Four Decades of the Comet Assay: pH Optimum of Lysis Buffer Still Needs to be Elucidated

The proper course and reproducibility of diagnostic techniques depend on narrowly defined reaction conditions, including the reaction pH. Nevertheless, numerous assays are affected by an inaccurately defined reaction pH. Buffers are sometimes suggested for use outside their useful pH ranges, which complicates the reproducibility of results because the buffering capacity is insufficient to retain the disclosed pH. Here, we focus on the comet assay lysis buffer. Comet assay is broadly used for quantifying DNA breaks in eukaryotic cells. The most widespread comet assay protocols employ lysis of the cells before electrophoresis in a buffer containing Triton X-100, a high concentration of NaCl, sodium sarcosinate, EDTA, and Tris, with some modifications. However, nearly all researchers report that they use Tris buffer at pH 10, and some report the pH of the Tris additive alone. Alternatively, others report the pH of the final lysis buffer. However, the lysis solution used in the comet assay is buffered at a pH outside the useful range of Tris. Tris-based buffers have a useful pH range of 7.0 - 9.0. The buffer composed of 10 mM Tris has pKa 8.10 at 25 degrees C and 8.69 at 4 degrees C. The cell lysis conditions used in nearly all modifications of comet assay protocols remain imprecise and uncritically employed. Despite the pH of the lysis buffer likely has negligible effect on the detection of DNA breaks, precise lysis conditions are highly important for the use of comet assay in the detection of base modifications, which are often unstable and sensitive to pH.

Automated summary

The proper course and reproducibility of diagnostic techniques depend on narrowly defined reaction conditions, including the reaction pH. Nevertheless, numerous assays are affected by an inaccurately defined reaction pH. This article focuses on the comet assay lysis buffer used for quantifying DNA breaks in eukaryotic cells. The pH of the lysis buffer used in the comet assay is often outside the useful range of the Tris buffer, causing imprecise and uncritical lysis conditions.