@article{HahnMeyerSchroeteretal.2017,
  author    = {Hahn, Marc Benjamin and Meyer, Susann and Schr{\"o}ter, Maria-Astrid and Seitz, Harald and Kunte, Hans-J{\"o}rg and Solomun, Tihomir and Sturm, Heinz},
  title     = {Direct electron irradiation of DNA in a fully aqueous environment},
  series = {Physical chemistry, chemical physics : PCCP ; a journal of European chemical societies},
  volume    = {19},
  journal   = {Physical chemistry, chemical physics : PCCP ; a journal of European chemical societies},
  number    = {3},
  publisher = {RSC Publ.},
  address   = {Cambridge},
  issn      = {1463-9076},
  doi       = {10.1039/c6cp07707b},
  pages     = {1798 -- 1805},
  year      = {2017},
  abstract  = {We report on a study in which plasmid DNA in water was irradiated with 30 keV electrons generated by a scanning electron microscope and passed through a 100 nm thick Si3N4 membrane. The corresponding Monte Carlo simulations suggest that the kinetic energy spectrum of the electrons throughout the water is dominated by low energy electrons (<100 eV). The DNA radiation damage, single-strand breaks (SSBs) and double-strand breaks (DSBs), was determined by gel electrophoresis. The median lethal dose of D-1/2 = 1.7 +/- 0.3 Gy was found to be much smaller as compared to partially or fully hydrated DNA irradiated under vacuum conditions. The ratio of the DSBs to SSBs was found to be 1 : 12 as compared to 1 : 88 found for hydrated DNA. Our method enables quantitative measurements of radiation damage to biomolecules (DNA, proteins) in solutions under varying conditions (pH, salinity, co-solutes) for an electron energy range which is difficult to probe by standard methods.},
  language  = {en}
}