ArticleCytometry. Part A : the journal of the International Society for Analytical Cytology2013
Standard fluorescent imaging of live cells is highly genotoxic.
Article in Cytometry. Part A : the journal of the International Society for Analytical Cytology, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Generation of Clonal Cultures of Adherent or Suspension Cells Using Flat Sessile Drops for Assurance of Monoclonality.Biotechnology and bioengineering · 2025Article
- PRO-LDM: A Conditional Latent Diffusion Model for Protein Sequence Design and Functional Optimization.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Article
- Using Beads as a Focus Fiduciary to Aid Software-Based Autofocus Accuracy in Microscopy.Bio-protocol · 2025Article
- Cell-TIMP: Cellular Trajectory Inference Based on Morphological Parameters.Nano letters · 2025Article
- Unveiling Lipid Droplet Transport Dynamics as Biomarkers of Senescence Using Label-Free, Time-Lapse Holotomography.Aging and disease · 2025Article
- Genetically Encoded Trensor Circuits Report HeLa Cell Treatment with Polyplexed Plasmid DNA and Small-Molecule Transfection Modulators.ACS synthetic biology · 2024Article
- Photobleaching and phototoxicity of mitochondria in live cell fluorescent super-resolution microscopy.Mitochondrial communications · 2024Article
- Surface-segregating zwitterionic copolymers to control poly(dimethylsiloxane) surface chemistry.Journal of materials chemistry. B · 2023Article
- Measuring DNA modifications with the comet assay: a compendium of protocols.Nature protocols · 2023Review
- CRISPR/Cas: A New Tool in the Research of Telomeres and Telomerase as Well as a Novel Form of Cancer Therapy.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Atto 465 Derivative Is a Nuclear Stain with Unique Excitation and Emission Spectra Useful for Multiplex Immunofluorescence Histochemistry.The journal of histochemistry and cytochemistry : official journal of the Histochemistry Society · 2022Article
- CometChip analysis of human primary lymphocytes enables quantification of inter-individual differences in the kinetics of repair of oxidative DNA damage.Free radical biology & medicine · 2021Article
- Article
- Application of an open-chamber multi-channel microfluidic device to test chemotherapy drugs.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- Applications of CometChip for Environmental Health Studies.Chemical research in toxicology · 2020Review
- Monitoring global changes in chromatin compaction states upon localized DNA damage with tools of fluorescence anisotropy.Molecular biology of the cell · 2020Article
- Between life and death: strategies to reduce phototoxicity in super-resolution microscopy.Journal of physics D: Applied physics · 2020Review
- SpheroidChip: Patterned Agarose Microwell Compartments Harboring HepG2 Spheroids are Compatible with Genotoxicity Testing.ACS biomaterials science & engineering · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Fluorescence microscopy is commonly used for imaging live mammalian cells. Here, we describe studies aimed at revealing the potential genotoxic effects of standard fluorescence microscopy. To assess DNA damage, a high throughput platform for single cell gel electrophoresis is used (e.g., the CometChip). Light emitted by three standard filters was studied: (a) violet light [340-380 nm], used to excite DAPI and other blue fluorophores, (b) blue light [460-500 nm] commonly used to image green fluorescent protein (GFP) and Calcein AM, and (c) green light [528-553 nm], useful for imaging red fluorophores. Results show that exposure of samples to light during imaging is indeed genotoxic even when the selected wavelengths are outside the range known to induce significant damage levels. Shorter excitation wavelengths and longer irradiation times lead to higher levels of DNA damage. We have also measured DNA damage in cells expressing enhanced GFP or stained with Calcein AM, a widely used green fluorophore. Data show that Calcein AM leads to a synergistic increase in the levels of DNA damage and that even cells that are not being directly imaged sustain significant DNA damage from exposure to indirect light. The nature of light-induced DNA damage during imaging was assessed using the Fpg glycosylase, an enzyme that enables quantification of oxidative DNA damage. Oxidative damage was evident in cells exposed to violet light. Furthermore, the Fpg glycosylase revealed the presence of oxidative DNA damage in blue-light exposed cells for which DNA damage was not detected using standard analysis conditions. Taken together, the results of these studies call attention to the potential confounding effects of DNA damage induced by standard imaging conditions, and identify wavelength, exposure time, and fluorophore as parameters that can be modulated to reduce light-induced DNA damage.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.