EMS-Induced Cellular DNA Damage Detection by Electrochemical Method: A New Biomarker of Early DNA Damage

It is difficult to screen the increasing numerous chemicals in the environment for DNA damage by traditional methods. Therefore, it is urgent to find new markers and establish simple, rapid and low-cost new DNA damage detection methods. In this paper, the electrochemical behavior of Ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS)-induced DNA damage in HT-1080 cells was investigated, and the two electrochemical signals of HT-1080 cells at 0.69 and 1.03 V, respectively, coming from mixture of guanine (G) and xanthine (X) and hypoxanthine (HX) displayed parabolic changes, showing a time- and dose-dependent increase within 4 h and 5 mM, which was completely different from the trend of cell proliferation. The time- and dose-dependent DNA damage of cells exposed to EMS was detected by both alkaline comet and micronucleus assay. The HPLC found that the levels of HX, G and X in HT-1080 cells quickly rose to the peak values within 4 h, and felt back. The changes of intracellular purine levels were reliable biomarkers of DNA damage, and monitoring the content changes of intracellular purines by electrochemical method could simply and quickly evaluate the DNA damage toxicity of chemicals. This study provided a new perspective for the evaluation of DNA damage.