White light-mediated DNA strand breaks in lens epithelial cells

It was hypothesized that white light can induce DNA single-strand breaks/alkali labile sites in lens epithelial cells during the dissection process when lenses are being collected for study. Dissection of lenses in white light significantly increased 'Integrated Intensity' (P=0.0216), an index of DNA single strand breaks/alkali labile sites, using the alkaline microgel electrophoresis assay. In addition, we investigated the DNA damaging effect of visible light in a human lymphocyte model in which cells were exposed to white light, red light or minimal indirect light for 5 min. Results of these experiments confirm our conclusion that visible light induces DNA damage in cells. These findings may be relevant in a genotoxicity study on cells ex vivo.