Abstract
Breaks in DNA, resulting in fragmented parts, can be produced by ionizing radiation which, in turn, is the starting point in the search for novel physical aspects of DNA strands. Double-strand breaks in particular cause disruption of the DNA strand, splitting it into several fragments. In order to study effects produced by radiation in plasmid DNA, a new simple mechanical model for this molecule is proposed. In this model, a Morse-like potential and a high-LET component are used to describe the DNA-radiation interaction. Two power laws, used to fit results of the model, suggest that, firstly, distribution of fragment size is nonextensive and, secondly, that a transition phase is present in the DNA fragment distribution pattern.
Highlights
One of the most important molecules for living beings is DNA, and as a result it has been widely studied
The interaction of radiation with organic molecules and the consequences of this interaction for biological systems have been thoroughly investigated. Ionizing radiations such as gammas, neutrons, or alpha particles can produce breaks in DNA resulting in fragmented parts that would be the starting point in the search for novel physical aspects of DNA strands
We propose the DNA-radiation interaction leading to the breaking of covalent bonds be given by a Morse-like potential V (xi, ri)
Summary
One of the most important molecules for living beings is DNA, and as a result it has been widely studied. The interaction of radiation with organic molecules and the consequences of this interaction for biological systems have been thoroughly investigated Ionizing radiations such as gammas, neutrons, or alpha particles can produce breaks in DNA resulting in fragmented parts that would be the starting point in the search for novel physical aspects of DNA strands. Many different kinds of lesions in DNA are caused by ionizing radiation, more especially base damage and strand breaks The latter are important because they are irreparable when produced in large and clustered quantities [5]. As discussed in this paper, their results present leads for the occurrence of nonextensivity and crossover at nanoscale In this regard, it is noted that there are several studies in the literature showing nonlinear aspects of DNA molecule [18]. The results of our model calculations are compared with those from experiments carried out with gammas in our laboratory, and with electrons and neutrons from the literature [21]
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