Evaluating In Vitro DNA Damage Using Comet Assay

Summary

The comet assay is an efficient method to detect DNA damage including single and double-stranded DNA breaks. We describe alkaline and neutral comet assays to measure DNA damage in cancer cells to evaluate the therapeutic effect of chemotherapy.

Abstract

DNA damage is a common phenomenon for each cell during its lifespan, and is defined as an alteration of the chemical structure of genomic DNA. Cancer therapies, such as radio- and chemotherapy, introduce enormous amount of additional DNA damage, leading to cell cycle arrest and apoptosis to limit cancer progression. Quantitative assessment of DNA damage during experimental cancer therapy is a key step to justify the effectiveness of a genotoxic agent. In this study, we focus on a single cell electrophoresis assay, also known as the comet assay, which can quantify single and double-strand DNA breaks in vitro. The comet assay is a DNA damage quantification method that is efficient and easy to perform, and has low time/budget demands and high reproducibility. Here, we highlight the utility of the comet assay for a preclinical study by evaluating the genotoxic effect of olaparib/temozolomide combination therapy to U251 glioma cells.

Introduction

The comet assay was first developed by Ostling and Johanson in 1984 by demonstrating the migration of DNA fragments from nuclei under a neutral condition¹. The technique was later developed by Singh et al., showing that an alkaline condition substantially increased the specificity and reproducibility of the assay². Since then, the neutral comet assay is mostly used to detect double-stranded DNA breaks, whereas the alkaline comet assay is more sensitive for smaller amounts of DNA damage, including single and double strand DNA breaks, alkali-labile sites, DNA-DNA or DNA-protein cross-linking, and DNA single-strand....

Protocol

1. Prepare Reagents

1. 1x PBS
   1. Dilute 100 mL 10x PBS with 900 mL dH₂O and adjust the pH to 7.4 using a pH meter. Store at room temperature.
2. Lysis solution (LS)
   1. Prepare 2.5 M NaCl, 100 mM disodium EDTA, 10 mM Tris base, and 200 mM NaOH in 900 mL dH₂O; it commonly takes about 20 min to allow the mixture to fully dissolve. Adjust the pH to 10 using a pH meter. Add 1% sodium lauryl sarcosinate and 1% Triton X-100, and adjust the final volume to 1,000 mL. Cool to 4 °C for at least 30 min before use.
3. Alkaline electrophoresis solutio....

Results

The present protocol describes a step-by-step workflow for the comet assay execution and data analysis (Figure 1). Results from the alkaline and neutral comet assays showed that the comet tail of doxorubicin-treated U251 cells (1 µM, 20 h) was longer and had higher DNA intensity, suggesting a substantial accumulation of fragmented DNA due to chemotherapy (Figure 2).

Qua.......

Discussion

The comet assay is an efficient tool to measure single and double-strand DNA breaks at the cellular level. The assay has been widely applied as a "golden standard" in studies regarding genotoxicity and biomonitoring¹³, ranging from base lesions, DNA crosslinks, drug development, and alkali sensitive sites. In the present study, we showed two distinct step-by-step protocols for alkaline and neutral comet assays, respectively. Combining single cell electrophoresis, fluorescent microscopy, and image .......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Reagents
10x PBS(Ca++, Mg++ free)	TEKnova	P0196
NaCl	Sigma	S5886
EDTA	TEKnova	E0308
Trizma base	Sigma	T1503
NaOH	Sigma	72068
Sodium lauryl sarcosinate	Sigma	L7414
Triton X-100	Sigma	93443
Sodium acetate	Sigma	32318
Glacial acetic acid	Sigma	695092
Ammonium acetate	Sigma	A1542
SYBR Green	Invitrogen	S33102
Low melting point agarose	Invitrogen	16520
Agarose	Invitrogen	16500
95% ethanol	WARNER-GRAHAM	#64-17-5
Trypsin	GIBICO	25300-054
Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Consumables
Glass tissue slides	ELECTRON MICROSCOPY SCIENCES	63422-11
Kimwipes	KIMberly-Clark
1.5 mL Microcentrifuge Tubes	DENVILLE
Pipette Tips	SHARP
Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Equipments
Microwave	Avanti
Waterbath	PRECISION
Horizontal electrophoresis chamber	TREVIGEN	Cometassay ES II
Power supply	Bio-Rad
Incubator	Quincy Lab	Model 12-140E
Fluorescent microscope	Zeiss	LSM700
Micropipettor	Eppendorf