certain metabolic pathways and not to physical damage of subcellular organelles.