Methodologies for detecting environmentally induced DNA damage and repair

• Published in: Environmental and molecular mutagenesis Vol. 61; no. 7; pp. 664 - 679
• Main Authors: Li, Wentao, Sancar, Aziz
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken, USA John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.08.2020; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Animals; Carcinogenesis; Carcinogenesis - drug effects; Carcinogenesis - genetics; Carcinogens; Damage detection; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; DNA - drug effects; DNA - genetics; DNA damage; DNA Damage - drug effects; DNA Damage - genetics; DNA repair; DNA Repair - drug effects; DNA Repair - genetics; DNA sequencing; DNA structure; Double-stranded; Environmental DNA; Environmental Exposure - adverse effects; Environmental factors; Genomes; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing - methods; Humans; Molecular modelling; Mutagenesis; Mutagenesis - drug effects; Next-generation sequencing; Repair; third‐generation sequencing; third-generation sequencing; next-generation sequencing; DNA repair; mutagenesis; DNA damage
• ISSN: 0893-6692; 1098-2280
• DOI: 10.1002/em.22365

Environmental DNA damaging agents continuously challenge the integrity of the genome by introducing a variety of DNA lesions. The DNA damage caused by environmental factors will lead to mutagenesis and subsequent carcinogenesis if they are not removed efficiently by repair pathways. Methods for detection of DNA damage and repair can be applied to identify, visualize, and quantify the DNA damage formation and repair events, and they enable us to illustrate the molecular mechanisms of DNA damage formation, DNA repair pathways, mutagenesis, and carcinogenesis. Ever since the discovery of the double helical structure of DNA in 1953, a great number of methods have been developed to detect various types of DNA damage and repair. Rapid advances in sequencing technologies have facilitated the emergence of a variety of novel methods for detecting environmentally induced DNA damage and repair at the genome‐wide scale during the last decade. In this review, we provide a historical overview of the development of various damage detection methods. We also highlight the current methodologies to detect DNA damage and repair, especially some next generation sequencing‐based methods.