title: A neutral glyoxal gel electrophoresis method for the detection and semi-quantitation of DNA single-strand breaks.
abstract: Single-strand breaks are among the most prevalent lesions found in DNA. Traditional electrophoretic methods (e.g., the Comet assay) used for investigating these lesions rely on alkaline conditions to denature DNA prior to electrophoresis. However, the presence of alkali-labile sites in DNA can result in the introduction of additional single-strand breaks upon alkali treatment during DNA sample processing. Herein, we describe a neutral glyoxal gel electrophoresis assay which is based on alkali-free DNA denaturation and is suitable for qualitative and semi-quantitative analyses of single-strand breaks in DNA isolated from different organisms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pachkowski
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nakamura
mesh_terms: D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D053904:DNA Breaks, Single-Stranded; D004249:DNA Damage; D004587:Electrophoresis, Agar Gel / Q000379:methods*; D016521:Electrophoresis, Gel, Pulsed-Field / Q000379:methods*; D006037:Glyoxal / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D006037:Glyoxal; D004247:DNA