Evaluating in vitro DNA damage using comet assay

Y Lu, Y Liu, C Yang - JoVE (Journal of Visualized Experiments), 2017 - jove.com
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 …