Abstract
Living organisms are continuously exposed to various chemical and physical agents that can damage DNA, RNA, proteins, and lipids within the cells. This chapter addresses more specifically the types of DNA damage that can occur. Single- and double-strand breaks mostly arise from initial radical attack on the sugar moiety. Other major classes of radiation-induced DNA lesions include base damage and DNA-protein cross-links. The use of ESR spectroscopy, which remains a suitable method to monitor the formation of radiation-induced radicals, has provided interesting kinetic and structural information on DNA and model compounds. Pulse radiolysis, in association with conductivity measurements, has been successfully applied to the investigation of the chemical repair of radiation-induced base and sugar radicals at relatively low ionic strength. Either structural analytical methods, such as ESR, or time-resolved techniques, such as pulse radiolysis, have been used to gain insights into the mechanism of the reaction of aminothiols with radiation-induced DNA base and sugar radicals.
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