Isogai E, Suzuki N
Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Chiba University, Japan.
Mutat Res. 1994 Nov;325(2-3):81-5. doi: 10.1016/0165-7992(94)90005-1.
To study the relationship between the transient elevation of protease activity and hypomutability observed in hypermutable human RSa cells pretreated with human interferon (HuIFN)-alpha and then irradiated with far-ultraviolet light (UV), protease inhibitors capable of specifically inhibiting the activity were investigated. Of ten inhibitors tested, antipain showed the greatest inhibitory effect. Antipain also prevented the suppression of UV-mutagenicity by HuIFN-alpha in RSa and xeroderma pigmentosum-derived fibroblast cells, as shown by culturing cells in medium containing antipain immediately after UV exposure and evaluating the generation of clones resistant to ouabain- or 6-thioguanine-mediated cytotoxicity. Thus, an antipain-sensitive protease may be involved in the hypomutability induced by HuIFN-alpha.
