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To elucidate the reaction mechanism of ginseng protein on its antiradiation activity, its effects were studied on sister chromatid exchanges(SCE) induced by UV irradiation in CHO-K1 cells. When cells were irradiated with 254nm UV light at the dose of 0 to 80erg/mm2, the frequencies of SCE were increased more than two fold. However, when radioprotective ginseng protein was added to the cells before and after UV irradiation, SCE frequencies were decreased significantly at all UV doses in both cases with no significant differences. As the amount of ginseng protein was varied from 100 to 500mcg/ml, with UV irradiation at 60erg/mm2, SCE frequencies dropped sharply at the first two concentrations and then reached a sort of plateau in both cases of pre-and post-treatment. When the ginseng protein was treated alone without UV irradiation, there were no changes in SCE frequencies no matter when the protein was added. These results suggest that the ginseng protein could reduce DNA damages, which may play an important role in the reaction mechanism of radioprotective activity of the protein.
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