Persistent DNA damage induced by ultraviolet light inhibits p21waf1 and bax expression: implications for DNA repair, UV sensitivity and the induction of apoptosis

Ultraviolet light (UV) induced DNA lesions efficiently block transcript elongation and induce the p53 response. Although p53 contributes to transcriptional activation of the p21waf1 and bax genes, accumulation of these proteins requires that these genes are free of UV induced pyrimidine dimers. We assessed the level of expression of p53 and the p53 regulated p21waf1 and bax gene products in normal diploid fibroblasts (NDF) and several …