title: Role of DNA organisation and environmental scavenging capacity in the evolution of radiobiological damage: models and simulations.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Theoretical models and Monte Carlo simulations were developed, aimed to investigate the role played by the organisation of interphase DNA and the environmental scavenging capacity conditions in the induction of radiobiological damage.
  
  
  METHODS
  The induction of single- and double-strand breaks by gamma rays impinging on different DNA structures (e.g. linear DNA, SV40 minichromosome and cellular DNA) was simulated as a function of the environment scavenging capacity. Furthermore, yields of chromosome aberrations (CA) induced by gamma rays and light ions were simulated with a purposely developed MC code that explicitly takes into account the DNA higher-order organisation as chromosome territories.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Simulations performed with the PARTRAC code allowed quantification of the dependence of dsb and ssb both on the target structure, and on the scavenging capacity. The results relative to CA showed the importance of DNA damage complexity (nanometre scale) and interphase chromosome domains (micrometre scale) in the process of aberration formation. Very good agreement was found between the model predictions on ssb, dsb and CA and available experimental data.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Fisica Nucleare e Teorica, Università degli Studi di Pavia, Pavia, Italy. Francesca.Ballarini@pv.infn.it
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ballarini
authors.forename: Werner
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Friedland
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jacob
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ottolenghi
authors.forename: Herwig G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Paretzke
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Scannicchio
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Valota
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D004247:DNA / Q000528:radiation effects*; D004249:DNA Damage; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009010:Monte Carlo Method
chemical_list: D004247:DNA