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

Title: Plasma induced DNA damage: Comparison with the effects of ionizing radiation

Journal Article · · Applied Physics Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4896626· OSTI ID:22350774
; ; ; ;  [1]; ; ;  [2]
  1. Institute of Physics, University of Belgrade, Pregrevica 118, 11080 Belgrade (Serbia)
  2. Department of Physical Chemistry, Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, University of Belgrade, 11001 Belgrade (Serbia)

We use human primary fibroblasts for comparing plasma and gamma rays induced DNA damage. In both cases, DNA strand breaks occur, but of fundamentally different nature. Unlike gamma exposure, contact with plasma predominantly leads to single strand breaks and base-damages, while double strand breaks are mainly consequence of the cell repair mechanisms. Different cell signaling mechanisms are detected confirming this (ataxia telangiectasia mutated - ATM and ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3 related - ATR, respectively). The effective plasma doses can be tuned to match the typical therapeutic doses of 2 Gy. Tailoring the effective dose through plasma power and duration of the treatment enables safety precautions mainly by inducing apoptosis and consequently reduced frequency of micronuclei.

OSTI ID:
22350774
Journal Information:
Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 105, Issue 12; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English