Abstract
Nonextensive statistical mechanics as in Tsallis formalism was used in this study, along with the dynamical Hamiltonian rod-like DNA model and the maximum entropy criteria for Tsallis’ entropy, so as to obtain length distribution of plasmid fragments, after irradiation with very high doses, assuming that the system reaches metaequilibrium. By intensively working out the Grand Canonical Ensemble (used to take into account the variation of the number of base pairs) a simplified expression for Fragment Size Distribution Function (FSDF) was obtained. This expression is dependent on two parameters only, the Tsallis q value and the minimal length of the fragments. Results obtained from fittings to available experimental data were adequate and the characteristic behavior of the shortest fragments was clearly documented and reproduced by the model, a circumstance never verified from theoretical distributions. The results point to the existence of an entropy which characterizes fragmentation processes and depending only on the q entropic index.
Highlights
A wide range of studies related to the biological action of ionizing radiation at the cellular level identified the DNA molecule at the top in the hierarchy of possible biological targets
Nonextensive statistical mechanics as in Tsallis formalism was used in this study, along with the dynamical Hamiltonian rod-like DNA model and the maximum entropy criteria for Tsallis’ entropy, so as to obtain length distribution of plasmid fragments, after irradiation with very high doses, assuming that the system reaches metaequilibrium
Fittings performed to the experimental data showed that β'μN/a → −∞, there is a wide range of values for which the fitting results change slightly. Calculating this limit in Equation (12) leads to the final simplified equation for the Fragment Size Distribution Function (FSDF), which only depends on the Tsallis q value and on the minimal length of the fragments (Lmin/2): p L dL
Summary
A wide range of studies related to the biological action of ionizing radiation at the cellular level identified the DNA molecule at the top in the hierarchy of possible biological targets. Molecular damages in DNA define the subsequent fate of the cell and could lead to reproductive cell death, apoptosis, mutations and cancer transformations. After treatment of cells by ionizing radiation there is a broad spectrum of radiation-induced damages which can lead to the different endpoints. DSB, including the clustered DNA damages, is the most harmful effect since it has a non-negligible probability in inducing cell death, mutation or carcinogenesis. The two most successful techniques are pulsed field gel electrophoresis and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The latter being more recent, enabling better resolution, and as such, has been intensively and extensively used
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