title: DNA Strand Breaks in Mitotic Germ Cells of Caenorhabditis elegans Evaluated by Comet Assay.
abstract: DNA damage responses are important for the maintenance of genome stability and the survival of organisms. Such responses are activated in the presence of DNA damage and lead to cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, and DNA repair. In Caenorhabditis elegans, double-strand breaks induced by DNA damaging agents have been detected indirectly by antibodies against DSB recognizing proteins. In this study we used a comet assay to detect DNA strand breaks and to measure the elimination of DNA strand breaks in mitotic germline nuclei of C. elegans. We found that C. elegans brc-1 mutants were more sensitive to ionizing radiation and camptothecin than the N2 wild-type strain and repaired DNA strand breaks less efficiently than N2. This study is the first demonstration of direct measurement of DNA strand breaks in mitotic germline nuclei of C. elegans. This newly developed assay can be applied to detect DNA strand breaks in different C. elegans mutants that are sensitive to DNA damaging agents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, University of Ulsan, Ulsan 44610, Korea.
authors.forename: Sojin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, University of Ulsan, Ulsan 44610, Korea.
authors.forename: Seoyun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, University of Ulsan, Ulsan 44610, Korea.
authors.forename: Byungchan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ahn
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000187:drug effects / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000528:radiation effects; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D002166:Camptothecin / Q000494:pharmacology; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000528:radiation effects; D020552:Comet Assay / Q000379:methods*; D053903:DNA Breaks, Double-Stranded / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D004260:DNA Repair; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D005854:Germ Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D008938:Mitosis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000528:radiation effects; D009154:Mutation; D011839:Radiation, Ionizing
chemical_list: C528463:BRC-1 protein, C elegans; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; D002166:Camptothecin
keywords: Caenorhabditis elegans; DNA damage; DNA repair; DNA strand break; comet assay