Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Mechanisms and Measurement of Oxidative Damage to DNA

Published

Author(s)

M. Dizdaroglu, Pawel Jaruga, H Rodriguez

Abstract

Free radicals are produced in cells by normal metabolism and by exogenous sources. These species cause oxidative damage to DNA and generate multiple products including modified bases and sugars, strands breaks and DNA-protein crosslinks by a variety of mechanisms. Measurement of DNA lesions is essential for understanding mechanisms, repair and biological consequences of this type of damage. There are various analytical techniques for the measurement of oxidative damage to DNA with their own advantages and drawbacks. Most of them measure only one product with no spectroscopic evidence. At present, there is no consensus between laboratories in terms of the measurement of oxidative damage to DNA. Especially, endogenous levels of DNA lesions have been subject of debate. Techniques with mass spectrometry provide unequivocal identification and quantification of DNA products. GC/MS has been used for over a decade for this purpose. DNA base and sugar lesions and DNA-protein crosslinks were identified and quantified in cells and in vitro. Recently, LC/MS/MS emerged as a new technique for the measurement of oxidative damage to DNA. First, it was exclusively used for the measurement of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OH-dGuo). Subsequently, several other products were also measured. Just recently, LC/MS was applied to the measurement of 8-OH-dGuo, 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyadenosine and 8,5'-cyclo-2'-deoxyadenosine. In the future, LC/MS/MS and LC/MS are expected to find broader applications in the field of oxidative damage to DNA. Mechanisms of oxidative damage to DNA and its measurement will be discussed.
Citation
Oxidative Stress and Aging Journal
Volume
9

Keywords

8-Hydroxyguanine, Base-excision repair, Formamidopyrimidines, liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry, Oxidative DNA damage

Citation

Dizdaroglu, M. , Jaruga, P. and Rodriguez, H. (2001), Mechanisms and Measurement of Oxidative Damage to DNA, Oxidative Stress and Aging Journal (Accessed March 28, 2024)
Created February 28, 2001, Updated October 12, 2021