DNA damage by oxidative stress: Measurement strategies for two genomes

DNA damage is any modification to the structure of DNA that alters its coding properties and/or interferes with cell processes. One major consequence of oxidative stress is DNA damage, which include base modifications, abasic sites, and strand breaks. A wide variety of tools are available to measure DNA damage, in particular for the nuclear genome. Some of the most widely used tools to measure oxidative DNA damage are the comet assay, PCR-based assays, immunoassays, and mass spectrometry-based approaches. Although the field has made great strides in describing oxidative DNA damage and improving the overall sensitivity of standard techniques, many questions are still unanswered and substantial technical challenges remain. Particularly, differential quantification and description of DNA damage (mitochondrial vs. nuclear) continues to be a challenge and a priority going forward. Technical advancements have allowed us to acquire a great amount of new knowledge in recent years, and as the pace of tool development increases, so will our understanding of DNA damage and its biological consequences for human health and disease.