Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40585106›Full record

ArticlemedRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences2025

Comprehensive Measurement of Inter-Individual Variation in DNA Repair Capacity in Healthy Individuals.

Ting Zhai, Patrizia Mazzucato, Catherine Ricciardi, David C Christiani, Liming Liang, Leona D Samson, Isaac A Chaim, Zachary D Nagel

Abstract readPreprint
In one paragraph

Article in medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Ting ZhaiDepartment of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-8763-1387
Patrizia MazzucatoDepartment of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
Catherine RicciardiMIT Clinical Research Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
David C ChristianiDepartment of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Liming LiangDepartment of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Leona D SamsonDepartment of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
Isaac A ChaimDepartment of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093.
Zachary D NagelDepartment of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.

Funding

Multi-Pathway DNA Repair Capacity Measurements in Lung Cancer Patients and Healthy ControlsU01ES029520 · NIEHS · HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH · PI CHRISTIANI, DAVID C, ENGELWARD, BEVIN P. · 2018 to 2022
$3.3M
Developing novel methods to measure DNA repair capacity in human populationsDP1ES022576 · NIEHS · MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY · PI SAMSON, LEONA D. · 2012 to 2013
$1.6M
NIEHS NIH HHS DP1 ES022576NIEHS NIH HHS U01 ES029520
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Rare genetic DNA repair deficiency syndromes can lead to immunodeficiency, neurological disorders, and cancer. In the general population, inter-individual variation in DNA repair capacity (DRC) influences susceptibility to cancer and several age-related diseases. Genome wide association studies and functional analyses show that defects in multiple DNA repair pathways jointly increase disease risk, but previous technologies did not permit comprehensive analyses of DNA repair in populations. To overcome these limitations, we used fluorescence multiplex host cell reactivation (FM-HCR) assays that directly quantify DRC across six major DNA repair pathways. We assessed DRC in phytohemagglutinin-stimulated primary lymphocytes from 56 healthy individuals and validated assay reproducibility in 10 individuals with up to five independent blood draws. We furthermore developed generalized analytical pipelines for systematically adjusting for batch effects and both experimental and biological confounders. Our results reveal significant inter-individual variation in DRC for each of 10 reporter assays that measure the efficiency of distinct repair processes. Our data also demonstrate that correlations between the activities of different DNA repair pathways are relatively weak. This finding suggests that each pathway may independently influence susceptibility to the health effects of DNA damage. We furthermore developed a pipeline for analyzing comet repair kinetics and related our new functional data to previously reported comet assay data for the same individuals. Our pioneering analysis underscores the sensitivity of FM-HCR assays for detecting subtle biological differences between individuals and establishes standardized methodologies for population studies. Our findings and open source analytical tools advance precision medicine by enabling comprehensive exploration of genetic, demographic, clinical, and lifestyle factors and supporting targeted interventions to enhance DNA repair and maintain genomic integrity, thereby promoting personalized healthcare and disease prevention.

Indexed as

DNA RepairFM-HCRInter-Individual VariationMolecular EpidemiologyPBMCs

Identifiers

PMID40585106
PMCPMC12204290

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.