Research Article

DNA damage profiles induced by sunlight at different latitudes

  1. André Passaglia Schuch1,
  2. Teiti Yagura1,
  3. Kazuo Makita2,
  4. Hiromasa Yamamoto3,
  5. Nelson Jorge Schuch4,
  6. Lucymara Fassarella Agnez-Lima5,
  7. Ricardo Monreal MacMahon6,
  8. Carlos Frederico Martins Menck1,*

Article first published online: 16 JAN 2012

DOI: 10.1002/em.21678

Additional Information

How to Cite

Schuch, A. P., Yagura, T., Makita, K., Yamamoto, H., Schuch, N. J., Agnez-Lima, L. F., MacMahon, R. M. and Menck, C. F. M. (2012), DNA damage profiles induced by sunlight at different latitudes. Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis. doi: 10.1002/em.21678

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

  2. 2

    Faculty of Engineering, Takushoku University, Tokyo, Japan

  3. 3

    Department of Physics, Rikkyo University, Tokyo, Japan

  4. 4

    Southern Regional Space Research Center, CRSPE/INPE—MCT, Santa Maria, RS, Brazil

  5. 5

    Department of Genetics and Cell Biology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil

  6. 6

    Department of Mathematics and Physics, University of Magallanes, Punta Arenas, Chile

*Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes, 1374, São Paulo, SP, 05508-900, Brazil

Publication History

  1. Article first published online: 16 JAN 2012
  2. Manuscript Revised: 6 DEC 2011
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 6 DEC 2011
  4. Manuscript Received: 14 SEP 2011

Funded by

  • FAPESP (São Paulo, Brazil)
  • CNPq (Brasília, Brazil)
  • Frontier Project “Adaptation and Evolution of Extremophile” of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan
  • Laboratory of Science and Engineering, Takushoku University, Japan

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Keywords:

  • solar ultraviolet radiation;
  • DNA photoproducts;
  • biological dosimetry;
  • DNA-dosimeter

Abstract

Despite growing knowledge on the biological effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation on human health and ecosystems, it is still difficult to predict the negative impacts of the increasing incidence of solar UV radiation in a scenario of global warming and climate changes. Hence, the development and application of DNA-based biological sensors to monitor the solar UV radiation under different environmental conditions is of increasing importance. With a mind to rendering a molecular view-point of the genotoxic impact of sunlight, field experiments were undertaken with a DNA-dosimeter system in parallel with physical photometry of solar UVB/UVA radiation, at various latitudes in South America. Onapplying biochemical and immunological approaches based on specific DNA-repair enzymes and antibodies, for evaluating sunlight-induced DNA damage profiles, it became clear that the genotoxic potential of sunlight does indeed vary according to latitude. Notwithstanding, while induction of oxidized DNA bases is directly dependent on an increase in latitude, the generation of 6-4PPs is inversely so, whereby the latter can be regarded as a biomolecular marker of UVB incidence. This molecular DNA lesion-pattern largely reflects the relative incidence of UVA and UVB energy at any specific latitude. Hereby is demonstrated the applicability of this DNA-based biosensor for additional, continuous field experiments, as a means of registering variations in the genotoxic impact of solar UV radiation. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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