The spatial distribution of DNA double-strand breaks (DSB) was assessed after treatment of @entity1 cells (V79) with densely ionizing radiation. Cells were exposed to beams of heavy charged particles ( @entity460 ions: 6.9 MeV/u, 2.1.10(3) keV/microm; @entity595 ions: 9.0 MeV/u, 1.4.10(4) keV/microm) at the linear accelerator UNILAC of GSI, Darmstadt. DNA was isolated in agarose plugs and subjected to pulsed-field gel electrophoresis under conditions that separated DNA fragments of size 50 kbp to 5 Mbp. The measured fragment distributions were compared to those obtained after gamma-irradiation and were analyzed by means of a convolution and a deconvolution technique. In contrast to the finding for gamma-radiation, the distributions produced by heavy ions do not correspond to the random breakage model. Their marked overdispersion and the observed excess of short fragments reflect spatial clustering of DSB that extends over large regions of the DNA, up to several mega base pairs (Mbp). At fluences of 0.75 and 1.5/microm2, @entity460 ions produce nearly the same shape of fragment spectrum, merely with a difference in the amount of DNA entering the gel; this suggests that the DNA is fragmented by individual @entity460 ions. At a fluence of 0.8/microm2 @entity595 ions produce a profile that is shifted to smaller fragment sizes in comparison to the profile obtained at a fluence of 0.4/microm2; this suggests cumulative action of two separate ions in the formation of fragments. These observations are not consistent with the expectation that the @entity595 ions, with their much larger LET, should be more likely to produce single particle action than the @entity460 ions. However, a consideration of the greater lateral extension of the tracks of the faster @entity595 ions explains the observed differences; it suggests that the DNA is closely coiled so that even DNA locations several Mbp apart are usually not separated by less than 0. 1 or 0.2 microm.

DNA double-strand breaks in XXXX cells exposed to gamma-rays and very heavy ions. Fragment-size distributions determined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['mammalian'] @entity595 :: ('MESH:D014501', 'Chemical') :: ['uranium'] @entity460 :: ('MESH:D002118', 'Chemical') :: ['calcium']
@entity1 :: (9606,Species) :: ['mammalian']
