title: Elucidating DNA damage and repair processes by independently generating reactive and metastable intermediates.
abstract: DNA damage is a double-edged sword. The modifications produced in the biopolymer are associated with aging, and give rise to a variety of diseases, including cancer. DNA is also the target of anti-tumor agents and the most generally used nonsurgical treatment of cancer, ionizing radiation. Agents that damage DNA produce a variety of radicals. Elucidating the chemistry of individual DNA radicals is challenging due to the availability of multiple reactive pathways and complexities inherent with carrying out mechanistic studies on a heterogeneous polymer. The ability to independently generate radicals and their metastable products at defined sites in DNA has greatly facilitated understanding this biologically important chemistry.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218, USA. mgreenberg@jhu.edu
authors.forename: Marc M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Greenberg
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D004247:DNA / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D004249:DNA Damage; D004260:DNA Repair / Q000187:drug effects; D005609:Free Radicals / Q000737:chemistry*; D015394:Molecular Structure; D009705:Nucleosides / Q000737:chemistry; D013400:Sugar Acids / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D005609:Free Radicals; D009705:Nucleosides; D013400:Sugar Acids; C056405:2,4,5-trihydroxypentanoic acid gamma-lactone; D004247:DNA