A new electrochemical approach for the in vitro investigation of damage in native DNA by small gamma-radiation doses.
Voltammetry provides a new method to assess gamma-radiation damage to native DNA in vitro after low doses of irradiation. Using single sweep voltammetry at a stationary mercury electrode a substantial labilization of the double helical conformation of gamma-irradiated DNA was found. Up to 40 Gy a linear dose-effect relationship exists reflected for the number of strand breaks and the number of destabilized base pairs. A considerable difference in the frequency of formation of the two kinds of radiation damage is seen in the ratio of their G-values. Base pair labilization occurs depending on aeration conditions 200 to 300 times more frequently than the formation of a single strand break.
D000818:Animals; D001482:Base Composition; D002417:Cattle; D004247:DNA / Q000528:radiation effects*; D004563:Electrochemistry; D005720:Gamma Rays; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D009994:Osmolar Concentration; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D013950:Thymus Gland
D012965:Sodium Chloride; D004247:DNA