title: DNA damage induced by low-energy electrons: electron transfer and diffraction.
abstract: Thin films of the short single strand of DNA, GCAT, in which guanine (G) or adenine (A) have been removed, were bombarded under vacuum by 4 to 15 eV electrons. The fragments corresponding to base release and strand breaks (SB) were analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography and their yields compared with those obtained from unmodified GCAT. From such a comparison, it is shown that, using GCAT as a model system, (1) most SB result from electron capture by DNA bases followed by electron transfer to the phosphate group and (2) the initial capture probability depends on the coherence of the electron wave within the tetramer.
authors.affiliation: Groupe de Recherche en Sciences des Radiations, Faculté de Médecine, Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC Canada J1H 5N4.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: J Richard
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: Léon
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sanche
mesh_terms: D004247:DNA / Q000737:chemistry*; D004249:DNA Damage; D004583:Electrons; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D009841:Oligonucleotides; D004247:DNA