Analysis of UV-induced DNA photoproducts by 32P-postlabelling

UV-induced cyclobutane dimers and 6-4 photoproducts, containing an unmodified nucleotide at the 5'-position were released from DNA by means of digestion with DNase I, snake venom phosphodiesterase and prostatic acid phosphatase. The enzymes were deactivated by proteinase K followed by ethanol precipitation. The products were phosphorylated by polynucleotide kinase and [gamma-32P]ATP. The TLC system used for the analysis enables separation of the different photoproducts and detection at a fmol level. T4 endonuclease treatment was applied to confirm the positions of cyclobutane dimers.