title: Damage to model DNA fragments from very low-energy (<1 eV) electrons.
abstract: Although electrons having enough energy to ionize or electronically excite DNA have long been known to cause strand breaks (i.e., bond cleavages), only recently has it been suggested that even lower-energy electrons (most recently 1 eV and below) can also damage DNA. The findings of the present work suggest that, while DNA bases can attach electrons having kinetic energies in the 1 eV range and subsequently undergo phosphate-sugar O-C sigma bond cleavage, it is highly unlikely (in contrast to recent suggestions) that electrons having kinetic energies near 0 eV can attach to the phosphate unit's P=O bonds. Electron kinetic energies in the 2-3 eV range are required to attach directly to DNA's phosphate group's P=O pi orbital and induce phosphate-sugar O-C sigma bond cleavages if the phosphate groups are rendered neutral (e.g., by nearby counterions). Moreover, significant activation barriers to C-O bond breakage render the rates of both such damage mechanisms (i.e., P=O-attached and base-attached) slow as compared to electron autodetachment and to other damage processes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Henry Eyring Center for Theoretical Chemistry, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Berdys
authors.forename: Iwona
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Anusiewicz
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Skurski
authors.forename: Jack
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Simons
mesh_terms: D004249:DNA Damage / Q000528:radiation effects*; D053938:DNA Fragmentation; D004583:Electrons; D007700:Kinetics; D008958:Models, Molecular; D010710:Phosphates / Q000737:chemistry; D014498:Uracil / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D010710:Phosphates; D014498:Uracil