Journal of Environmental Pathology, Toxicology and Oncology

ISSN for PRINT: 0731-8898

For Online Access

Best Paper Award Selection - Editorial Board Site

2005, Volume24

Issue 2

76 pages

DOI: 10.1615/JEnvPathToxOncol.v24.i2

Issue price - $160.00

Trina Kundu
Department of Environmental Carcinogenesis and Toxicology, Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute, Kolkata, India

Rathindra Kumar Bhattacharya
Department of Environmental Carcinogenesis & Toxicology, Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute, 37, S.P. Mukherjee Road, Kolkata 700026, India

Maqsood Siddiqi
Department of Environmental Carcinogenesis and Toxicology, Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute; and Bose Institute, Calcutta, India

Madhumita Roy
Department of Environmental Carcinogenesis and Toxicology, Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute, Kolkata, India

Induction of apoptosis is an important approach to cancer control. Apart from morphological changes in cells, apoptosis is characterized by fragmentation of nuclear DNA. The characteristic DNA ladder formation that is observed on gel electrophoresis does not reflect the DNA breakdown in individual cells; contributions from small subpopulations are usually overlooked. On the other hand, alkaline comet assay as measured by single cell gel electrophoresis accurately measures DNA fragmentation at a single cell level. The comet assay was originally developed as a cytogenetic test to measure the genotoxicity of various chemicals. However, the comet image generated by an apoptotic cell is different from that obtained with a cell treated for a short time with a genotoxic agent. In the present study using human leukemic cells, typical apoptotic features such as morphological characteristics, FACS analysis, caspase activation, and expression of apoptosis-related genes as induced by tea polyphenols have been found to correlate with the comet tail formation. It is apparent from the high degree of correlation observed between the comet tail moment and each parameter of apoptosis that the comet assay can accurately reflect the measure of DNA fragmentation and, hence, can be used to detect a cell undergoing apoptosis.

DOI: 10.1615/JEnvPathToxOncol.v24.i2.50 Download article, 115-128 pages

Article price - $35.00

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