Accumulation of gadd153 mRNA is strongly stimulated in mammalian cells by treatments which arrest growth or damage DNA (A. J. Fornace, Jr. et al., Mol. Cell. Biol., 9: 4196-4203, 1989). In previous studies, we demonstrated that the increased expression of gadd153 following treatment with several DNA-damaging agents was mediated transcriptionally (J. D. Luethy et al., J. Biol. Chem., 265: 16521-16526, 1990). To better define the specificity of this response, we have established a sensitive reporter system in which we have stably integrated a chimeric gene containing the gadd153 promoter linked to the coding region of the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) gene into the genome of HeLa cells. Transcriptional activation from the gadd153 promoter was monitored by determining levels of CAT activity in cellular lysates prepared from gadd153CAT/HeLa cells treated with a variety of agents. The gadd153 promoter was strongly activated by a broad spectrum of genotoxic agents including UV-mimetic agents, DNA-cross-linking and alkylating agents, DNA intercalators, and topoisomerase inhibitors. Of the DNA-damaging agents tested, only X-irradiation and bleomycin treatments failed to induce gadd153 promoter activity. Agents which inhibit replication and cell division and agents which otherwise result in cytotoxicity or growth arrest also had little influence on gadd153 promoter activity. Expression of the gadd153CAT chimeric gene in xeroderma pigmentosum Group A cells, which are deficient in nucleotide excision DNA repair of pyrimidine dimers, was maximally induced at UV doses at least 6-fold lower than those required for similar induction in repair-proficient HeLa cells. However, the methyl methanesulfonate-induced gadd153 promoter activities were similar in both cell lines. Novobiocin pretreatment inhibited both UV- and methyl methanesulfonate-induced gadd153CAT expression. Collectively, these data indicate that: (a) the gadd153 promoter is activated rapidly and specifically by DNA damage; (b) the altered DNA structure is the inducing signal for the activation of the signal transduction pathway responsible for enhanced gadd153 expression; and (c) regulation of gadd153 by growth arrest is distinct from that of DNA damage. Thus, the gadd153CAT/HeLa cells are a useful model for examining the molecular mechanisms associated with the response to DNA damage and provide a reporter system for the screening of potential genotoxic agents.