title: Influence of thiols and oxygen on the survival of gamma-irradiated plasmid DNA and cells.
abstract: Some of the recent progress made in the understanding of the quantitative aspects of the oxygen effect in radiation biology by several groups is summarized. Examples are: the importance of unrepairable damage for the quantitative description of the oxygen effect; proof that protein thiols hardly contribute to protection in cells in the absence of oxygen; the proposal that protection by thiols in concentration ranges where all DNA radicals react with oxygen is due to the formation of hydroperoxides which can be repaired enzymatically by glutathione peroxydase; the finding that unscavengeable damage in plasmid DNA is mainly due to spur-induced clustered damages, but that the precursors of the scavengeable and the unscavengeable damage are comparably well repaired by thiols; the result that E. coli repair wild type strains are better protected by addition of thiols than strains with deficiencies in enzymatic repair capacities.
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck-Institut fur Strahlenchemie, Germany.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schulte-Frohlinde
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Ludwig
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rettberg
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017104:Bacteriophage M13 / Q000528:radiation effects; D004249:DNA Damage; D004260:DNA Repair / Q000187:drug effects; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000528:radiation effects*; D004229:Dithiothreitol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000528:radiation effects; D016166:Free Radical Scavengers / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005720:Gamma Rays; D005978:Glutathione / Q000494:pharmacology; D005990:Glycerol / Q000494:pharmacology; D017665:Hydroxyl Radical / Q000494:pharmacology; D000432:Methanol / Q000494:pharmacology; D010100:Oxygen; D010957:Plasmids / Q000528:radiation effects*; D011836:Radiation Tolerance; D013438:Sulfhydryl Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology; D013439:Sulfhydryl Reagents / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D016166:Free Radical Scavengers; D013438:Sulfhydryl Compounds; D013439:Sulfhydryl Reagents; D017665:Hydroxyl Radical; D005978:Glutathione; D005990:Glycerol; D010100:Oxygen; D004229:Dithiothreitol; D000432:Methanol