DNA cross-linked by cisplatin: a new probe for the DNA repair defect in xeroderma pigmentosum

Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) is an inherited disease characterized by the defective repair of DNA damaged by ultraviolet radiation and a number of chemicals. In this paper, plasmid DNA carrying a marker gene is cross-linked in vitro by the antitumor drug cisplatin and successfully introduced into tissue culture cells by both calcium phosphate coprecipitation and electroporation. Transient expression of the marker gene is greatly decreased in XP cells compared to wild-type. As few as seven lesions will inactivate the marker gene in XP cells. Furthermore, the biochemical defect must include an impaired capacity for repair of cisplatin-DNA intrastrand cross-links. Since the host cell itself is not exposed to chemical modification, a cisplatin cross-linked plasmid shuttle vector can be used as a specific probe for the DNA repair capacity of cultured cells. Paradoxically, when cisplatin cross-linked plasmid carrying the selectable marker neo is introduced into cells, there is an increase in the number of stable neo+ transformants in both XP and wild-type cells. Thus, cisplatin damage appears to stimulate the integration of transfected DNA into the host chromosome by a mechanism that is independent of the defective repair pathway in XP.