Quantitative analysis of DNA repair conducted with electrophoresis

Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis was used in recent quantitative analysis of DNA repair triggered by radiation, along with the associated apoptosis of tissue.

Apoptosis is the death of a cell, not necessarily through damage or disease, but simply as part of the healthy tissue renewal and repair cycle.

Writing in Radiation Oncology, a team from L'Hospitalet de Llobregat and Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, both in Spain, explain how their quantitative analysis elucidated the processes involved in radiation-driven cancer recovery.

Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis is used to test double-strand break in radiation-treated DNA, they explain, within cells encapsulated in agarose.

"However, previous studies have reported that this assay is impaired by the spontaneous DNA breakage in this medium," they add.

Their study focused on using specific caspase inhibitors to remove the interference caused by this spontaneous breakage, allowing for quantitative analysis of apoptosis and DNA repair to become more accurate as a result.