Protection from DNA damage during an ischemic cell injury

Biochemical parameters which may be useful in improving organ viability after storage

Biochemical methods that accurately detect ischemic damage in livers stored by flush cooling would be useful in the efficient development of new storage solutions. This study compares UW and Collins' solutions to evaluate those biochemical parameters which may be useful in assessing the reversibility of ischemic damage and the efficiency of organ storage solutions. Livers stored in UW solution showed higher levels of adenine nucleotides at all storage times studied. This increase in adenine nucleotides averaged 29% and was statistically significant. There was also a significant increase in the NAD levels in organs stored in UW solutions; however, the ATP levels were not significantly different after storage in either solution. Storage of livers in UW solution also decreased the amount of DNA damage which occurs with storage as compared to storage in Collins' solution, becoming statistically significant after 48 hr of storage. This suggests that these biochemical parameters may be useful in designing improved storage solutions since they reflect the extent of ischemic damage to the organ and can be determined on a small section of liver taken by biopsy.

In vivo ischemia and storage injury cause alterations in the activity of poly(adenosine diphosphate ribose) synthetase

The objective of this study was to determine if DNA damage caused by ischemic insult (blood depletion) causes an alteration in the activity of endogenous mouse kidney poly(ADP-ribose) synthetase. The results show that kidneys made nonviable by warm (37 degrees C) in vitro ischemia (organ storage to study the effects of blood loss at normal body temperature) and in vivo ischemia (surgical depletion of the blood supply by arterial clamping) exhibit decreased levels of enzyme activity. Kidneys made nonviable by cold (0 degrees C) storage injury (organ storage as utilized for transplantation), however, possess elevated levels of enzyme activity. The DNA isolated from ischemic kidneys was shown to have a stimulatory effect upon exogenous calf thymus poly(ADP-ribose) synthetase. Also, electron microscopy analysis of DNA from ischemic kidneys showed that cold storage injury leads to the formation of large (average size = 500 bases) single-stranded regions. The results suggest that the activities of both endogenous and exogenous poly(ADP-ribose) synthetase are related to the nature of DNA damage resulting from ischemic insult.

Patterns of structural change in DNA during tissue necrosis indicated by benzoylated DEAE-cellulose chromatography

Structural change in liver DNA, isolated following administration of a necrogenic dose of carbon tetrachloride to rats, was examined by benzoylated DEAE-cellulose (BD-cellulose) chromatography. Greatest increase in the amount of DNA exhibiting single stranded character was detected 48 h after treatment, at which time massive necrosis was evident histologically. By 72 h after dosing, normal hepatic architecture had been restored and gross structural change in DNA could no longer be detected. The extent of single stranded regions in DNA isolated at various times after carbon tetrachloride intoxication was assessed by caffeine gradient elution of respective samples from BD-cellulose. By this criterion, structural damage to DNA was again most marked 48 h after treatment at which time single stranded regions extending over several kilobases were apparent. At earlier times such lesions were considerably shorter. Single stranded regions of discrete length detected 72 h after administration of the hepatotoxin appeared to be associated with cell division. Structural damage to DNA coincident with toxic injury was further characterized using BD-cellulose, by caffeine gradient elution of preparations subjected to denaturation before chromatography. The data indicate that production of single stranded regions is a major feature of DNA degradation during tissue necrosis. Whilst such degradation might otherwise confound interpretation of structural analyses based only upon strand breakage, the size of these regions suggests a basis for distinguishing between them and lesions specifically associated with repair, replication and transcription of DNA.