The DNA concentration effect on DNA radiation damage induced by 7Li ions and γ rays

To evaluate the influence of the DNA concentration in the aqueous solution on DNA radiation damage, the plasmid DNA in the presence or absence of Mannitol (scavenger of free radical OH·) was irradiated by 7Li ions and γ rays at various DNA concentrations. Gel electrophoresis analysis revealed that the DNA damage of single and double strand breaks induced by irradiation became more severe at lower DNA concentration. In the condition of γ-ray irradiation, most of double strand breaks (DSB) damage was neutralized and less associated with DNA concentration in the presence of mannitol. However, under 7Li irradiation, DSB damage could not be cleared by mannitol but was gradually aggravated with decreasing DNA concentrations. These findings imply that under low-LET irradiation, most of the DSB damage is generated by free radical OH? diffusion, and thus may be counteracted by scavengers, while at higher-LET irradiation, quite a fraction of DSB induction is caused by direct ionizing energy deposi- tion of heavy ions, which cannot be eliminated. This work also indicates that the proportion between free radical damage and direct ionizing damage is a constant which is independent of DNA concentra- tion when the DNA concentration is under a certain value (50 ng/μL). Our study sheds light on the un- derlying mechanisms in the DNA radiation damage process.     

Clustered DNA damage induced by protons radiation in plasmid DNA

Clustered DNA damage is considered as a critical type of lesions induced by ionizing radiation, which can be converted into the fatal or strong mutagenic complex double strand breaks (DSBs) during damage processing in the cells. The new data show that high energy protons produce more potentially lethal DSBs than low LET radiation. In this study, plasmid DNA were used to in-vestigate and re-evaluate the biological effects induced by the protons with the LET of ～3.6 keV/μm at the molecular level in vitro, including single strand breaks (SSBs), DSBs, isolated and clustered base damages. The results of complex DNA damage detections indicated that protons at the given LET value induce about 1.6 fold more non-DSB clustered DNA damages than the prompt DSB. The DNA damage yields by protons were greater than that by γ-rays, specifically by 6 fold for the isolated type of DNA damage and 14 fold for the clustered damage. Furthermore, the spectrum of damages was also demonstrated to be depended on the radiation quality, with protons producing more DSBs relative to clusters than do γ-rays.     

Analysis of length distribution of short DNA fragments induced by ^7Li ions using the random-breakage model

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is an important bio-macromolecule. DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) are considered to be the most important initial damage responsible for all biological effects induced by ionizing radiation. In this paper the length distribution of DNA fragments induced by ^7Li ionizing radiation is fitted with the random breakage model. In this model, the parameter u is the average number of DSBs on every DNA molecule induced by ionizing radiation. The fitting result shows that the random breakage model cannot describe the distribution of DNA fragments in lower doses, while the random breakage model is in better accordance with the experimental data in higher doses. It is shown that the length distribution of DNA fragments has random statistical feature in higher doses. In this situation, the random breakage model looks like a model without any parameter since the u has specific physical meaning and can directly be obtained from experimental data.     

Determination of DNA single-strand breaks by low-energy heavy ion and analysis of dose-effect curves

Calf thymus DNA was exposed to low-energy heavy ions (N+) and 60Co-γ-rays, and the dose-effect on DNA single-strand breaks (SSB) has been investigated. The results indicate that the dose-effect curve by N+ irradiation is different from that of conventional ionizing radiation. While the curve from γ-irradiation follows exponential type, the effect curve produced by N+ ion is of "saddle type". The yield of DNASSB per dose unit per DNA unit remained at a certain level under different doses of γ-rays. In contrast, the DNASSB at low dosage region of N+ showed an obvious peak before it decreased rapidly to a lower level.     

Mechanism of oxidative damage to DNA by Fe-loaded MCM-41 irradiated with visible light

The mechanism of oxidative damage to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) by iron-containing mesoporous molecular sieves (MCM-41) irradiated with visible light was elucidated. Fe-loaded MCM-41 (Fe/MCM-41) was used as a photocatalyst and the damage to calf thymus DNA caused by hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) was studied. The damage and extent of oxidation of DNA were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and intermediate products were detected by HPLC/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. Electron spin resonance was used to detect changes in reactive oxygen species and peroxidase catalytic spectrophotometry was used to determine the concentration of H2O2. The results indicated that Fe/MCM-41 efficiently activated H2O2 in solution at pH 4.0-8.0 under irradiation with visible light. The photocatalytic system degraded DNA most effectively at pH 5.0-6.0 but also operated at pH 8.0. At pH 4.2, the degree of DNA damage reached 25.65% after 5 h and the kinetic constant was 5.89×10 2 min 1. Damage to DNA was predominantly caused by hydroxyl radicals generated in the system. The mechanism of DNA damage is of potential concern to human health because it can occur in neutral solutions irradiated by visible light.     

Progress in dynamic study on the triplet excited states and radical ions of DNA and its components

Progress in dynamic study on the triplet excited states and radical ions of DNA and its components is reviewed. It has been found that acetone is the only effective sensitizer for the study of the triplet excited states of DNA components. The transient absorption spectrum of guanyl radical cation resulting from the interaction of triplet acetone and DNA was observed directly, and the original evidence for selective damage of DNA by excited photosensitizer was obtained for -the first time, which offered a new pathway for obtaining the main transient species of selective damage of DNA by photonucleases and illustrating initial oxidation mechanism of DNA via electron transfer.     

A novel method for ionizing radiation-induced RNA damage detection by poly（A）-tailing RT-PCR

Ionizing radiation (IR) causes severe cellular damage both directly and indirectly and disrupts RNA integrity. RNA strand breaks are the most frequent type of damage caused by IR. RNA damage is involved in the development of degenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. However, the mechanism of mRNA damage and any resulting pathophysiological outcomes are poorly understood. This is partly because there is a lack of sensitive tools to monitor damage randomly occurring in RNA,...     

Functional analysis of the sbcD （dr1921 ） gene of the extremely radioresistant bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans

In eukaryotes, the Mre11-Rad50-Nbs1 (MRN) complex, which resides at the crossroads of DNA repair and checkpoint signaling, rapidly forms prominent foci at damage sites following double-strand break (DSB) induction. This complex carries out the initial processing of the DSB ends. Mutations in the genes that encode components of this complex result in DNA-damage hypersensitivity, genomic in- stability, telomere shortening, and aberrant meiosis. Therefore, the MR proteins are highly conserved during evolution. The bacterial orthologs of Mre11 and Rad50 are the SbcD and SbcC proteins, respec- tively. Deinococcus radiodurans, an extremely radioresistant bacterium, is able to mend hundreds of radiation-induced DSBs. The SbcD and SbcC proteins were identified as the products of the Dr1921 and Dr1922 genes. Disruption of the sbcD gene, by direct reverse-orientation insertional mutagenesis tech- nology, remarkably increases the cells’ sensitivity to various types of DNA damaging agents, such as ionizing radiation, ultraviolet irradiation, hydrogen peroxide, and mitomycin C. We also provide evidence that the drSbcD protein plays an important role in both growth and DNA repair in this organ- ism, especially in repair of DSBs generated after cellular exposure to 6000 Gy of IR. These results demonstrate that the drSbcD protein plays an important role in DSBs repair in D. radiodurans.     

Radioprotective thermally generated free-radical dextrins

Effect of doses of the X-ray radiation from 0 to 400 Gy upon granular cornstarch and dextrins （British gums, BG） thermally generated from it at 230--300℃ was recognized with quantitative EPR and IR absorption spectroscopy, molecular mass distribution in the depolymerization products, Scanning Electron Microscopy, and X-ray diffractometry. Fractal analysis of the profiles of molecular mass distribution showed that the depolymerization involved debranching of amylopectin. Roasting of cornstarch produced BG which differed in concentration and EPR parameters of stable free radicals from BG generated by X-ray radiation. Two types of stable free radicals, with Gaussian and Lorentzian shapes of EPR signals, were recognized. The shapes of the signals and temperature dependence on free radical intensity indicated exchanging interactions of the antiferromagnetic type, causing partial quenching of the spins at-196℃（77K）. Upon X-ray irradiation, new radicals were generated, the number and stability of which strongly depended on the types of radicals present before irradiation. These radicals slowly ceased because of a repolymerization of BG on storage.     

Radiation Induced Segregation of Fe-Cr-Mn(W,V) Alloy under Electron/Helium Dual-beam Irradiation

The radiation induced segregation (RIS) was studied by electron/helium dual-beam irradiation. Within a grain, the content of Cr and Mn were higher in the center than at the margin of the irradiated areas. In the contrary, withim the irradiated areas included grain boundaries the contents of Cr and Mn decreased at the grain boundaries. RIS was weaker under dual-beam irradiation than that under electron single-beam irradiation, which was because of the increases of dislocation density and sink strength of voids when helium existed.     

dr1127： A novel gene of Deinococcus radiodurans responsible for oxidative stress

The functional analysis of dr1127,a novel gene in Deinococcus radiodurans was performed in this pa-per. The dr1127 gene was found occasionally in our microarray and 2-DE gel experiments. Mutation of the dr1127 gene decreased the γ-radiation and H2O2 resistance of D. radiodurans,and weakened the scavenging abilities of cell extracts for free radicals (superoxide anion,hydrogen peroxide,and hy-droxyl radical). Further oxidative damage assays demonstrated that the purified DR1127 protein of D. radiodurans could bind to double stranded DNA in vitro and protect DNA from oxidative damage in this way. These results suggest that the dr1127 gene is an important gene that can maintain γ-radiation and oxidative resistance in D. radiodurans and may take part in the oxidative stress process.     

The induction of Sinorhizobium meliloti C4-dicarboxylate transport system （Dct） is regulated by oxygen concentration

The Sinorhizobium meliloti C4-dicarboxylate transport （Dct） system is essential for symbiotic nitrogen fixation. The dctA gene, encoding the C4-dicarboxylate permease, is expressed in both free living and symbiotic cells. But in free living cells expression of dctD and dctB is absolutely required for the expression of dctA. In this study, in order to investigate the effect of oxygen concentration on the induction of Dct system, E. coli DH5a strain which carries the plasmid-encoded dctABD operon was used in tube assays. It was found that the specific induction of Dct system oc- curred only at a certain depth under the surface of M63-0.6% agar media, suggesting that Dct system could respond to oxygen concentration during succinate-induced expression. Furthermore, when measured at different oxygen concentrations, the highest expression level was observed at oxygen concentration of 2%. Thus, we predict that in addition to dicarboxylates, the induction of Dct system may also regulated by oxygen concentration.     

Preparation of Zn-doped TiO2 nanotubes electrode and its application in pentachlorophenol photoelectrocatalytic degradation

Zn-doped titanium oxide （TiO2） nanotubes electrode was prepared on a titanium plate by direct anodic oxidation and immersing method in sequence. Field emission scanning electron microscopy （FESEM） showed that the Zn-doped TiO2 nanotubes were well aligned and organized into high density uniform arrays with diameter ranging from 50 to 90 nm. The length and the thickness were about 200 and 15 nm respectively. TiO2 anatase phase was identified by X-ray diffraction （XRD）. X-ray photoelectronspectroscopy （XPS） indicated that Zn ions were mainly located on the surface of TiO2 nanotubes in form of ZnO clusters. Compared with TiO2 nanotubes electrode, about 20 nm red shift in the spectrum of UV-vis absorption was observed. The degradation of pentachlorophenol （PCP） in aqueous solution under the same condition （initial concentration of PCP： 20 mg/L; concentration of Na2SO4：0.01 mol/L and pH： 7.03） was carried out using Zn-doped TiO2 nanotubes electrode and TiO2 nanotubes electrode. The degradation rates of PCP using Zn-doped TiO2 nanotubes electrode were found to be twice and 5.8 times as high as that using TiO2 nanotubes electrode by UV radiation （400 μw/cm^2） and visible light radiation （4500 μw/cm^2）, respectively. 73.5% of PCP was removed using Zn-doped TiO2 nanotubes electrode against 45.5% removed using TiO2 nanotubes electrode in 120 min under UV radiation. While under visible light radiation, the degradation efficiency of PCP was 18.4% using Zn-doped TiO2 nanotubes electrode against 3.2% using TiO2 nanotubes electrode in 120 min. The optimum concentration of Zn doping was found to be 0.909%. The PCP degradation efficiencies of the 10 repeated experiments by Zn-doped TiO2 nanotubes electrode were rather stable with the deviation within 3.0%.     

Structure of aqueous sodium sulfate solutions derived from X-ray diffraction

A rapid liquid X-ray diffractometer was used to study the time-averaged and space-averaged structure of aqueous sodium sulfate solutions at 298 and 323 K. Difference radial distribution functions of the solutions were obtained from accurate diffraction data. The interaction distances of Na^＋-OH2 and S-H2O in solutions were found to be 0.235 and 0.385 nm, respectively, after deconvolution of superposition peaks by Gaussian multi-peak fitting program. The characteristic distance of the NaSO; contact ion pairs in higher concentration solutions was determined to be 0.345 nm, suggesting that the Na^＋ ions coordinated with SO4^2- ions in the mono-dentate form. Effects of concentration and temperature on the hydration structure of the solutions were discussed in the present paper. With a decrease in concentration, the contributions of the H2O to the diffraction pattern increase, the average coordination number of the Na^＋ ions hardly changes, while the hydration number of SO4^2- ions increases slightly. The formation of NaSO; contact ion pairs becomes easier at higher temperature. The structure of hydrogen bond in dilute solutions is broken to a considerable extent with rising temperature, and the peak at 0.290 nm splits into two peaks at 0.275 and 0.305 nm, respectively.     

Influences of poly (vinyl alcohol) molecular weight and carbon nanotubes on radiation crosslinking shape memory polymers

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) of two molecular weights was used to prepare shape memory polymers based on chemical-crosslinking by glutaraldehyde. The chemical-crosslinking was done in the presence of 2-carboxyethyl acrylate oligomers (CEA) and nano-filler [multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) and functionalized carbon nanotubes (MWCNT-NH2)] followed by radiation-induced crosslinking. The analysis of the material revealed an increase in the gel fraction and a significant reduction in swelling of the nanocomposite material that was crosslinked with both glutaraldehyde and ionizing radiation. The radiation crosslinked nanocomposites demonstrated approximately a 90% gelation over a range of 50–300 kGy irradiation doses. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis showed a homogeneous distribution of nanocomposites in the composite matrix. The thermal properties of radiation crosslinked (PVA/CEA) and (PVA-CEA)-nano-fillers were investigated by a thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The mechanical properties were examined via dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) which showed significant variation because of the addition of nanocomposites. This radiation crosslinked materials show good shape memory behavior that may be useful in many applications based on the range of temperatures at which Tan δ appears.     

Predicting the spread of nuclear radiation from the damaged Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant

Japan suffered a M9.0 earthquake and massive tsunami on March 11, 2011, which seriously damaged the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant and caused a nuclear crisis. The spread of nuclear radiation from the power plant through the atmosphere and ocean was predicted with a short-term climate forecasting model and an ocean circulation model under some idealized assumptions. If nuclear matter were leaked in the near-ground layer of 992 hPa, the climate model results show that the nuclear radiation would cover North America 10 days after the initial leakage, with the concentration at the forefront dramatically reduced to 10 millionths of the initial model concentration at the source. The radiation would span Europe in 15 days and cover much of the Northern Hemisphere in 30 days. If the initial leakage was assumed to occur in the layer 5000-m above the ground, the radiation would cover Europe in 10 days and cover much of the Northern Hemisphere in 15 days. Moreover, under the assumption that the nuclear matter leaked in the 10000-m layer, the radiation would affect much of China after 10 days. The ocean circulation model indicates that the nuclear material would be slowly transported northeast of Fukushima and reach 150°E in 50 days, and the nuclear debris in the ocean would be confined to a narrow band. Compared with the spread in the ocean, the area affected by leaked nuclear radiation in the atmosphere would be very large. Atmospheric monitors in North America and Europe will be helpful for estimating the effect in China of any leaked nuclear material.     

Influence of FeCl3 on radiation stability of ionic liquid BmimCl

This study investigates the effect FeCl3 on the radiation stability of the ionic liquid,1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride(BmimCl) over a wide dose range of 0 to 1000 kGy under γ-ray radiation.The ionic liquid species,BmimFeCl4,was formed by adding FeCl3 into BmimCl.The results showed that the presence of FeCl4-significantly improved the radiation resistance of BmimCl,wherein the effect was more pronounced at higher FeCl4-content.Meanwhile,under irradiation,Fe(II) was generated from Fe(III),which was reduced by solvated electron.In addition,the concentration of Fe(II) increased with low level of absorbed dose,but leveled off at higher doses.Moreover,the radiation yield of the solvated electrons of BmimCl was further estimated at approximately 0.358±0.01 μmol/J in BmimCl-7 mol% FeCl3 system.     

Dissolution and diffusion of TiO2 in the CaO-Al2O3-SiO2 slag

The dissolution of TiO2 in the CaO-Al2O3-SiO2 slag under static conditions was studied in the temperature range from 1643 K to 1703 K. After TiO2 dissolved, the microstructure of the interface between TiO2 and the slag was observed by scanning electron microscopy, and the concentration profiles of Ti4＋and other ions across the TiO2/slag interfaces were analyzed by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. On the basis of these results, the dissolution behavior of TiO2 was evaluated, and the diffusivity of Ti4＋in the bulk slag was estimated. Ac-cording to the Stokes-Einstein relation, the viscosity calculated by a previously reported model gave a diffusivity of Ti4＋ions greater than that estimated by the concentration profiles of Ti4＋ions. The mechanism of TiO2 dissolution in the CaO-Al2O3-SiO2 slag is discussed in de-tail.