RESUMEN
PURPOSE: To study the influence of DNA configuration on the direct damage yield. No indirect effect has been accounted for. METHODS: The GEANT4-DNA code was used to simulate the interactions of protons and alpha particles with geometrical models of the A-, B-, and Z-DNA configurations. The direct total, single, and double strand break yields and site-hit probabilities were determined. Certain features of the energy deposition process were also studied. RESULTS: A slight increase of the site-hit probability as a function of the incident particle linear energy transfer was found for each DNA configuration. Each DNA form presents a well-defined site-hit probability, independently of the particle linear energy transfer. Approximately 70% of the inelastic collisions and ~60% of the absorbed dose are due to secondary electrons. These fractions are slightly higher for protons than for alpha particles at the same incident energy. CONCLUSIONS: The total direct strand break yield for a given DNA form depends weakly on DNA conformation topology. This yield is practically determined by the target volume of the DNA configuration. However, the double strand break yield increases with the packing ratio of the DNA double helix; thus, it depends on the DNA conformation.
Asunto(s)
Roturas del ADN de Doble Cadena/efectos de la radiación , ADN de Forma A/química , ADN Forma B/química , ADN de Forma Z/química , Algoritmos , Biología Computacional , Simulación por Computador , ADN de Forma A/efectos de la radiación , ADN Forma B/efectos de la radiación , ADN de Forma Z/efectos de la radiación , Humanos , Transferencia Lineal de Energía , Modelos Teóricos , Conformación de Ácido Nucleico , Probabilidad , Programas InformáticosRESUMEN
We report here that a cubane-like europium-L-aspartic acid complex at physiological pH can discriminate between DNA structures as judged by the comparison of thermal denaturation, binding stoichiometry, temperature-dependent fluorescence enhancement, and circular dichroism and gel electrophoresis studies. This complex can selectively stabilize non-B-form DNA polydApolydT but destabilize polydGdCpolydGdC and polydAdTpolydAdT. Further studies show that this complex can convert B-form polydGdCpolydGdC to Z-form under the low salt condition at physiological temperature 37 degrees C, and the transition is reversible, similar to RNA polymerase, which turns unwound DNA into Z-DNA and converts it back to B-DNA after transcription. The potential uses of a left-handed helix-selective probe in biology are obvious. Z-DNA is a transient structure and does not exist as a stable feature of the double helix. Therefore, probing this transient structure with a metal-amino acid complex under the low salt condition at physiological temperature would provide insights into their transitions in vivo and are of great interest.