Unlocking atom-specific radiotherapy - DNA backbone breakage caused by X-ray photoactivation.

ABSTRACT: The effectiveness of radiation therapy can be enhanced by understanding the fragmentation mechanisms of iodine-doped DNA oligonucleotide under tender X-rays, as explored experimentally and computationally in our study. By primarily targeting iodine atoms above their L-edge ionization energies, we observed a significant increase in the production of fragments critical to DNA backbone breakage, particularly within mass ranges associated with phosphate and sugar groups. The mass spectroscopy experiments demonstrated that iodine-doped DNA oligonucleotides undergo intense fragmentation at long distances from the initial photoactivation site. Born-Oppenheimer based molecular dynamics simulations confirmed the generation of numerous small fragments, including reactive oxygen species, which are pi

SUBMITTER: Svensson PHW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12445220 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature