S phase arrest and induction of multinucleated cells after exposure to ultraviolet radiation

The effects of UVA (365 nm) and UVB (297/302 nm) radiation on cellular proliferation, cell cycle progression, aneuploidy and multinucleus induction have been studied in two different fibroblast cell lines; V79 Chinese hamster lung fibroblasts and 3T3 Swiss albino mouse fibroblasts. UVA and UVB were found to inhibit proliferation of the cells in a fluence-dependent manner. This inhibition was due to a temporary accumulation of cells in the S phase of the cell cycle, as determined by flow cytometry of UV-irradiated V79 cells. The UVA- and UVB-induced S phase delay was observed a few hours after irradiation and by 48 h post-irradiation the cells had recovered from cell cycle arrest. For UVA, but not for UVB, the elongation of S phase was followed by a small accumulation of cells in the G2 phase. After exposure to UVA and a post-irradiation time long enough for the cells to recover from cell cycle arrest, a large proportion of the cells were polyploid, with two or more nuclei. Multinucleated cells were not, however, induced by UVB irradiation.