A real-time QCM-D approach to monitoring mammalian DNA damage using DNA adsorbed to a polyelectrolyte surface

We have successfully demonstrated that the quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) can be used to monitor real-time damage to genomic mammalian DNA adsorbed to a polyelectrolyte surface. To reveal the capabilities of this technique, we exposed DNA surfaces to quercetin, an agent that has been implicated in causing DNA strand breaks in a Cu(II)-dependent fashion in vitro. We show that the QCM-D frequency and dissipation patterns that result from exposure of the DNA surfaces to quercetin-Cu(II) are consistent with the induction of DNA strand scission. We use QCM-D to furthermore demonstrate that this process is dependent on Cu(II) and that the DNA damage induced by quercetin can still be detected if Cu(II) is in situ with the DNA surface and not in solution phase.