CYTOTOXIC AND MUTAGENIC EFFECTS OF THE PHOTODYNAMIC ACTION OF CHLOROALUMINUM PHTHALOCYANINE AND VISIBLE LIGHT IN L5178Y CELLS

Abstract The cytotoxic and mutagenic effects of chloroaluminum phthalocyanine (CAPC) plus red light have been measured in strains of L5178Y mouse lymphoma cells which differ in their DNA repair capacities. Strain LY-R, deficient in the excision repair of UV-induced dimers, was found to be relatively more sensitive to the cytotoxic effects of CAPC plus light, whereas strain LY-S, deficienl in the repair of DNA double-strand breaks, was more sensitive than strain LY-R to the mutagenic effects of the treatment. Mutation frequencies were measured in LY-S and LY-R sub-strains which were heterozygous or hemizygous at the thymidine kinase (tk) locus. The mutation frequency at the tk locus induced in the heterozygous strain LY-SI by CAPC plus light was lower than that induced by an equitoxic dose of ionizing radiation but similar to that induced by an equitoxic dose of UVC radiation: The mutation frequency at the F., dose of CAPC plus light was approximately 1100 per 10⁶ surviving cells. The induced frequency in strain LY-S1 was much higher than in either tk+l-heterozygous or ik+10 hemizygous strains of LY-R. The rate and extent of incorporation of CAPC by the LY-R strains was somewhat greater than for strain LY-S1 at early times after CAPC addition, but by the time the cells were irradiated (18 h after CAPC addition) the difference was not great enough to account for the difference in cytotoxicity. It is possible that the cytotoxic and mutagenic lesions differ and that either the quantities of the respective lesions induced or the efficiencies of repair of the respective lesions differ inversely in the two strains. light have been measured in strains of L5178Y mouse lymphoma cells which differ in their DNA repair capacities. Strain LY-R, deficient in the excision repair of UV-induced dimers, was found to be relatively more sensitive to the cytotoxic effects of CAPC plus light, whereas strain LY-S, deficienl in the repair of DNA double-strand breaks, was more sensitive than strain LY-R to the mutagenic effects of the treatment. Mutation frequencies were measured in LY-S and LY-R sub-strains which were heterozygous or hemizygous at the thymidine kinase (tk) locus. The mutation frequency at the tk locus induced in the heterozygous strain LY-SI by CAPC plus light was lower than that induced by an equitoxic dose of ionizing radiation but similar to that induced by an equitoxic dose of UVC radiation: The mutation frequency at the F., dose of CAPC plus light was approximately 1100 per 10⁶ surviving cells. The induced frequency in strain LY-S1 was much higher than in either tk+l-heterozygous or ik+10 hemizygous strains of LY-R. The rate and extent of incorporation of CAPC by the LY-R strains was somewhat greater than for strain LY-S1 at early times after CAPC addition, but by the time the cells were irradiated (18 h after CAPC addition) the difference was not great enough to account for the difference in cytotoxicity. It is possible that the cytotoxic and mutagenic lesions differ and that either the quantities of the respective lesions induced or the efficiencies of repair of the respective lesions differ inversely in the two strains.