skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Modeling radical yields in oriented DNA exposed to high-LET (linear-energy-transfer) radiation

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6148658

Monte Carlo simulation of energy absorption in oriented fibers of DNA is used to model the dependence of free-radical yields on the orientation of the fibers relative to a flux of ionizing radiation. A large asymmetry was assumed in the thermal conductivity of the fibers that permits rapid transport of vibrational energy along a DNA molecule, but not between different molecules. Based on this assumption, the model predicts that thymine radical anions have a significantly greater probability of undergoing a secondary protonation reaction if they are produced by a flux that is incident perpendicular to the DNA molecules. These results are in qualitative agreement with experimental data on the yield of 5,6-dihydrothymin-5-yl radicals when samples of oriented DNA were exposed at 77 K to neutrons. Keywords: High linear energy transfer, LET (Linear energy transfer), High energy protons, Reprints. (aw)

Research Organization:
Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Inst., Bethesda, MD (USA)
OSTI ID:
6148658
Report Number(s):
AD-A-203247/2/XAB; AFRRI-SR-88-24
Resource Relation:
Other Information: Pub. in Radiation Physics and Chemistry, Vol. 32, No. 3, 349-353(1988)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English