The Comet assay has traditionally been used due to its high sensitivity and simplicity, but the original format is a laborious and time-consuming hunt to find non-overlapping cells for analysis.
The CometChip® Platform provides high density data with minimal overlaps by capturing cells into an array of micropores. Scan and analyze over 14,000 comets in 10-15 minutes with Trevigen’s Comet Analysis Software which automatically locates and scores comets in 4X or 10X well images for instant and unbiased analysis.
CometChip® Platform High throughput DNA Damage Analysis
Traditional Comet Assay Instant and
Unbiased Analysis
– 400 Comets in a single well
– 200 Comets per 4X image
CometChip® Platform: High throughput DNA Damage Analysis2
A Complete System
Comets from 4X or 10X well images are automatically located and scored
Agarose with patterned micropores adhered to activated glass slide creates the CometChip® composite
Qualified reagents and optimized protocols for reproducible results
CometChip® Reagent Kit• CometChip®, 30 micron
• Lysis Solution
• LMAgarose
Optimized alkaline electrophoresis of the CometChip®
Macrowell former creates 96 individual wells on the CometChip®
CometChip®
Comet Analysis Software
CometChip® Reagent Kit
CometChip® Platform• Developed and
Manufactured under ISO 9001/2008 guidelines
• Only Integrated and Standardized System
• 96-Well CometChip® and Electrophoresis Systems
• CometChip® and Reagents
• Comet Analysis Software
• No overlapping comets
• Run to run consistency
96-Well CometChip® System
CometAssay® Electrophoresis System II
Training video available atwww.trevigen.com
(search 4260-000-CS)
Training video available atwww.trevigen.com
(search 4260-096-ESK)
Agarose with Patterned
Micropores
Activated Glass Slide
CometChip®Single
Well Image
~400 Micropores per Well
Cell Loading and Treatment
Scan Analyze
Edit
CometChip® Platform: High throughput DNA Damage Analysis 3
Lower VarianceTest Inter and Intra Run Variability
3 CometChips® per run
1. Load Cells
2. Treat Duplicate Rows
3. Alkaline Comet Assay
4. Comet Analysis
CometChip® Platform: High throughput DNA Damage Analysis4
Comparable Results & VersatilityComparable Results to Traditional Comet Assay
1 CometChip® versus 30 slides
Versatility for Multiple Cell Types
Comparison study on CometChip® between different cell types
Reproducible Data
Separate experiments performed by different operators on the same day
• HepaRG cells treated with increasing concentration of MMS.
• Two separate experiments performed by different operators on the same day.
• Each concentration performed in triplicate.
Wood DK, Weingeist DM, Bhatia SN, and Engelward BP. 2010. Single cell trapping and DNA damage analysis using microwell arrays. PNAS 107(22): 10008-10013
CometChip®Slides
CometChip®Slides
Human Lymphoblast Ovarian Carcinoma Primary Hepatocyte
CometChip® Platform: High throughput DNA Damage Analysis 5
Cost Savings
Item Price
Software $2,995
CometChip® System $3,570
Subtotal $6,565
-10% Discount $5,905
2 CometChip® Kits $650
Total $6,555
$1500288 wells
$6282180 wells
1 Complete
CometChip® Run
9 Traditional Comet Assays
Traditional Comet: Cost per Run/Well
$698
$1,396
$2,094
$2,792
$3,490
$4,188
$4,886
$5,584
$6,282
$6,980
$7,678
$8,376
$9,074
$9,772
$10,470
$0
$2,000
$4,000
$6,000
$8,000
$10,000
$12,000
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 220 240 260 280 300
Dolla
rs sp
ent o
n Tr
aditi
onal
Com
et A
ssay
s Buy the System
Reagents & labor costs same as 3 CometChips®
Runs
Wells
Item Dollars
Software 2995
CometChip® System 3570
Subtotal 6565
- 10% Discount 5905
2 CometChip® Kits 650
Total 6555
1 Complete CometChip Run---------$1500 (288 wells)9 Traditional Comet Assays----------$6282 (180 wells)
Cost Assumptions
Dollars to Purchase CometChip® Platform
Dollars spent on Traditional Comet Assay
Traditional Comet Assay
• $50/hour fully burdened labor
• Full electrophoresis run (10 slides -- 20 wells total)
• 200 comets per well
• Analyze 150 or more comets
• Five pictures/ well
• 12 hours per 20 wells (4000 comets)
• $698/run
• $34.90 per well
• 17 cents per comet
CometChip®
$50/hour fully burdened labor •
Full electrophoresis run • (3 CometChips® -- 288 wells total)
400 comets per well •
Analyze 150 or more comets •
One picture / well •
10.5 hours per 288 wells •(115,200 comets)
$1500/run •
$5.20 per well •
1.3-2.0 cents per comet •
CometChip® Platform: High throughput DNA Damage Analysis6
Specifications• Designed to work under Windows 10,
8/8.1 and 7
• Compatible with 4X and 10X images
• Compatible with TIFF, JPEG and PNG image formats
• Software does not provide capabilities for direct control of camera for image capture. Images must be captured outside of software
CometChip® Electrophoresis Starter Kit cat# 4260-096-ESK
Catalog # Component Amount
4260-096-CSK CometChip® Starter Kit 1 each
4250-050-ESCometAssay® Electrophoresis System II
1 system
CometChip® Starter Kit cat# 4260-096-CSK
Catalog # Component Amount
4260-096-K CometChip® Reagent Kit 1 each
4260-096-CS 96-Well CometChip® System 1 system
CometChip® Reagent Kit cat# 4260-096-K
Catalog # Component Amount
4260-096-01 CometChip®, 30 micron 1 each
4250-010-01 Lysis Solution 100 ml
4250-050-02 Comet LMAgarose 15 ml
Comet Analysis Software cat# 4260-000-CS
Catalog # Component Amount
4260-000-CS Comet Analysis Software 1 license
Ordering Information
• Complete System
• Lower variance
• Comparable results to Traditional Comet Assay
• Versatility for Multiple Cell Types
• Cost Savings with 10,000% increase in throughput
• Up to 400 non-overlapping comets per well for analysis
Benefits
Related Products
Weeks of Work Compressed into Days
M T W T F S S
M T W T F S S
M T W T F S S
M T W T FS S
M T W T FS S
M T W T F S SM T W T
F S SM T W T F S S
M T W TF S SM T W
T F SSM T W T F S S
M T W T F S SM T W T F S S
2DAY
Contract Servicescat# 6000-TCA
Assay Protocol Project Example
20-Well CometAssay® 4252-040-K 20-100 sample wells per run
96-Well CometChip® 4260-096-CSK 96-288 sample wells per run
CometChip® Platform: High throughput DNA Damage Analysis 7
References using CometChip® TechnologyGe, Jing et al. “Micropatterned Comet Assay Enables High Throughput and Sensitive DNA Damage Quantification.” Mutagenesis 30.1 (2015): 11–19.
Li, Na et al. “Influenza Infection Induces Host DNA Damage and Dynamic DNA Damage Responses during Tissue Regeneration.” Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS 72.15 (2015): 2973–2988.
Ge, Jing et al. “CometChip: A High-Throughput 96-Well Platform for Measuring DNA Damage in Microarrayed Human Cells.” Journal of Visualized Experiments : JoVE 92 (2014): 50607.
Sotiriou, Georgios A. et al. “Engineering Safer-by-Design, Transparent, Silica-Coated ZnO Nanorods with Reduced DNA Damage Potential.” Environmental science. Nano 1.2 (2014): 144–153.
Watson, Christa et al. “High-Throughput Screening Platform for Engineered Nanoparticle-Mediated Genotoxicity Using CometChip Technology.” ACS Nano 8.3 (2014): 2118–2133.
Ge, Jing et al. “Standard Fluorescent Imaging of Live Cells Is Highly Genotoxic.” Cytometry. Part A : the journal of the International Society for Analytical Cytology 83.6 (2013): 552–560.
Weingeist, David M. et al. “Single-Cell Microarray Enables High-Throughput Evaluation of DNA Double-Strand Breaks and DNA Repair Inhibitors.” Cell Cycle 12.6 (2013): 907–915.
Chao, Ming-Wei et al. “Genotoxicity of 2,6- and 3,5-Dimethylaniline in Cultured Mammalian Cells: The Role of Reactive Oxygen Species.” Toxicological Sciences 130.1 (2012): 48–59.
Mutamba, James T. et al. “XRCC1 and Base Excision Repair Balance in Response to Nitric Oxide.” DNA repair 10.12 (2011): 1282–1293.
Wood, David K. et al. “Single Cell Trapping and DNA Damage Analysis Using Microwell Arrays.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 107.22 (2010): 10008–10013.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Is it possible to use a multi-channel pipette when loading or treating samples in the 96-Well CometChip® System?
Yes, the system is designed for multi-channel pipettor.
2. I noticed the CometChip® is not designed for overnight treatment. Is it possible to seed the cells/treat in normal 96 well tissue culture plate and transfer?
Yes, many customers perform cell treatment in tissue culture plates and then transfer to 96-Well CometChip® System. It only takes 20-30 minutes for cells to load into the micropores of each well.
3. Will my cardiomyoblast cells load onto the CometChip®?
The CometChip® micropores are 30 microns in diameter and will fit most cells. It is important to generate a single cell suspension and to filter cells if clumping is observed. Scraping is not recommended.
4. How do I improve the efficiency of cell loading into the micropores of the CometChip®?
To improve loading filter cells using 40-75-micron filter. Cells can generally be loaded without counting if between 1-10 x 10^5 cells/ml. There is no harm in increasing the loading time to 30-60 minutes or cell concentration. It is helpful to rock the macroformer after the first 10-15 minutes to promote loading efficiency.
5. Can the CometChip® be used with different electrophoresis systems?
Conditions have been optimized using Trevigen’s CometAssay® Electrophoresis System. As with the traditional comet assay, electrophoresis with other systems is possible by adjusting run time, voltage and buffer height.
6. Are changes documented in the Comet Analysis Software?
Yes, all edits performed during comet analysis are documented.
7. Is the Comet Analysis Software Mac compatible?
No, the software is designed for PC to work under Windows 10, 8/8.1 and 7.
8. Can the Comet Analysis Software import all well images simultaneously?
No, this would limit customer flexibility in the number of images per well. The Well Explorer platform offers the simple “Drag and Drop” of files into slide wells within minutes.
9. How many people can use the software?
The software is purchased as a single license; however, the software can be loaded onto multiple computers with dongle activation.
8405 Helgerman Ct, Gaithersburg, MD 20877 | 301.216.2800 | www.trevigen.com
© 2017 Trevigen Inc. Trevigen, CometAssay and CometChip are registered trademarks and CometSlide and FLARE are trademarks of Trevigen, Inc.
Trevigen designs, develops and delivers products for Physiologic Cell Culture, Cell Stress and DNA Damage. We specialize in and offer kits and reagents for Organoid Culture, Cancer
Cell Behavior, Apoptosis Detection, Oxidative Stress and DNA Damage Detection. Trevigen Cell
Assays (TCA) is a branch of Trevigen, conducting contract research work for the pharmaceutical,
biotechnology, government and academic segments of the biomedical research market.