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The Role of Secondary Electrons in Radiation Damage

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Radiation Damage in Biomolecular Systems

Part of the book series: Biological and Medical Physics, Biomedical Engineering ((BIOMEDICAL))

Abstract

In the present contribution we will show that low energy electrons (< 10 eV), which are formed as secondary species in the interaction of ionizing radiation with biological matter, can effectively damage molecules of biological matter. The underlying mechanism is dissociative electron attachment, where the transient negative ion (TNI) state decays by dissociation into a fragment anion and one or more neutral fragments. We investigated this process with building blocks of DNA (nucleobases) and proteins (amino acids). We studied these compounds under isolated conditions in the gas phase and also when they were embedded in cold helium droplets. The latter experiments allow the study of clusters of biomolecules and moreover, the effect of environment on the electron capture process and the decay of the TNI formed can be elucidated. This bears important consequences for drawing conclusions from the gas phase results to the damage of secondary electrons in a cellular environment.

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Acknowledgements

This work has been supported by the FWF (P14900, P18052, P18804, P19073, and P22665), Vienna, the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, and the European Commission, Brussels. S.D. would like to thank Dr. F. Ferreira da Silva for the support in preparing two of the graphic illustrations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Ionenphysik und Angewandte Physik and Center of Biomolecular Sciences Innsbruck (CMBI), Universität Innsbruck, A-6020, Innsbruck, Austria

    Stephan Denifl, Tilmann D. Märk & Paul Scheier

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  1. Stephan Denifl
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  2. Tilmann D. Märk
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Correspondence to Stephan Denifl .

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  1. , Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cien, Instituto de Física Fundamental (IFF), Serrano 113-bis, Madrid, 28006, Spain

    Gustavo García Gómez-Tejedor

  2. Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cien, Instituto de Física Fundamental (IFF), Serrano 113bis, Madrid, 28006, Spain

    Martina Christina Fuss

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Denifl, S., Märk, T.D., Scheier, P. (2012). The Role of Secondary Electrons in Radiation Damage. In: García Gómez-Tejedor, G., Fuss, M. (eds) Radiation Damage in Biomolecular Systems. Biological and Medical Physics, Biomedical Engineering. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2564-5_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2564-5_2

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