Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 13, 2026
A High-Throughput Comet Assay Approach for Assessing Cellular DNA Damage
Published on: May 10, 2022
Hg(II) exposure exacerbates UV-induced DNA damage in MRC5 fibroblasts: a comet assay study
Wendy Bradfield1, Andrew Pye, Tim Clifford
1Cornwall Dermatology Research, Peninsula Medical School, Knowledge Spa, Royal Cornwall Hospital, Treliske, Truro, Cornwall, UK.
Abstract:
When exposed to UVR, MRC5 fibroblasts incubated with mercuric chloride (0-15 microM) for 1 hour show increased DNA damage (as measured by the comet assay) compared to control cells (UVR irradiated but no mercuric chloride). This demonstrates that mercuric chloride and UVR in combination increase DNA damage in a synergistic manner. This may have implications to those exposed to mercury as it suggests that exposure to mercury in the environment may increase sensitivity to sunlight-induced carcinogenesis.
More Related Videos
10:59CometChip: A High-throughput 96-Well Platform for Measuring DNA Damage in Microarrayed Human Cells
Published on: October 18, 2014
10:38In Vivo Alkaline Comet Assay and Enzyme-modified Alkaline Comet Assay for Measuring DNA Strand Breaks and Oxidative DNA Damage in Rat Liver
Published on: May 4, 2016
Related Concept Videos
01:35Mutations
Chromosomal Alterations Are Large-Scale Mutations
While point mutations are changes in a single nucleotide in...
01:38Nucleotide Excision Repair
Cells are regularly exposed to mutagens—factors in the environment that can damage DNA and generate mutations. UV radiation is one of the most common mutagens and is estimated to introduce a significant number of changes in DNA. These include bends or kinks in the structure, which can block DNA replication or transcription. If these errors are not fixed, the damage can cause mutations, which in turn can result in cancer or disease depending on which sequences are...