DNA Repair of Ovarian Cancer Cell Lines SKOV3 and OV90 Compared to Non-Transformed PBMC Cells

A defining characteristic of cancer is the increase in genomic instability along with the progression of carcinogenesis, in which DNA mutations are the biggest contributors. Further, most mutations related to the development of ovarian cancer are acquired instead of inherited, demonstrating that familial tumors are the minority of cases. Two ovarian cancer cell lines that are extensively used in research are OV-90 and SK-OV-3. We used the comet assay (single-cell gel electrophoresis) to quantify DNA repair abilities in these cell lines compared to PBMCs (peripheral blood mononuclear cells), in order to assess the sensitivity of these cell lines to radiation treatments. A difference in DNA repair ability is expected in the cell lines compared to PBMCs due to the genomic instability related to tumorigenesis. After being treated with X-ray radiation and undergoing a designated repair time, individual cells were scored, using fluorescent microscopy, based on percent "head" and "tail" DNA. It appears that SK-OV-3 is repairing DNA faster than PBMC, while OV-90 repairs DNA more similarly to PBMCs. This observation has important implications for the development of drugs to treat ovarian cancer, along with understanding the dynamics of DNA repair within cancer cells. Considering that most cases of epithelial ovarian cancer remain death sentences in spite of new treatments, insights regarding cell line sensitivity are of even more importance with every passing day. © FASEB.