Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 10, 2026

Measuring DNA Damage and Repair in Mouse Splenocytes After Chronic In Vivo Exposure to Very Low Doses of Beta- and Gamma-Radiation
Published on: July 3, 2015
Protection of DNA from gamma-radiation induced strand breaks by Epicatechin
Cherupally Krishnan Krishnan Nair1, Veena Prakash Salvi
1Radiation Biology and Health Sciences Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400085, India. ckknair@yahoo.com
Abstract:
Epicatechin (EC), a polyphenolic antioxidant compound found in tea, apples and chocolate offered protection to DNA against ionizing radiation induced damages. Under in vitro conditions of radiation exposure, plasmid pBR322 DNA was protected by EC in a concentration dependent manner. The dose modifying factor for 0.2 mM EC for 50% protection of the plasmid DNA was found to be 6.0. EC when administered to mice 1 h prior to exposure to 4 Gy gamma-radiation protected cellular DNA against radiation-induced strand breaks in peripheral blood leukocytes, as revealed in alkaline comet assay studies. Thus, EC was found to protect DNA from gamma-radiation indiced strand breaks under in vitro as well as in vivo conditions of radiation exposure.
Related Concept Videos
DNA Damage can Stall the Cell Cycle
DNA Damage Can Stall the Cell Cycle
Nucleotide 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...
Nucleotide Excision Repair
Overview of DNA Repair
Chemically...
Mutations
Chromosomal Alterations Are Large-Scale Mutations
While point mutations are changes in a single nucleotide in...

