title: A modified alkaline Comet assay for in vivo detection of oxidative DNA damage in Drosophila melanogaster.
abstract: Modifications to the alkaline Comet assay by using lesion-specific endonucleases, such as formamidopyrimidine-DNA glycosylase (FPG) and endonuclease III (ENDOIII, also known as Nth), can detect DNA bases with oxidative damage. This modified assay can be used to assess the genotoxic/carcinogenic potential of environmental chemicals. The goal of this study was to validate the ability of this modified assay to detect oxidative stress-induced genotoxicity in Drosophila melanogaster (Oregon R(+)). In this study, we used three well known chemical oxidative stress inducers: hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)), cadmium chloride (CdCl(2)) and copper sulfate (CuSO(4)). Third instar larvae of D. melanogaster were fed various concentrations of the test chemicals (50-200μM) mixed with a standard Drosophila food for 24h. Alkaline Comet assays with and without the FPG and ENDOIII enzymes were performed with midgut cells that were isolated from the control and treated larvae. Our results show a concentration-dependent increase (p<0.05-0.001) in the migration of DNA from the treated larvae. ENDOIII treatment detected more oxidative DNA damage (specifically pyrimidine damage) in the H(2)O(2) exposed larvae compared to FPG or no enzyme treatment (buffer only). In contrast, FPG treatment detected more oxidative DNA damage (specifically purine damage) in CuSO(4) exposed larvae compared to ENDOIII. Although previously reported to be a potent genotoxic agent, CdCl(2) did not induce more oxidative DNA damage than the other test chemicals. Our results show that the modified alkaline Comet assay can be used to detect oxidative stress-induced DNA damage in D. melanogaster and thus may be applicable for in vivo genotoxic assessments of environmental chemicals.
authors: CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, Mahatma Gandhi Marg, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors: A K
authors: AK
authors: Shukla
authors: P
authors: P
authors: Pragya
authors: D Kar
authors: DK
authors: Chowdhuri
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019256:Cadmium Chloride / Q000633:toxicity; D019327:Copper Sulfate / Q000633:toxicity; D004249:DNA Damage / Q000187:drug effects; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide / Q000633:toxicity; D007814:Larva / Q000235:genetics; D009153:Mutagens / Q000633:toxicity*; D018384:Oxidative Stress / Q000235:genetics*; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D009153:Mutagens; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide; D019256:Cadmium Chloride; D019327:Copper Sulfate