Dual electrochemical and physiological apoptosis assay detection of in vivo generated nickel chloride induced DNA damage in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Environmental nickel exposure is known to cause allergic reactions, respiratory illness, and may be responsible for some forms of cancer in humans. Nematodes are an excellent model organism to test for environmental toxins, as they are prevalent in many different environments. Nickel exposure has previously been shown to impact nematode life processes. In this study, Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes exposed to NiCl2 featured high levels of programmed cell death (PCD) in a concentration-dependent manner as measured by counting apoptotic corpses in the nematode germ line. A green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter transgene was used that highlights cell corpse engulfment by fluorescence microscopy. Analysis of the reporter in a p53 mutant strain putatively indicates that the PCDs are a result of genomic DNA damage. In order to assay the potential genotoxic actions of NiCl2, DNA was extracted from nematodes exposed to increasing concentrations of NiCl2 and electrochemically assayed. In vivo damaged DNA was i...