DNA Damage Detection Using DNA Polymerase I or its Klenow Fragment: Applicability, Specificity, Limitations

Mainly as a result of the booming interest in apoptosis and of the discovery of the occurrence of massive DNA breaks as a major feature of this type of cell death, during the past few years polymerase-based assays for detection of DNA breaks in cellular nuclei have found worldwide application in many fields of cellular biology and medicine. This interest has greatly stimulated research on technical improvements of the assays and has led to the availability of a variety of commercial kits for that purpose.