Role of DNA organisation and environmental scavenging capacity in the evolution of radiobiological damage: models and simulations.
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.
Ballarini
Francesca
F
Dipartimento di Fisica Nucleare e Teorica, Università degli Studi di Pavia, Pavia, Italy. Francesca.Ballarini@pv.infn.it
Friedland
Werner
W
Jacob
Peter
P
Ottolenghi
Andrea
A
Paretzke
Herwig G
HG
Scannicchio
Domenico
D
Valota
Andrea
A
D000818:Animals; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D004247:DNA / Q000528:radiation effects*; D004249:DNA Damage; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D009010:Monte Carlo Method
D004247:DNA