DNA damages induced by photons and ion particles with various LETs

Yokoya, Akinari; Ushigome, Takeshi; Shikazono, Naoya; Fujii, Kentaro; Urushibara, Ayumi; Suzuki, Masao*; Tauchi, Hiroshi*; Watanabe, Ritsuko

The yields of single- and double-strand breaks (SSB and DSB), base lesions and clustered damage induced in DNA were measured after exposing to various kinds of radiation. To focus on the effect of direct energy deposition from radiation track, we prepared hydrated DNA as well as solution sample with various scavenging capacities. Base excision repair enzymes, EndoIII and Fpg, were used to detect oxidative base lesions. The obtained results show that (1) the yield of directly induced SSB by the soft X-irradiation is about 30 percent of total SSBs in a cell mimetic condition and (2) the SSB yield does not significantly depend on the quality of radiation. On the other hand, (3) the yields of base lesions show a maximum by soft X-irradiation and drastically decreases with increasing of LET. (4) Soft X-rays are more effective in inducing base lesions than ions with similar LET, and (5) EndoIII treatment gives significantly higher SSB yield than those by Fpg treatment.