DNA damage induced by cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (II) (cisplatin: cis-DDP), an anticancer drug, was studied in vitro by monitoring the drug-induced conformational change of pUC18 plasmid DNA, the sensitivity to some restriction enzymes of the damaged DNA and the sequence-dependent termination of DNA synthesis caused by cisplatin. Closed circular, superhelical pUC18 DNA was treated at 37 degrees C for 16 h with various concentrations of cisplatin. Cisplatin-dose-dependent conformational change due to unwinding of the treated DNA was detected by agarose gel electrophoresis. To analyze the base-specificity of the cisplatin damage, the measurement for sensitivity of cisplatin-treated DNA to various types of restriction enzyme and sequence gel analysis of the treated DNA were conducted. The results suggested that cisplatin attacked preferentially the sequence of GG > AG > GNG in the order. In the present assay condition, the cisplatin/DNA nucleotide ratios required for the DNA damage detection were roughly 0.025 for the conformational analysis, 0.001 or more for the restriction enzyme analysis, and less than 0.001 for the sequence gel analysis. By using the present method, it was demonstrated that the cisplatin-mediated DNA damage was inhibited by NaCl, KCl, CaCl2 or MgCl2 at their nearly physiological concentrations, and by reducing agents such as thiourea and 2-mercaptoethanol in the reaction mixture.