Direct electron irradiation of DNA in a fully aqueous environment
- 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.
Author details: | Marc Benjamin HahnORCiDGND, Susann MeyerGND, Maria-Astrid Schröter, Harald SeitzORCiD, Hans-Jörg KunteORCiD, Tihomir Solomun, Heinz SturmORCiD |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1039/c6cp07707b |
ISSN: | 1463-9076 |
ISSN: | 1463-9084 |
Pubmed ID: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28059422 |
Title of parent work (English): | Physical chemistry, chemical physics : PCCP ; a journal of European chemical societies |
Subtitle (English): | Damage determination in combination with Monte Carlo simulations |
Publisher: | RSC Publ. |
Place of publishing: | Cambridge |
Publication type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Date of first publication: | 2016/12/14 |
Publication year: | 2017 |
Release date: | 2022/07/07 |
Volume: | 19 |
Issue: | 3 |
Number of pages: | 8 |
First page: | 1798 |
Last Page: | 1805 |
Organizational units: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Biochemie und Biologie |
DDC classification: | 5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 57 Biowissenschaften; Biologie / 570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie |
Peer review: | Referiert |
License (English): | Creative Commons - Namensnennung 3.0 Unported |