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Updated: Aug 24, 2025

Advanced Confocal Microscopy Techniques to Study Protein-protein Interactions and Kinetics at DNA Lesions
Published on: November 12, 2017
Photo-repair effect of a bacterial Antarctic CPD-photolyase on UVC-induced DNA lesions in human keratinocytes
Silvina Acosta1, Lucía Canclini1, Juan José Marizcurrena2
1Departamento de Genética, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable, Avenida Italia 3318, Montevideo 11600, Uruguay.
Abstract:
Exposure to ultraviolet radiation from sunlight induces oxidative DNA lesions and bipyrimidine photoproducts that can lead to photo-aging and skin carcinogenesis. CPD-photolyases are flavoproteins that repair cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers using blue light as an energy source. In the present work, we evaluated the photo-repair effect of the recombinant CPD-photolyase PhrAHym from the Antarctic bacterium Hymenobacter sp. UV11 on DNA lesions in human keratinocytes induced by UVC light. By performing immunochemistry assays we observed that PhrAHym repairs in a highly efficient way the CPD-photoproducts and reduces the γH2AX formation. Since this enzyme is non-cytotoxic and repairs UVC-induced DNA lesions in human keratinocytes, we propose that PhrAHym could be used as a biotherapeutic agent against UV-induced skin cancer, photoaging, and related diseases.
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