Ultrasensitive detection of hydrogen peroxide-mediated DNA damage after alkaline single cell gel electrophoresis using occultation microscopy and TUNEL labeling.

DNA damage at the level of individual cells can be detected using the single cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE) or 'comet' assay. In the present study, we report novel variations on the conventional comet assay that can be used to enhance the microscopic detection of DNA damage. Hydrogen peroxide-treated peripheral blood leukocytes were used as a DNA damage model system. Cells were embedded in agarose, treated, and electrophoresed according to the procedure of Singh et al. [N.P. Singh, M.T. McCoy, R.R. Tice, E.L. Schneider, A simple technique for quantitation of low levels of DNA damage in individual cells, Exp. Cell Res. 175 (1988), p. 184-191]. However, sites of strand breaks were directly labeled with the TUNEL (TdT-mediated fluorescein-dUTP nick end labeling) method. This labeling protocol revealed clumps and/or a series of stripes in the comet tail perpendicular to the direction of electrophoresis; these sites may account for the substructure seen in conventional comet assays. In a second comet variation, we passed an opaque disk into a field-conjugated plane of the microscope near the lamp, thus occluding the nucleus' image. Nuclear occultation allows the intensified charge-coupled device (ICCD) camera gain to increase to a single photon detection level thus revealing low levels of DNA damage in the tail. These methods offer a substantial improvement in sensitivity. Copyright 1999 Elsevier Science B.V.