Alkaline Single Cell Gel Electrophoresis: A Sensitive Technique for Quantitative Estimation of DNA Damage in Individual Cancer Cells Following Chemotherapy

Abstract

Source: Lu, Y., et al. Evaluating In Vitro DNA Damage Using Comet Assay J. Vis. Exp. (2017)

In this video, we demonstrate an alkaline single-cell electrophoresis assay to quantify both single- and double-strand DNA breaks in doxorubicin-treated cells. Alkaline conditions disrupt the hydrogen bonds between DNA base pairs, resulting in the complete unwinding and separation of DNA strands. This allows differential migration of undamaged and damaged DNA fragments in agarose gel upon electrophoresis, revealing a comet-shaped structure of slowly migrating undamaged DNA forming the circular comet head, and rapidly migrating damaged DNA fragments forming the elongated comet tail.

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 ele....

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
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
SYBR Green	Invitrogen	S33102
Low melting point agarose	Invitrogen	16520
Agarose	Invitrogen	16500
95% ethanol	WARNER-GRAHAM	#64-17-5
Trypsin	GIBCO	25300-054
Glass tissue slides	ELECTRON MICROSCOPY SCIENCES	63422-11
Kimwipes	KIMberly-Clark
1.5 mL Microcentrifuge Tubes	DENVILLE
Pipette Tips	SHARP
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