Induction of c-fos protooncogene expression following exposure of mammalian skin to UV irradiation suggests an involvement in UV-induced alterations of epidermal cell proliferation and viability. In the present study we have investigated whether topically administered c-fos antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) inhibit c-fos activation in the UV-exposed rat skin and thereby modulate the delayed increase in cellular proliferative activity. The accumulation of c-Fos immunolabeled nuclei in the epidermis was almost completely blocked 18 h post-irradiation by topical treatment with the c-fos antisense ODN. The co-expression of c-Jun was not affected and a random sequence control ODN was ineffective. Epicutaneous application of fluorescein-labeled ODNs revealed penetration into the underlying epidermis. The appearance of nuclear immunoreactivity for proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) 18 h after UV exposure was significantly suppressed in the epidermis treated with c-fos antisense ODNs. In vitro PCNA is involved in both DNA repair synthesis and DNA replication, and the expression of PCNA mRNA is increased after UV irradiation. Thus, it may be speculated that UV-induced c-Fos transcription factor may be linked to repair of photodamaged DNA and/or cell cycle progression by trans-activating PCNA gene expression.
