0000000000240455
AUTHOR
Michel Fromm
Spatial distribution of air kerma rate and impact of accelerating voltage on the quality of an ultra soft X-ray beam generated by a cold cathode tube in air
Abstract Ultrasoft X-ray characteristic aluminum K alpha line (Al Kα with energy of 1.5 keV) is used in radiobiological experiments to study the effect of radiation on biological matter. A simple method to generate a continuous beam of those X-ray radiations is to bombarding an aluminum target with accelerated electrons using high voltage (HV). In this work, by varying the HV we study the characteristics of a photon beam generated by means of a cold cathode transmission X-ray tube. The anode is a thin (16 μm) aluminum foil supported by a copper grid. The spatial distribution of air kerma is measured using gafchromic films of HD-810 calibrated with a parallel plate free-air ionization chambe…
Low energy electrons and ultra-soft X-rays irradiation of plasmid DNA. Technical innovations
Abstract In this paper we present in a first part the latest results of our group which are in relation with the study of DNA damages inflicted by low energy electrons (0-20 eV) in ultra-high vacuum as well as in air under atmospheric conditions. A short description of the drop-casting technique we developed to produce thin and nanometre-scaled DNA layers onto graphite sheets is given. We provide the absolute cross-section for loss of supercoiled topology of plasmid DNA complexed with 1,3-diaminopropane (Dap) in the vacuum under 10 eV electron impact and suggest a specific pathway for the dissociation of the transient negative ion formed by resonant capture of such a low energy electron (LE…
Elucidation of the Two-Step Damage Formation Process of Latent Tracks in Poly(allyl diglycol carbonate), PADC: Role of Secondary Low-Energy Electrons
The aim of the present study is to evaluate the mechanisms by which secondary electrons of low energy degrade poly(allyl diglycol carbonate) (PADC) when it is used as a Solid State Nuclear Track De...
Role of intermediate species in the formation of ion tracks in PADC: A review
Abstract This review paper intends at identifying the early processes arising during the formation of a latent ion track in Poly Allyl Diglycol Carbonate (PADC). We briefly summarize the physical and chemical processes specific to the description of the interaction of ionizing radiation with matter. Then we gather published information in relation to PADC response regarding energy absorption and further transient species formation. Emphasis is given to the chemistry of radicals. Due to a lack of available data in relation with clearly identified unpaired electron carriers in PADC, we use data stemming from surrogate molecules. Based on such data we suggest mechanisms for the decomposition o…
Complexation des acides aminés basiques arginine, histidine et lysine avec l’ADN plasmidique en solution aqueuse : participation à la capture de radicaux sous irradiation X à 1,5 keV
L’environnement chimique de l’ADN en situation biologique est complexe notam-ment en raison de la presence d’histones, proteines nucleaires, associees en quantite approximativement egales a l’ADN pour former la chromatine. Les histones possedent de nombreux radicaux basiques arginine et lysine charges positivement et dont la majorite se trouve sur les chaines emergentes, l’ADN presente quant a lui des charges negatives sur ses groupements phosphates localises tout au long de la double helice. Dans cette etude, la complexite de la structure de la chromatine nucleaire est dans un premier temps mimee en solution aqueuse par la formation de complexes entre un ADN plasmidique sonde et les trois …
Evidence for a critical dose above which damage to carbonate ester bonds in PADC appear after gamma ray and ultra soft X-ray exposures
Abstract It has been confirmed that the density of carbonate ester in poly(allyl diglycol carbonate) (PADC), which is a well-known polymeric nuclear track detector CR-39, begins decreasing above a critical dose of about 60 kGy during exposures to Co-60 gamma rays and Ultra Soft X-rays (USX: Kα (Al) with energy 1.49 keV). After exposure to Co-60 gamma rays at 77 K and room temperature (RT), a significant difference in Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) spectra has been observed at both sides of a critical dose of 60 kGy, where is a threshold for the degradation of carbonate ester in PADC. Namely, the types of free radicals in PADC are different from each other below and above this critical dose. …
Low energy electrons and swift ion track structure in PADC
The current work aims at providing an accurate description of the ion track-structure in poly-allyl dyglycol carbonate (PADC) by using an up-to-date Monte-Carlo code-called TILDA-V (a French acronym for Transport d'Ions Lourds Dans l'Aqua & Vivo). In this simulation the ion track-structure in PADC is mainly described in terms of ejected electrons with a particular attention done to the Low Energy Electrons (LEEs). After a brief reminder of the most important channels through which LEEs are prone to break a chemical bond, we will report on the simulated energetic distributions of LEEs along an ion track in PADC for particular incident energies located on both sides of the Bragg-peak position…
The contribution of hydrogen peroxide to the radiosensitizing effect of gold nanoparticles
Abstract Plasmid DNA in aerated aqueous solution is used as a probe to determine whose of the reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated after absorption of ultra-soft X-rays (USX) take part in biomolecule damage in the presence and in absence of Gold Nano-Particles (GNP) and specific scavengers. Citrate-coated GNPs with core sizes of 6, 10 and 25 nm are synthetized and characterized, especially in terms of plasmon band shift, ζ-potential and hydrodynamic radii (respectively 9, 21 and 30 nm). We confirm the radiosensitizing effect of GNP and show that the SSB number per plasmid increases when, for a same mass of gold element, the core size of the gold nanoparticles decreases. Hydroxyl radicals…
Auto-assembly of nanometer thick, water soluble layers of plasmid DNA complexed with diamines and basic amino acids on graphite: Greatest DNA protection is obtained with arginine.
Abstract We have investigated the ability of diamines as well as basic amino acids to condense DNA onto highly ordered pyrolytic graphite with minimum damage after re-dissolution in water. Based on a bibliographic survey we briefly summarize DNA binding properties with diamines as compared to basic amino acids. Thus, solutions of DNA complexed with these linkers were drop-cast in order to deposit ultra-thin layers on the surface of HOPG in the absence or presence of Tris buffer. Atomic Force Microscopy analyses showed that, at a fixed ligand-DNA mixing ratio of 16, the mean thickness of the layers can be statistically predicted to lie in the range 0–50 nm with a maximum standard deviation ±…
Radial electron fluence around ion tracks as a new physical parameter for the detection threshold of PADC using Geant4-DNA toolkit
International audience; The detection threshold of poly(allyl dyglycol carbonate), PADC, for C ions is determined as 55 eV/nm in stopping power, which is significantly higher than that for proton and He ions. The stopping power is not a universal parameter for expressing the detection threshold of PADC. A new physical parameter of Radial Electron Fluence around Ion Tracks, REFIT, is proposed to describe the detection threshold of PADC. It is defined as the number density of electrons passing through the surface of a cylinder of a certain radius that is co-axial with the trajectory. Furthermore, preliminary calculations are presently being performed using the Monte Carlo simulation code of G…
Single- and Double-Strand Breaks of Dry DNA Exposed to Protons at Bragg-Peak Energies
International audience; Ultrathin layers (<20 nm) of pBR322 plasmid DNA were deposited onto 2.5 μm thick polyester films and exposed to proton Bragg-peak energies (90–3000 keV) at various fluences. A quantitative analysis of radio-induced DNA damage is reported here in terms of single- and double-strand breaks (SSB and DSB, respectively). The corresponding yields as well as G-values and the cross sections exhibit fairly good agreement with the rare available data, stemming from close experimental conditions, namely, based on α particle irradiation. SSB/DSB rates appear to be linear when plotted against linear energy transfer (LET) in the whole energy range studied. All the data present a ma…