Introductory review: involvement of ADP-ribosylation in cellular recovery from some forms of DNA damage.

There is substantial evidence that ADP-ribosylation is stimulated in response to DNA strand breaks produced directly by a damaging agent or during excision repair processes. The report of a reduced stimulation of ADPRT activity in irradiated ataxia telangiectasia cells has recently stimulated a wide interest in the role of ADP-ribosylation in cellular radiation response. The resulting studies, some of which are presented at this conference, demonstrate that cellular recovery from radiation damage can be significantly impaired if ADP-ribosylation is inhibited to a sufficiently low level. The implication is that the repair of DNA lesions is affected. This review summarizes the involvement of the enzyme ADPRT and the extent of ADP-ribosylation in the repair of DNA damage and of cellular recovery.