DNA single strand breaks induced by asbestos fibers in human pleural mesothelial cells in vitro

The mechanisms of the cellular effects and DNA damage caused by asbestos fibers in human mesothelial cells are not well understood. We exposed transformed human pleural mesothelial cells to 1-4 microg/cm2 crocidolite and to 10-100 ng/ml tumor necrosis factor alpha for up to 48 hr and studied the induction of DNA damage using the Comet assay. As a positive control, 100 microM H2O2 was used. The DNA single strand breaks were assessed as the mean tail moments and as distributions of the tail DNA in the cell. The Comet assay showed significant but reversible increases in the mean tail moments, but not in the distribution of Comet tails in the histograms in cells exposed to 1 microg/cm2 crocidolite for 6 hr. At higher concentrations of asbestos fibers all the indices in the Comet assay showed significant and irreversible change. All the doses of TNF-alpha caused marginal increase in the mean tail moments. The mean tail moments were highest in the cells with concurrent treatment to TNF-alpha and crocidolite. In the cells pretreated with inhibitors of antioxidant enzymes (aminotriazole for catalase and buthionine sulfoximine for gamma-glutamylcysteine synthetase) asbestos fibers slightly increased oxidant-related fluorescence of dichlorofluorescein (DCFH) but did not cause any further increases in the mean tail moments. This study shows that asbestos fibers cause DNA single strand breaks in human mesothelial cells. Since the inhibition of antioxidant enzymes did not have an effect on the DNA damage caused by the fibers, other mechanisms than free radicals seem to be involved in the induction of DNA damage by mineral fibers.     

DNA damage induced by hyperoxia: quantitation and correlation with lung injury

Inspired oxygen, an essential therapy for cardiorespiratory disorders, has the potential to generate reactive oxygen species that damage cellular DNA. Although DNA damage is implicated in diverse pulmonary disorders, including neoplasia and acute lung injury, the type and magnitude of DNA lesion caused by oxygen in vivo is unclear. We used single-cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE) to quantitate two distinct forms of DNA damage, base adduction and disruption of the phosphodiester backbone, in the lungs of mice. Both lesions were induced by oxygen, but a marked difference between the two was found. With 40 h of oxygen exposure, oxidized base adducts increased 3- to 4-fold in the entire population of lung cells. This lesion displayed temporal characteristics (a progressive increase over the first 24 h) consistent with a direct effect of reactive oxygen species attack upon DNA. DNA strand breaks, on the other hand, occurred in < 10% of pulmonary cells, which acquired severe levels of the lesion; dividing cells were preferentially affected. Characteristics of these cells suggested that DNA strand breakage was secondary to cell death, rather than a primary effect of reactive oxygen species attack on DNA. By analysis of IL-6- and IL-11-overexpressing transgenic animals, which are resistant to hyperoxia, we found that DNA strand breaks, but not base damage, correlated with acute lung injury. Analysis of purified alveolar type 2 preparations from hyperoxic mice indicated that strand breaks preferentially affected this cell type.     

DNA damage and repair measured in different genomic regions using the comet assay with fluorescent in situ hybridization

The comet assay is a sensitive method for measuring DNA strand breaks in eukaryotic cells. After embedding in agarose, cells are lysed and electrophoresed at high pH. DNA loops containing breaks (in which supercoiling is relaxed) escape from the nucleoid comet head to form a tail. Oligonucleotide probes were designed for 5' and 3' regions of the genes for dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) and O6-methylguanine DNA methyltransferase (MGMT), both from the Chinese hamster, and the human tumour suppressor p53 gene. Alternate ends were labelled with either biotin or fluorescein. These probes were hybridized to the DNA of comets from Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells or human lymphocytes treated with H2O2 or photosensitizer plus light to induce oxidative damage. Amplification with Texas red- and fluorescein-tagged antibodies led, in the case of p53 in human cells, to red and green signals located in the comet tail (as well as in the head), indicating the presence of breaks in the vicinity of the gene. However, only one end of the MGMT gene appeared in the tail and almost no signals from the DHFR gene, either red or green, were in the tail of comets from CHO cells. Restriction on movement from the head to tail may result from the presence of a 'matrix-associated region' in the gene. The kinetics of repair of oxidative damage were followed; strand breaks in the p53 gene were repaired more rapidly than total DNA. Thus, fluorescent in situ hybridization in combination with the comet assay provides a powerful method for studying repair of specific genes in relation to chromatin structure.     

Reversible cigarette smoke extract-induced DNA damage in human lung fibroblasts

Cigarette smoke contains thousands of chemicals, many of which may contribute to cytotoxicity and carcinogenesis. Using assays detecting DNA strand breaks (terminal transferase dUTP nick end labeling [TUNEL]) and DNA content (flow cytometry), we evaluated the genotoxic effect of cigarette smoke extract (CSE) on human fetal lung fibroblasts (HFL-1) cultured in three-dimensional collagen gels as well as in monolayer culture. When HFL-1 cells were exposed to CSE, DNA strand breaks were detected in most, as determined by TUNEL. This effect was dependent on CSE concentration, duration of CSE exposure, and the density of HFL-1 cells cast into the collagen gels. Buthionine sulfoximine (BSO), an inhibitor of glutathione synthesis, significantly increased DNA damage induced by 1% CSE, and N-acetylcysteine, a glutathione precursor, blocked 5% CSE from inducing DNA damage. After CSE exposure, most cells were TUNEL-positive, but DNA quantification revealed no hypodiploid cells, indicating that apoptosis was not occurring during the CSE exposure. CSE-induced DNA damage was reversible, and cells proliferated when CSE was removed after 24 h exposure. These results demonstrate that cigarette smoke can induce DNA damage in HFL-1 cells cultured in both three-dimensional collagen gels and monolayer cultures, and that oxidants likely play a role in this damage. Moreover, this DNA damage is reversible, with cells surviving and TUNEL positivity reversing when CSE is removed within 24 h.     

Effect of diet and vitamin C on DNA strand breakage in freshly-isolated human white blood cells

We have measured DNa strand breaks induced by ionising radiation in nucleated cells from freshly isolated whole blood from normal human subjects. Samples werer taken after subjects had fasted overnight and again 1 h after they had eaten breakfast in combination with approximately 35 mg/kg vitamin C. Damage was measured by single cell gel electrophoresis (the ‘comet’ assay), in which DNA single strand breaks generate a comet tail streaming from the nucleus. In repeat experiments on 6 subjects a reduction in DNA damage, as indicated by a highly significant decrease in overall comet length, was observed following vitamin C ingestion, both in the unirradiated control blood samples and in the dose response to ionising radiation damage. In addition, consistent differences in dose response between individual subjects were found. The peak effect was 4 h after intake of food and vitamin C. An effect was also seen with vitamin C alone and after breakfast without additional vitamin C. Protection against strand breakage was also seen in Ficoll-separated mononucleasr cells but evidence was not obtained from protection of separated, mitogen stimulated T-lymphocytes either against ionising radiation cell killing in a clonal assay, or against clastogenicity assessed by micronucleus formation following one cell division. Exposure of separated lymphocytes in vitro to vitamin C, at doses greater than 200 μM, did not offer protection but induced strand breakage. Our results raise the possibility in normal diet may not only affect susceptibility to endogenous oxidative damage, but may affect some responses of the individual to radiation.     

Age-related effects on induction of DNA strand breaks by intermittent exposure to electromagnetic fields

Several studies indicating a decline of DNA repair efficiency with age raise the question, if senescence per se leads to a higher susceptibility to DNA damage upon environmental exposures. Cultured fibroblasts of six healthy donors of different age exposed to intermittent ELF-EMF (50 Hz sinus, 1 mT) for 1-24 h exhibited different basal DNA strand break levels correlating with age. The cells revealed a maximum response at 15-19 h of exposure. This response was clearly more pronounced in cells from older donors, which could point to an age-related decrease of DNA repair efficiency of ELF-EMF induced DNA strand breaks.     

The use of metabolic inhibitors to compare the excision repair of pyrimidine dimers and nondimer DNA damages in human skin fibroblasts exposed to 254-nm and sunlamp-produced greater than 310-nm ultraviolet radiation

Normal human skin fibroblasts were exposed to either 0-5 J/m2 of 254-nm ultraviolet (UV) radiation or 0-50 kJ/m2 of the Mylar-filtered UV (greater than 310 nm) produced by a fluorescent sunlamp. These cells were then incubated for 0-20 min in medium containing 10 mM hydroxyurea (HU) and 0.1 mM 1-beta-D-arabinofuranosyl cytosine (ara C), and the yield of DNA strand breaks was measured by means of the alkaline elution technique. For cells irradiated with 254-nm UV, which results primarily in the formation of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers, a rapid increase in DNA strand breaks was detected following incubation with these metabolic inhibitors. In contrast, only a low level of strand breaks formed in cells incubated with HU and ara C after irradiation with approximately equitoxic fluences of sunlamp UV greater than 310 nm, which mainly causes the induction of nondimer DNA lesions. Hence, these results are consistent with the conclusion that the pathways involved in the repair of nondimer DNA damages induced by UV wavelengths greater than 310 nm differ from the repair of pyrimidine dimers.     

Recognition and repair of chemically heterogeneous structures at DNA ends

Exposure to environmental toxicants and stressors, radiation, pharmaceutical drugs, inflammation, cellular respiration, and routine DNA metabolism all lead to the production of cytotoxic DNA strand breaks. Akin to splintered wood, DNA breaks are not “clean.” Rather, DNA breaks typically lack DNA 5′‐phosphate and 3′‐hydroxyl moieties required for DNA synthesis and DNA ligation. Failure to resolve damage at DNA ends can lead to abnormal DNA replication and repair, and is associated with genomic instability, mutagenesis, neurological disease, ageing and carcinogenesis. An array of chemically heterogeneous DNA termini arises from spontaneously generated DNA single‐strand and double‐strand breaks (SSBs and DSBs), and also from normal and/or inappropriate DNA metabolism by DNA polymerases, DNA ligases and topoisomerases. As a front line of defense to these genotoxic insults, eukaryotic cells have accrued an arsenal of enzymatic first responders that bind and protect damaged DNA termini, and enzymatically tailor DNA ends for DNA repair synthesis and ligation. These nucleic acid transactions employ direct damage reversal enzymes including Aprataxin (APTX), Polynucleotide kinase phosphatase (PNK), the tyrosyl DNA phosphodiesterases (TDP1 and TDP2), the Ku70/80 complex and DNA polymerase β (POLβ). Nucleolytic processing enzymes such as the MRE11/RAD50/NBS1/CtIP complex, Flap endonuclease (FEN1) and the apurinic endonucleases (APE1 and APE2) also act in the chemical “cleansing” of DNA breaks to prevent genomic instability and disease, and promote progression of DNA‐ and RNA‐DNA damage response (DDR and RDDR) pathways. Here, we provide an overview of cellular first responders dedicated to the detection and repair of abnormal DNA termini. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 56:1–21, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Clothianidin induces DNA damage and oxidative stress in bronchial epithelial cells

Clothianidin (CHN) is a member of the neonicotinoid group of insecticides. Its oxidative and DNA damage potential for human lung cells are not known. Therefore, the present study was designed to examine the effects of CHN on DNA damage and oxidative stress in human bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B) treated with CHN for 24, 72, and 120 hr. Our results indicate that CHN decreased cell viability in a concentration-dependent manner. CHN induced DNA single-strand breaks because alkaline comet parameters such as tail intensity, DNA in the tail, tail moment, and tail length increased. All CHN concentrations also significantly induced the formation of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) because it increased phosphorylated H2AX protein foci for all treatment times and p53-binding protein 1 foci for all treatments except for the lowest concentration (0.15 mM) of 120-hr treatment. DNA damage caused by DNA DSBs was not repaired in a 24-hr recovery period. CHN also induced oxidative stress by decreasing reduced glutathione and increasing lipid peroxidation. These results make it necessary to conduct studies about the detailed carcinogenic potential of CHN in humans because it can induce both oxidative and DNA damage.     

Influence of a static magnetic field (250 mT) on the antioxidant response and DNA integrity in THP1 cells

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of static magnetic field (SMF) exposure in antioxidant enzyme activity, the labile zinc fraction and DNA damage in THP1 cells (monocyte line). Cell culture flasks were exposed to SMF (250 mT) during 1 h (group 1), 2 h (group 2) and 3 h (group 3). Our results showed that cell viability was slightly lower in SMF-exposed groups compared to a sham exposed group. However, SMF exposure failed to alter malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration (+6%, p>0.05) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) (-5%, p>0.05), catalase (CAT) (-6%, p>0.05) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities (+38%, p>0.05) in group 3 compared to the sham exposed group. DNA analysis by single cell gel electrophoresis (comet assay) revealed that SMF exposure did not exert any DNA damage in groups 1 and 2. However, it induced a low level of DNA single strand breaks in cells of group 3. To further explore the oxidative DNA damage, cellular DNA for group 3 was isolated, hydrolyzed and analysed by HPLC-EC. The level of 8-oxodGuo in this group remained unchanged compared to the sham exposed group (+6.5%, p>0.05). Cells stained with zinc-specific fluorescent probes zinpyr-1 showed a decrease of labile zinc fraction in all groups exposed to SMF. Our data showed that SMF exposure (250 mT, during 3 h) did not cause oxidative stress and DNA damage in THP1 cells. However, SMF could alter the intracellular labile zinc fraction.     

Induction and repair of DNA strand breaks and oxidised bases in somatic and spermatogenic cells from the earthworm Eisenia fetida after exposure to ionising radiation

Methods for analysing oxidised DNA lesions [formamidopyrimidine glycosylase (Fpg)-sensitive sites] in coelomocytes and spermatogenic cells from the earthworm Eisenia fetida using the Fpg-modified comet assay were established. The DNA integrity (SSBs = strand breaks plus alkali labile sites and Fpg-sensitive sites) in cells from E. fetida continuously exposed to (60)Co gamma-radiation (dose rates 0.18-43 mGy/h) during two subsequent generations (F0 and F1) were measured and related to effects on reproduction end points which have already been reported. The data suggest a slight increase of Fpg-sensitive sites in spermatogenic cells from worms exposed at 11 mGy/h in the F0 generation but not in F1, whereas reduced reproduction had been observed at dose rates at or >4 mGy/h in F0 and at 11 mGy/h in F1. Using acute X-rays (41.9 Gy/h), dose-response relationships were established for SSBs in coelomocytes and spermatogenic cells exposed in vitro. In vivo DNA repair was studied by measuring the decrease in damage (SSBs and Fpg-sensitive sites) in coelomocytes and spermatogenic cells isolated from worms at different times (0-6 h) after acute X-ray exposure (4 Gy). SSBs were repaired in coelomocytes following biphasic kinetics, i.e. with a fast and a slow half-life (t(1/2)) of 36 min (95%) and 6.7 h (5%), respectively. Fpg-sensitive sites were repaired at considerably lower rates (t(1/2) = 4-5 h). In spermatogenic cells, SSB repair during the first hour was observed but a half-life could not be estimated. Repair of Fpg-sensitive sites could not be determined. In general, a reduced repair of Fpg-sensitive sites suggests a higher potential for accumulation of oxidised lesions, compared to SSBs, in earthworms exposed to radiation and other environmental contaminants. This is the first study comparing DNA damage with reproduction in earthworms exposed to ionising radiation.     

DNA strand breaks induced in cultured human and rodent cells by chlorohydroxyfuranones--mutagens isolated from drinking water.

Chlorohydroxyfuranones, by-products of chlorine disinfection and drinking water contaminants, are shown to produce DNA strand breaks in human and rodent cells. One chlorohydroxyfuranone, 3-chloro-4-dichloromethyl-5-hydroxy-2[5H]-furanone (MX), a potent bacterial mutagen, induces 232 +/- 89 DNA strand breaks.(cell-microM)-1 in human CCRF-CEM cells over a concentration range of 4.4 to 220 microM. This constitutes a DNA damage potency comparable to dimethylsulfate (DMS). By comparison, 3,4-dichloro-5-hydroxy-2[5H]-furanone (MA), another chlorohydroxyfuranone which is approximately four orders of magnitude less mutagenic than MX in Salmonella typhimurium strain TA100, is only about tenfold less potent as an inducer of DNA strand breaks in these cells, i.e., 18.2 +/- 3.1 strand breaks.(cell-microM)-1. The DNA strand-breaking potential of MX is inactivated by prior incubation with a rat liver S9 homogenate. In addition, both chlorohydroxyfuranones are ineffective at producing DNA strand breaks in primary rate hepatocytes (PRH) at concentrations below those which produce cytotoxicity as assessed by release of the cellular enzyme lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). Prior treatment of the PRH with 750 microM diethyl maleate, a glutathione-depleting agent, did not enhance the cytotoxicity nor the DNA strand-breaking potential of either chlorohydroxyfuranone. This could indicate that glutathione-glutathione-S-transferase is not an important mechanism for the detoxification of these compounds in PRH.     

Adaptive response to DNA and chromosomal damage induced by X-rays in human blood lymphocytes

Nucleoid sedimentation, single-cell gel electrophoresis (comet assay) and premature chromosome condensation (PCC) technique were utilized to estimate the involvement of DNA strand breaks and chromosomal damage in radio-adaptive response of stimulated human lymphocytes. Conditioning of cells with 0.02 Gy X-rays rendered them more resistant to single- and double-strand DNA breaks produced by 1 Gy challenging treatment as revealed by the sedimentation behaviour of the nucleoids and the comet assay. Nucleoid sedimentation also demonstrated that adaptive reaction towards X-ray-induced DNA damage is favoured in the presence of oxygen. A concomitant decrease in the amount of interphase chromosomal breaks visualized by PCC under the same experimental conditions was observed. Data indicate that adaptation of human lymphocytes to X-rays is tightly linked to the reduced susceptibility towards generation of DNA and chromosomal breaks. It is proposed that the very persistence of DNA strand discontinuities might serve as a triggering signal for the adaptation of human lymphocytes against ionizing radiation exposure.     

Normal remodeling of the oxygen-injured lung requires the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21(Cip1/WAF1/Sdi1)

Alveolar cells of the lung are injured and killed when exposed to elevated levels of inspired oxygen. Damaged tissue architecture and pulmonary function is restored during recovery in room air as endothelial and type II epithelial cells proliferate. Although excessive fibroblast proliferation and inflammation occur when abnormal remodeling occurs, genes that regulate repair remain unknown. Our recent observation that hyperoxia inhibits proliferation through induction of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21(Cip1/WAF1/Sdi1), which also facilitates DNA repair, suggested that p21 may participate in remodeling. This hypothesis was tested in p21-wild-type and -deficient mice exposed to 100% FiO(2) and recovered in room air. p21 increased during hyperoxia, remained elevated after 1 day of recovery before returning to unexposed levels. Increased proliferation occurred when p21 expression decreased. In contrast, higher and sustained levels of proliferation, resulting in myofibroblast hyperplasia and monocytic inflammation, occurred in recovered p21-deficient lungs. Cells with DNA strand breaks and expressing p53 were observed in hyperplastic regions suggesting that DNA integrity had not been restored. Normal recovery of endothelial and type II epithelial cells, as assessed by expression of cell-type-specific genes was also delayed in p21-deficient lungs. These results reveal that p21 is required for remodeling the oxygen-injured lung and suggest that failure to limit replication of damaged DNA may lead to cell death, inflammation, and abnormal remodeling. This observation has important implications for therapeutic strategies designed to attenuate long-term chronic lung disease after oxidant injury.     

Prostaglandin E2 suppresses phytohemagglutin-induced immune responses of normal human monoculear cells by decreasing intracellular glutathione generation,but not due to increased DNA strand breaks or apoptosis

Prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂) at concentrations more than 1×10^–8 M markedly suppressed the cell proliferation and release of soluble molecules of interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R), CD4 (sCD4) and CD8 (sCD8) from phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-stimulated normal human mononuclear cells (MNC) in a dose-related manner. To further elucidate the subcellular mechanism of the inhibitory effect of PGE₂ on PHA-stimulated MNC, intracellular concentration of glutathione (GSH) in PHA-stimulated MNC was sequentially measured from day 1 to day 3 by enzymic method. Furthermore, the effect of PGE₂ on nuclear DNA including DNA strand breaks in alkali treatment and DNA fragmentation (apoptosis) of PHA-stimulated MNC were also measured. We found intracellular GSH levels were significantly decreased in the early stage of lymphocyte activation (day 1), but no evidence of increased DNA stand breaks or apoptotic process appeared in 3-day culture. In addition, butathione sulfoximine (a specific GSH inhibitor) and dibutyryl cyclic AMP also exhibited both proliferation inhibition and GSH-decreasing effect on PHA-stimulated MNC as well as PGE₂. These results suggest that the immunosupressive effect of PGE₂ is mediated by the decreased generation of intracellular GSH, but not by the increased DNA strand breaks or apoptotic mechanism in the cells.     

Defective repair of DNA single- and double-strand breaks in the bleomycin- and X-ray-sensitive Chinese hamster ovary cell mutant,BLM-2

Using filter elution techniques, we have measured the level of induced single- and double-strand DNA breaks and the rate of strand break rejoining following exposure of two Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell mutants to bleomycin or neocarzinostatin. These mutants, designated BLM-1 and BLM-2, were isolated on the basis of hypersensitivity to bleomycin and are cross-sensitive to a range of other free radical-generating agents, but exhibit enhanced resistance to neocarzinostatin. A 1-h exposure to equimolar doses of bleomycin induces a similar level of DNA strand breaks in parental CHO-K1 and mutant BLM-1 cells, but a consistently higher level is accumulated by BLM-2 cells. The rate of rejoining of bleomycin-induced single- and double-strand DNA breaks is slower in BLM-2 cells than in CHO-K1 cells show normal strand break repair kinetics.The level of single- and double-strand breaks induced by neocarzinostatin is lower in both BLM-1 and BLM-2 cells than in CHO-K1 cells. The rate of repair of neocarzinostatin-induced strand breaks is normal in BLM-1 cells but retarded somewhat in BLM-2 cells.Thus, there is a correlation between the level of drug-induced DNA damage in BLM-2 cells and the bleomycin-sensitive, neocarzinostatin resistant phenotype of this mutant. Strand breaks induced by both of these agents are also repaired with reduced efficiency by BLM-2 cells. The neocarzinostatin resistance of BLM-1 cells appears to be a consequence of a reduced accumulation of DNA damage. However, the bleomycin-sensitive phenotype of BLM-1 cells does not apparently correlate with any alterations in DNA strand breaks induction or repair, as analysed by filter elution techniques, suggesting an alternative mechanism of cell killing.     

Biochemical and cytogenetical characterization of Chinese hamster ovary X-ray-sensitive mutant cells xrs 5 and xrs 6 VI. The correlation between UV-induced DNA lesions and chromosomal aberrations,and their modulations with inhibitors of DNA repair synthesis

The role of UV-induced DNA lesions and their repair in the formation of chromosomal aberrations in the xrs mutant cell lines xrs 5 and xrs 6 and their wild-type counterpart, CHO-K1 cells, were studied.The extent of induction of DNA single-strand breaks (SSBs) and DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) due to UV irradiation in the presence or absence of 1-β-d-arabinofuranosylcytosine (ara-C) and hydroxyurea (HU) was determined using the alkaline and neutral elution methods. Results of these experiments were compared with the frequencies of induced chromosomal aberrations in UV-irradiated G₁ cells treated under similar conditions.Xrs 6 cells showed a defect in their ability to perform the incision step of nucleotide repair after UV irradiation. Accumulation of breaks 2 h after UV irradiation in xrs 6 cells in the presence of HU and ara-C remained at the level of incision breaks estimated after 20 min, which was about 35% of that found in wild-type CHO-K1 cells. In UV-irradiated CHO-K1 and xrs 5 cells, more incision breaks were present after 2 h compared with 20 min post-treatment with ara-C, a further increase was evident when HU was added to the combined treatment. The level of incision breaks induced under these conditions in xrs 5 was about 80% of that observed in CHO-K1 cells. UV irradiation itself did not induce any detectable DNA strand breaks. Accumulation of SSBs in UV-irradiated cells post-treated with ara-C and HU coincides with the increase in the frequency of chromosomal aberrations. These data suggest that accumulated SSBs when converted to DSBs in G₁ give rise to chromosome-type aberrations, whereas strand breaks persisting until S-phase result in chromatid-type aberrations.Xrs 6 appeared to be the first ionizing-radiation-sensitive mutant with a partial defect in the incision step of DNA repair of UV-induced damage.     

Relative sensitivity of fish and mammalian cells to sodium arsenate and arsenite as determined by alkaline single-cell gel electrophoresis and cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay

To protect human and ecosystem health, it is necessary to develop sensitive assays and to identify responsive cells and species (and their life stages). In this study, the relative genotoxicity of two inorganic arsenicals: trivalent sodium arsenite (As(3+)) and pentavalent sodium arsenate (As(5+)), was evaluated in two cell lines of phylogenetically different origin, using alkaline single-cell gel electrophoresis (i.e., the Comet assay) and the cytokinesis-block micronucleus (MN) assay. The cell lines were the rainbow trout gonad-2 (RTG-2) and Chinese hamster ovary-K1 (CHO-K1) lines. Following optimization and validation of both assays using reference chemicals (i.e., 1-100 microM hydrogen peroxide for the Comet assay and 1-10 mM ethylmethane sulfonate for the MN assay), cells were exposed to 1-10 microM of both arsenicals to determine the relative extent of genetic damage. The unexposed controls showed similar (background) levels of damage in both cell lines and for both assays. Treatment with the arsenicals induced concentration-dependent increases in genetic damage in the two cell lines. Arsenite was more potent than arsenate in inducing DNA strand breaks in the Comet assay; at the highest concentration (10 microM) arsenite produced similar levels of DNA damage in CHO-K1 and RTG-2 cells, while 10 microM arsenate was significantly more genotoxic in RTG-2 cells. MN induction was consistently higher in RTG-2 cells than in CHO-K1 cells, with 10 microM arsenite inducing an approximate 10-fold increase in both cell lines. MN induction also was positively correlated with DNA strand breaks for both arsenicals. Overall, the study demonstrated that the fish cells are more sensitive than the mammalian cells at environmentally realistic concentrations of both arsenicals, with arsenite being more toxic.     

Seasonal variation of DNA damage and repair in patients with non-melanoma skin cancer and referents with and without psoriasis

Quadruples of skin cancer patients with and without psoriasis and referents with and without psoriasis (4×20 study persons) were identified and examined for DNA damage by single cell gel electrophoresis (comet-assay) and DNA-repair by UV-induced unscheduled DNA synthesis (UDS) in mononuclear blood cells (lymphocytes and monocytes). DNA damage (strand breaks and alkaline labile sites) as assessed by the comet assay and DNA repair as assessed by UDS were significantly associated with the season in which blood sampling took place. This variation might be explained by an increased exposure to solar radiation. When the comet tail moment data were stratified by sampling period, an interaction between psoriasis and skin cancer was detected, with patients with psoriasis and skin cancer exhibiting more DNA damage. Patients with psoriasis and skin cancer also had lower UDS compared to healthy study persons, suggesting that the more DNA damage may be caused by a lower rate of DNA repair. In all study persons, the extent of UDS correlated positively with the amount of DNA damage determined by the comet assay.     

Detection of DNA strand breaks and oxidized DNA bases at the single-cell level resulting from exposure to estradiol and hydroxylated metabolites

Long-term exposure to steroidal estrogens is a key factor contributing to increases in the risk of developing breast cancer. Proposed mechanisms include receptor-activated increases in the rate of cell proliferation leading to the accumulation of genetic damage resulting from reading errors, and the production of DNA damage by species arising from metabolism of 17beta-estradiol (E2) resulting in mutations. In support of the second mechanism, catechol metabolites of E2 induce DNA damage in vitro. In the present study, utilizing the single-cell gel electrophoresis (Comet) assay, we observed increases in the number of single-strand breaks in estrogen receptor alpha-positive (MCF-7) and -negative (MDA-MB-231) breast cancer cells exposed to E2 (for 24 hr) or 4-hydroxy-17beta-estradiol (4-OH-E2; for 2 hr). The concentrations of 4-OH-E2 sufficient to induce these effects were approximately 100 nM, substantially lower than reported previously. The catechol 2-hydroxy-17beta-estradiol (2-OH-E2) also induced strand breaks. 2-OH-E2, often referred to as an improbable carcinogen in humans, is not a major metabolite of E2 in the breast; however, our findings show that it is as DNA-damaging as 4-OH-E2. Formamidopyrimidine glycosylase posttreatment of E2-, 4-OH-E2-, and 2-OH-E2-exposed MCF-7 cells led to an up to sixfold increase in mean tail moment, suggesting that oxidative DNA damage was formed. Comet formation could be partially attenuated by coincubation with dimethylsulfoxide, attributing a small DNA-damaging role to oxyradicals emanating from catechol redox cycling. Similar findings were obtained with MDA-MB-231 cells, indicating that estrogen receptor status is not relevant to these effects. Our observations show that exposure to E2 adds to the oxidative load of cells, and this may contribute to genomic instability.