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Comparative Study
. 2002 Nov;55(11):829-33.
doi: 10.1136/jcp.55.11.829.

Comparison of the expression of p53, p21, Bax and the induction of apoptosis between patients with basal cell carcinoma and normal controls in response to ultraviolet irradiation

M Murphy  1 , M J E M F Mabruk, P Lenane, A Liew, P McCann, A Buckley, C O Flatharta, D Hevey, P Billet, W Robertson, S Javed, M Leader, E Kay, G M Murphy
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Comparison of the expression of p53, p21, Bax and the induction of apoptosis between patients with basal cell carcinoma and normal controls in response to ultraviolet irradiation

M Murphy et al. J Clin Pathol. 2002 Nov.

Abstract

Aim: Ultraviolet light (UV) is known to cause DNA damage in the epidermis. The damaged DNA is repaired or deleted by apoptosis to prevent the generation of cancer. It has been suggested that a deficient apoptotic mechanism may predispose individuals to skin cancer. Therefore, the response of normal controls and patients with basal cell carcinoma (BCC) to UV irradiation was investigated.

Methods: The buttock skin from normal volunteers and patients with BCC was irradiated using solar simulated radiation (SSR). SSR mimics the effect of natural sunlight. Skin biopsies were excised and examined for p53, p21, and Bax protein expression and for the induction of apoptosis.

Results: At 33 hours after UV irradiation, the induction of apoptosis was significantly higher (p = 0.04) in patients with BCC than in normal volunteers (Mann Whitney test). A trend towards higher p21 expression was found at 33 hours in patients with BCC (mean, 18.69 positive cells/field) than in normal volunteers (mean, 9.89), although this difference was not significant (p = 0.05 positive cells/field).

Conclusion: These results may imply that patients with BCC have enhanced sensitivity to UV irradiation or that there is some defect in the cell arrest or repair pathways, which results in damaged cells been pushed into apoptosis rather than repair.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The effect of ultraviolet irradiation in normal controls and patients with basal cell carcinoma (BCC) on (A) the expression of p53, (B) the expression of p21, (C) the expression of Bax, and (D) the induction of apoptosis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparison of apoptosis measured by the in situ cell death detection kit and by haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) 33 hours after ultraviolet irradiation. Using the H&E stain, cells showing nuclear fragmentation and sunburn cells (cells with eosinophilic cytoplasm) were both identified. With this stain, the number of cells with fragmented nuclei and sunburn cells were counted both separately and together. It was shown that the two methods were comparable—by taking a time point and plotting the counts obtained by both methods a similar trend was seen in both normal controls and patients with basal cell carcinoma (BCC).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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