Measurement of oxidatively-induced clustered DNA lesions using a novel adaptation of single cell gel electrophoresis (comet assay).

The two basic groups of complex DNA damage are double-strand breaks (DSBs) and non-DSB oxidatively-induced clustered DNA lesions (OCDLs). The single-cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE) or comet assay has been widely used for the detection of low levels of various types of DNA lesions including single-strand breaks (SSBs), DSBs, and oxidized bases per individual cell. There are limited data on the use of the comet assay for the detection of non-DSB clustered DNA lesions using different repair enzymes as enzymatic probes. This unit discusses a novel adaptation of the comet assay used to measure these unique types of lesions. Until now OCDL yields have been measured using primarily pulsed-field agarose gel electrophoresis. The advantages offered by the current approach are: (1) measurement of OCDL levels per individual cell; (2) use of a small number of cells (∼10,000) and relatively low doses of ionizing radiation (1 to 2 Gy) or low levels of oxidative stress, which are not compatible with standard agarose gel electrophoresis; and finally, (3) the assay is fast and allows direct comparison with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis results.

DNA-PKcs deficiency leads to persistence of oxidatively induced clustered DNA lesions in human tumor cells.

DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) is a key non-homologous-end-joining (NHEJ) nuclear serine/threonine protein kinase involved in various DNA metabolic and damage signaling pathways contributing to the maintenance of genomic stability and prevention of cancer. To examine the role of DNA-PK in processing of non-DSB clustered DNA damage, we have used three models of DNA-PK deficiency, i.e., chemical inactivation of its kinase activity by the novel inhibitors IC86621 and NU7026, knockdown and complete absence of the protein in human breast cancer (MCF-7) and glioblastoma cell lines (MO59-J/K). A compromised DNA-PK repair pathway led to the accumulation of clustered DNA lesions induced by gamma-rays. Tumor cells lacking protein expression or with inhibited kinase activity showed a marked decrease in their ability to process oxidatively induced non-DSB clustered DNA lesions measured using a modified version of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis or single-cell gel electrophoresis (comet assay). In all cases, DNA-PK inactivation led to a higher level of lesion persistence even after 24-72h of repair. We suggest a model in which DNA-PK deficiency affects the processing of these clusters first by compromising base excision repair and second by the presence of catalytically inactive DNA-PK inhibiting the efficient processing of these lesions owing to the failure of DNA-PK to disassociate from the DNA ends. The information rendered will be important for understanding not only cancer etiology in the presence of an NHEJ deficiency but also cancer treatments based on the induction of oxidative stress and inhibition of cluster repair.