In Vitro Investigation of DNA Damage Induced by the DNA Cross-Linking Agents Oxaliplatin and Satraplatin in Lymphocytes of Colorectal Cancer Patients

Exposure to toxic chemicals, especially chemotherapeutic drugs, may induce several DNA lesions, including DNA interstrand crosslinks. These crosslinks are considered toxic lesions to the dividing cells since they can induce mutations, chromosomal rearrangements, and cell death. Many DNA interstrand crosslinks lesions can be generated by platinum-based chemotherapeutic agents. Satraplatin is a novel orally administered platinum-based chemotherapeutic agent. In the present study, we investigated DNA interstrand crosslinks lesions induced by oxaliplatin and satraplatin in lymphocytes obtained from colorectal cancer patients and healthy volunteers. Satraplatin demonstrated an increase in interstrand crosslinks in a dose-dependent manner in the Comet assay (p < 0.001). In addition, satraplatin and oxaliplatin increased significantly the number of sister chromatid exchanges up to 8.5-fold and 5.1-fold (p < 0.001) respectively, when treated with 2 μM concentration in comparison to untreated colorectal cancer cells. Further, the γH2AX foci formation was investigated by an immunofluorescence assay with oxaliplatin and satraplatin. The γH2AX foci formation rate was increased by approximately 9-fold when lymphocytes were treated with 2 μM oxaliplatin. Satraplatin was found to significantly induce the number of γH2AX foci by 8.5-fold and 11-fold with both 0.2 μM and 2.0 μM, respectively, compared to the control volunteers that may indicate the repair system in cancer cells experiences a loss of ability to cope with the repair of DSBs. In conclusion, oxaliplatin and satraplatin effectively induced DNA interstrand crosslinks in lymphocytes obtained from colorectal cancer patients and healthy volunteers in vitro. Here, to the best of our knowledge we report for the first time evidence of DNA double strand breaks formation as a possible molecular mechanism of action for satraplatin.