Comet assay (comet tail moment)

Introduction

A measure of DNA damage.

Assay detects alkali-labile lesions in cells sustaining DNA damage, most likely:

• single-strand breaks
• double-strand breaks
• apurinic/apyrimidinic sites

Electrophoresis performed on single cells.

Calculations based on density of comet tail & distance from center of nucleus*

* integrated density in comet tail multiplied by distance from center of nucleus to center of mass of tail software free of charge

More general terms

• DNA damage