Use of image analysis to quantitate changes in form of mitochondrial DNA after x-irradiation.

In order to develop a sensitive method that can reliably assess the amount of previous genotoxic exposure, we examined whether relative loss of the supercoiled form of mitochondrial DNA in tissue culture cells could retrospectively reflect exposure to x-irradiation of 375,750, and 1500 roentgens. Five routines of a graphic analysis program named IMAGE developed for the Apple Macintosh II computer were used to densitometrically quantitate the relative amounts of supercoiled and nicked-circular forms of mitochondrial DNA blotted onto nitrocellulose. After x-irradiation, there were dose-dependent losses of supercoiled relative to nicked-circular DNA forms. Further developments in the methodology to evaluate changes in form of mitochondrial DNA should increase the sensitivity and reliability of the dosimetry. The IMAGE program is useful for a wide variety of studies in molecular biology, and is available at no charge.