Confluent holding leads to a transient enhancement in mutagenesis in UV-light-irradiated xeroderma pigmentosum, Gardner's syndrome and normal human diploid fibroblasts.

The influence of confluent holding periods of 0-24 h of UV-light-induced mutagenesis has been investigated in several human cell strains including xeroderma pigmentosum complementation group A (XPA), Gardner's syndrome (GS) and normal human diploid fibroblasts (NHDF). These cells strains were chosen for the variety of their responses in cytotoxicity experiments. Confluent cultures of NHDF exposed to UV light exhibited a time-dependent increase in survival when subculture was delayed up to 24 h after irradiation. GS and XPA fibroblasts showed no such increase. In dose-response experiments, GS cells from 3 kindreds were moderately hypersensitive to cell killing by UV light whereas XPA cells were strongly hypersensitive. Confluent cultures of GS cells were slightly and XPA markedly hypermutable to 6-thioguanine resistance (6-TGR) when the cells were subcultured immediately after UV exposure. When allowed confluent holding periods of 1.5-24 h, GS, XPA and NHDF all exhibited a transient enhancement of mutagenesis such that a 5-10-fold increase in mutation frequency was observed in cells subcultured at 6-9 h after irradiation as compared to cells subcultured at 3-6 h. A decline in mutation frequency prior to the mutagenesis peak was observed in GS and normal cells but not in XPA. After 24 h of confluent holding, the mutation frequency in irradiated GS and NHDF had returned to near background levels although XPA mutation frequencies remain similar to those observed in immediately subcultured cells. A model to explain these overall results is discussed.