Immortalized fibroblasts in culture were grown in the presence of 10 μM cisplatin or 3.3 μM MMC for 48 h as indicated and their RNA was analysed by semiquantitative RT-PCR. Cisplatin and MMC induce ∆Np73-α mRNA and a group of apoptosis and cell cycle-controlling genes in cells defective in the FA-BRCA DNA-repair pathway (FA-A or FA-D2). This induction is impaired when the cells were reverted with the corrective gene (cFA-A or cFA-D2).