2-Hydrazinobenzothiazole-based etheno-adduct repair protocol (HERP): A method for quantitative determination of direct repair of etheno-bases

Etheno-DNA adducts are mutagenic and lead to genomic instability. Enzymes belonging to Fe(II)/2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase family repair etheno-DNA adducts by directly removing alkyl chain as glyoxal. Presently there is no simple method to assess repair reaction of etheno-adducts. We have developed a rapid and sensitive assay for studying etheno-DNA adduct repair by Fe(II)/2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases. Using AlkB as model Fe(II)/2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases, we performed in vitro repair of etheno-adducts containing DNA and detected glyoxal by reacting with 2-hydrazinobenzothiazole which forms complex yellow color compound with distinct absorption spectrum with a peak absorption at 365 nm. We refer this method as 2-hydrazinobenzothiazole-based etheno-adduct repair protocol or HERP. Our novel approach for determining repair of etheno-adducts containing DNA overcomes several drawbacks of currently available radioisotope-based assay.