The comet assay: What can it really tell us?

Mutation Research - Fundamental and Molecular Mechanisms of Mutagenesis

Volumn 375, Issue 2, 1997, Pages 183-193

  Collins, Andrew R ^a   Dobson, Victoria L ^a   Dušinská, Mária ^b   Kennedy, Gayle ^c   Štětina, Rudolf ^d  

^a ROWETT RESEARCH INSTITUTE   (United Kingdom)

^b INST OF PREV AND CLINICAL MEDICINE   (Slovakia)

^c UNIVERSITY OF ULSTER   (United Kingdom)

^d INSTITUTE OF MATHEMATICS   (Czech Republic)

Author keywords

Comet assay; DNA repair inhibitor; Molecular epidemiology; Repair enzyme; SCGE

Indexed keywords

ARTICLE; ASSAY; BIOLOGICAL MONITORING; DNA DAMAGE; DNA REPAIR; DNA STRAND BREAKAGE; GEL ELECTROPHORESIS; HUMAN; HUMAN CELL; PRIORITY JOURNAL; SCREENING;

CELL NUCLEUS; DNA; DNA DAMAGE; DNA MUTATIONAL ANALYSIS; DNA REPAIR; HELA CELLS; HUMANS; HYDROGEN-ION CONCENTRATION; LYMPHOCYTES; NUCLEIC ACID DENATURATION; OXIDATION-REDUCTION; SMOKING;

EID: 0030995733     PISSN: 00275107     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/S0027-5107(97)00013-4     Document Type: Article

References (20)

1. Cook, P.R., I.A. Brazell and E. Jost (1976) Characterization of nuclear structures containing superhelical DNA, J. Cell Sci., 22, 303-324.
2. Singh, N.P., M.T. McCoy, R.R. Tice and E.L. Schneider (1988) A simple technique for quantitation of low levels of DNA damage in individual cells, Exp. Cell Res., 175, 184-191.
3. Gedik, C.M., S.W.B. Ewen and A.R. Collins (1992) Single-cell gel electrophoresis applied to the analysis of UV-C damage and its repair in human cells, Int. J. Radiat. Biol., 62, 313-320.
4. Collins, A.R., S.J. Duthie and V.L. Dobson (1993) Direct enzymic detection of endogenous oxidative base damage in human lymphocyte DNA, Carcinogenesis, 14, 1733-1735.
5. Collins, A.R., A.-G. Ma and S.J. Duthie (1995) The kinetics of repair of oxidative DNA damage (strand breaks and oxidised pyrimidines) in human cells, Mutation Res. (DNA Repair), 336, 69-77.
6. Olive, P.L., J.P. Banáth and R.E. Durand (1990) Heterogeneity in radiation-induced DNA damage and repair in tumor and normal cells measured using the 'comet assay', Radiat. Res., 122, 86-94.
7. Collins, A.R., M. Dušinská, C.M. Gedik and R. Štětina (1996) Oxidative damage to DNA: do we have a reliable biomarker? Env. Health Persp., 104 (Suppl. 3), 465-469.
8. Ostling, O. and K.J. Johanson (1984) Microelectrophoretic study of radiation-induced DNA damages in individual mammalian cells, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 123, 291-298.
9. Green, M.H.L., A.P.W. Waugh, J.E. Lowe, S.A. Harcourt, J. Cole and C.F. Arlett (1994) Effect of deoxyribonucleosides on the hypersensitivity of human peripheral blood lymphocytes to UV-B and UV-C irradiation, Mutation Res., 315, 25-32.
10. Yew, F.F.-H. and R.T. Johnson (1979) Ultraviolet-induced DNA excision repair in human B and T lymphocytes. II. Effect of inhibitors and DNA precursors, Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 562, 240-251.
11. Munch-Petersen, B., G. Tyrsted and B. Dupont (1973) The deoxyribonucleoside 5′-triphosphate (dATP and dTTP) pool in phytohemagglutinin-stimulated and non-stimulated human lymphocytes, Exp. Cell Res., 79, 249-256.
12. Collins, A.R.S., M.J. Ord and R.T. Johnson (1981) Correlations of DNA damage and repair with nuclear and chromosomal damage in HeLa cells caused by methylnitrosamides, Cancer Res., 41, 5176-5187.
13. Doetsch, P.W., W.D. Henner, R.P. Cunningham, J.H. Toney and D.E. Helland (1987) A highly conserved endonuclease activity present in Escherichia coli, bovine, and human cells recognizes oxidative DNA damage at sites of pyrimidines, Mol. Cell. Biol., 7, 26-32.
14. Ames, B.N. (1989) Endogenous oxidative DNA damage, aging and cancer, Free Rad. Res. Commun., 7, 121-128.
15. Boiteux, S., E. Gajewski, J. Laval and M. Dizdaroglu (1992) Substrate specificity of the Escherichia coli Fpg protein (formamidopyrimidine-DNA glycosylase): excision of purine lesions in DNA produced by ionizing radiation or photosensitization, Biochemistry, 31, 106-110.
16. Cerutti, P.A. (1974) Effects of ionizing radiation on mammalian cells, Naturwissenschaften, 61, 51-59.
17. Collins, A.R., I.M. Fleming and C.M. Gedik (1994) In vitro repair of oxidative and ultraviolet-induced DNA damage in supercoiled nucleoid DNA by human cell extract, Biochim. Biophys. Acta, 1219, 724-727.
18. Tice, R.R., P.W. Andrews and N.P. Singh (1990) The single cell gel assay: a sensitive technique for evaluating intercellular differences in DNA damage and repair, Basic Life Sci., 53, 291-301.
19. Hartmann, A., U. Plappert, K. Raddatz, M. Grünert-Fuchs and G. Speit (1994) Does physical activity induce DNA damage?, Mutagenesis, 9, 269-272.
20. Dušinská, M. and A. Collins (1996) Detection of oxidised purines and UV-induced photoproducts in DNA of single cells, by inclusion of lesion-specific enzymes in the comet assay, Alt. Lab. Animals, 24, 405-411.