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The presented method combines the quantitative analysis of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), cell cycle distribution and apoptosis to enable cell cycle-specific evaluation of DSB induction and repair as well as the consequences of repair failure.
The presented method or slightly modified versions have been devised to study specific treatment responses and side effects of various anti-cancer treatments as used in clinical oncology. It enables a quantitative and longitudinal analysis of the DNA damage response after genotoxic stress, as induced by radiotherapy and a multitude of anti-cancer drugs. The method covers all stages of the DNA damage response, providing endpoints for induction and repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), cell cycle arrest and cell death by apoptosis in case of repair failure. Combining these measurements provides information about cell cycle-dependent treatment effects and thus allows an in-depth study of the interplay between cellular proliferation and coping mechanisms against DNA damage. As the effect of many cancer therapeutics including chemotherapeutic agents and ionizing radiation is limited to or strongly varies according to specific cell cycle phases, correlative analyses rely on a robust and feasible method to assess the treatment effects on the DNA in a cell cycle-specific manner. This is not possible with single-endpoint assays and an important advantage of the presented method. The method is not restricted to any particular cell line and has been thoroughly tested in a multitude of tumor and normal tissue cell lines. It can be widely applied as a comprehensive genotoxicity assay in many fields of oncology besides radio-oncology, including environmental risk factor assessment, drug screening and evaluation of genetic instability in tumor cells.
The goal of oncology is to kill or to inactivate cancer cells without harming normal cells. Many therapies either directly or indirectly induce genotoxic stress in cancer cells, but also to some extend in normal cells. Chemotherapy or targeted drugs are often combined with radiotherapy to enhance the radiosensitivity of the irradiated tumor1,2,3,4,5, which allows for a reduction of the radiation dose to minimize normal tissue damage.
Ionizing radiation and other genotoxic agents ....
1. Preparation
Human U87 or LN229 glioblastoma cells were irradiated with 4 Gy of photon or carbon ion radiation. Cell cycle-specific γH2AX levels and apoptosis were measured at different time points up to 48 h after irradiation using the flow cytometric method presented here (Figure 3). In both cell lines, carbon ions induced higher γH2AX peak levels that declined slower and remained significantly elevated at 24 to 48 h compared to photon radiation at the same physical dose (
The featured method is easy to use and offers a fast, accurate and reproducible measurement of the DNA damage response including double-strand break (DSB) induction and repair, cell cycle effects and apoptotic cell death. The combination of these endpoints provides a more complete picture of their interrelations than individual assays. The method can be widely applied as a comprehensive genotoxicity assay in the fields of radiation biology, therapy and protection, and more generally in oncology (e.g., for environmental r.......
We thank the Flow Cytometry Facility team at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) for their support.
....Name | Company | Catalog Number | Comments |
1000 µL filter tips | Nerbe plus | 07-693-8300 | |
100-1000 µL pipette | Eppendorf | 3123000063 | |
12 x 75 mm Tubes with Cell Strainer Cap, 35 µm mesh pore size | BD Falcon | 352235 | |
15 mL tubes | BD Falcon | 352096 | |
200 µL filter tips | Nerbe plus | 07-662-8300 | |
20-200 µL pipette | Eppendorf | 3123000055 | |
4’,6-Diamidin-2-phenylindol (DAPI) | Sigma-Aldrich | D9542 | Dissolve in water at 200 µg/ml and store aliquots at -20 °C |
Alexa Fluor 488 anti-H2A.X Phospho (Ser139) Antibody, RRID: AB_2248011 | BioLegend | 613406 | Dilute 1:20 |
Alexa Fluor 647 Rabbit Anti-Active Caspase-3 Antibody, AB_1727414 | BD Pharmingen | 560626 | Dilute 1:20 |
BD FACSClean solution | BD Biosciences | 340345 | For cytometer cleaning routine after measurement |
BD FACSRinse solution | BD Biosciences | 340346 | For cytometer cleaning routine after measurement |
Dulbecco’s Phosphate Buffered Saline (PBS) | Biochrom | L 182 | Dissolve in water to 1x concentration |
Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium with stable glutamin | Biochrom | FG 0415 | Routine cell culture material for the example cell line used in the protocol |
Ethanol absolute | VWR | 20821.330 | |
Excel software | Microsoft | ||
FBS Superior (fetal bovine serum) | Biochrom | S 0615 | Routine cell culture material for the example cell line used in the protocol |
FlowJo v10 software | LLC | online order | |
Fluoromount-G | SouthernBiotech | 0100-01 | Embedding medium for optional preparation of microscopic slides from stained samples |
folded cellulose filters, grade 3hw | NeoLab | 11416 | |
LSRII or LSRFortessa cytometer | BD Biosciences | ||
MG132 | Calbiochem | 474787 | optional drug for apoptosis positive control |
Multifuge 3SR+ | Heraeus | ||
Paraformaldehyde | AppliChem | A3813 | Prepare 4.5% solution fresh. Dilute in PBS by heating to 80 °C with slow stirring under the fume hood. Cover the flask with aluminium foil to prevent heat loss. Let the solution cool to room temperature and adjust the final volume. Pass the solution through a cellulose filter. |
Phospho-Histone H3 (Ser10) (D2C8) XP Rabbit mAb (Alexa Fluor® 555 Conjugate) RRID: AB_10694639 | Cell Signaling Technology | #3475 | Dilute 3:200 |
PIPETBOY acu 2 | Integra Biosciences | 155 016 | |
Serological pipettes, 10 mL | Corning | 4488 | |
Serological pipettes, 25 mL | Corning | 4489 | |
Serological pipettes, 5 mL | Corning | 4487 | |
SuperKillerTRAIL (modified TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand) | Biomol | AG-40T-0002-C020 | optional drug for apoptosis positive control |
T25 cell culture flasks | Greiner bio-one | 690160 | Routine cell culture material for the example cell line used in the protocol |
Trypsin/EDTA | PAN Biotech | P10-025500 | Routine cell culture material for the example cell line used in the protocol |
U87 MG glioblastoma cells | ATCC | ATCC-HTB-14 | Example cell line used in the protocol |
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