title: Proposal of an in vivo comet assay using haemocytes of Drosophila melanogaster.
abstract: This study presents the first application of an in vivo alkaline comet assay using haemocytes of Drosophila melanogaster larvae. These cells, which play a role similar to that of mammalian blood, can be easily obtained and represent an overall exposure of the treated larvae. To validate the assay, we evaluated the response of these cells to three well-known mutagenic agents: ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS), potassium dichromate (PD), and gamma radiation (γ-irradiation). Third-instar Drosophila larvae were exposed to different concentrations of EMS (1, 2, and 4 mM) and PD (0.5, 1, and 2.5 mM) and to different doses of γ-irradiation (2, 4, and 8 Gγ). Subsequently, haemolymph was extracted from the larvae, and haemocytes were isolated by centrifugation and used in the comet assay. Haemocytes exhibited a significant dose-related increase in DNA damage, indicating that these cells are clearly sensitive to the treatments. These results suggest that the proposed in vivo comet test, using larvae haemocytes of D. melanogaster, may be a useful in vivo assay for genotoxicity assessment.
authors.affiliation: Grup de Mutagènesi, Departament de Genètica i de Microbiologia, Edifici C, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain.
authors.forename: Erico R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Carmona
authors.forename: Temenouga N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Guecheva
authors.forename: Amadeu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Creus
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Marcos
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D020552:Comet Assay; D004249:DNA Damage; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D005020:Ethyl Methanesulfonate / Q000633:toxicity; D005720:Gamma Rays; D006434:Hemocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D007814:Larva / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D009152:Mutagenicity Tests / Q000379:methods*; D009153:Mutagens / Q000633:toxicity; D011192:Potassium Dichromate / Q000633:toxicity; D011829:Radiation Dosage
chemical_list: D009153:Mutagens; D005020:Ethyl Methanesulfonate; D011192:Potassium Dichromate