SKH-1 hairless mice repair UV-induced pyrimidine dimers in epidermal DNA

The SKH-1 hairless mouse strain has been used extensively as a model for human photocarcinogenesis, photoimmunology and photoaging, but little is known about DNA repair in living mouse skin. Mice were irradiated with UV-B light at doses which produce mild to severe sunburn, and the frequency of pyrimidine dimers in epidermal DNA was measured immediately and 6 h after irradiation using T4 endonuclease V treatment and alkaline agarose gel electrophoresis. The results demonstrate significant removal of pyrimidine dimers in mouse skin in vivo, with a dimer half-life of 7.4 h. These findings are similar to the repair of dimers in human skin in vivo. The SKH-1 hairless mouse is thus a useful model for pyrimidine dimer repair in human skin.