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Updated: Jul 9, 2025

Laser Microirradiation to Study In Vivo Cellular Responses to Simple and Complex DNA Damage
Published on: January 31, 2018
Near-infrared light does not induce DNA damage in human dermal fibroblasts
Jessica Mineroff1,2, Jennifer Y Wang1,2, Raichel Philip1
1Department of Dermatology, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, Brooklyn, New York, USA.
Abstract:
Photobiomodulation (PBM) can be used to treat a range of conditions in dermatology. PBM refers to the changes induced by red (RL, 620-700 nm) and near-infrared (NIR, 700-1440 nm) light. Light radiation-induced DNA damage is a major contributor to aging and skin cancer. It is crucial to study the effects of PBM on DNA to ensure safety. Our lab previously demonstrated that RL (633 ± 6 nm) did not result in human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) DNA damage. This study employed similar methods to investigate NIR effects. Commercially available LED-NIR (830 ± 5 nm) panels (66, 132, and 264 J/cm2 ) did not result in DNA damage measured by cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers and pyrimidine-6,4-pyrimidone photoproducts in HDFs compared to temperature-matched controls immediately, 3 h, and 24 h following irradiation and compared to positive and negative controls. This demonstrates that LED-NIR does not damage DNA in HDFs in vitro.
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