A Principal Approach to the Detection of Radiation-Induced DNA Damage by Circular Dichroism Spectroscopy and Its Dosimetric Application

Abstract

Using cholesteric liquid-crystalline dispersion (CLCD) of DNA, we demonstrate that the molecularly organized systems may be used both for qualitative assessment of the degree of radiation-induced DNA damage, as well as for detection of radiation doses in a very wide range. The doses up to 500 Gy do not cause any significant changes in optical signals of DNA in solution. However, when irradiated molecules are used to prepare the CLCD by addition of crowding polymer, a clear correlation of its optical signals with an absorbed dose is observed. For example, at a dose of 500 Gy, a maximum drop in the circular dichroism (CD) signal for DNA solution and for CLCD formed from preliminary irradiated molecules is ≈20% and ≈700%, respectively. This approach can also be used to expand the dosimetric capabilities of DNA CLCD. Compared to the case of irradiation of ready-made DNA CLCD, formation of the dispersed system from irradiated DNA allows to increase its sensitivity by more than 2 orders of magnitude. A similar decrease in the CD signal (≈1.45-fold) is observed in these systems at the doses of 100 kGy and 200 Gy, respectively. This principal approach seems to be relevant for other biomolecules and molecularly organized systems.

Keywords

• liquid-crystalline DNA
• DNA damage
• ionizing radiation
• radiation detection
• radiation dosimetry
• circular dichroism