Radiation Chemistry and Radiation Research: A History from the Beginning to the Platinum Edition.

At the dawn of the 20th Century, the underlying chemistry that produced the observed effects of ionizing radiation, e.g., X rays and Radium salts, on aqueous solutions was either unknown or restricted to products found postirradiation. For example, the Curies noted that sealed aqueous solutions of Radium inexplicably decomposed over time, even when kept in the dark. By 1928 there were numerous papers describing the phenomenological effects of ionizing radiation on a wide variety of materials, including the irradiated hands of early radiologists. One scientist who became intensely interested in these radiation effects was Hugo Fricke (Fricke Dosimetry) who established a laboratory in 1928 dedicated to studies on chemical effects of radiation, the results of which he believed were necessary to understand observed radiobiological effects. In this Platinum Issue of Radiation Research (70 years of continuous publication), we present the early history of the development of radiation chemistry and its contributions to all levels of mechanistic radiobiology. We summarize its development as one of the four disciplinary pillars of the Radiation Research Society and its Journal, Radiation Research, founded during the period 1952-1954. In addition, the work of scientists who contributed substantially to the discipline of Radiation Chemistry and to the birth, life and culture of the Society and its journal is presented. In the years following 1954, the increasing knowledge about the underlying temporal and spatial properties of the species produced by various types of radiation is summarized and related to its radiobiology and to modern technologies (e.g., pulsed radiolysis, electron paramagnetic resonance) which became available as the discipline of radiation chemistry developed. A summary of important results from these studies on Radiation Chemistry/Biochemistry in the 20th and 21st Century up to the present time is presented. Finally, we look into the future to see what possible directions radiation chemistry studies might take, based upon promising current research. We find at least two possible directions that will need radiation chemistry expertise to ensure proper experimental design and interpretation of data. These are FLASH radiotherapy, and mechanisms underlying the effects of low doses of radiation delivered at low dose rates. Examples of how radiation chemists could provide beneficial input to these studies are provided.

Effect of sodium and acetate ions on 8-hydroxyguanine formation in irradiated aqueous solutions of DNA and 2'-deoxyguanosine 5'-monophosphate.

PURPOSE: The aim of this work was to study the combined effect of sodium and acetate ions on the radiation yield of 8-hydroxyguanine (8-OHG), one of the major DNA base lesions induced by free radicals. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Aqueous solutions of DNA and 2'-deoxyguanosine 5'-monophosphate (dGMP) with various concentrations of sodium acetate and sodium perchlorate were γ-irradiated, enzymatically digested and analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods. RESULTS: It was found that both salts decrease the 8-OHG radiation yield in the concentration range studied for both DNA and dGMP, except in the case of dGMP wherein an increase in yield occurs in the concentration range from 0.1-1 mM. The dependence of the 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine radiation yield on the concentration of both sodium acetate and sodium perchlorate have different shapes and have steeper slopes for the DNA compared with the dGMP solutions. CONCLUSIONS: The observed decrease in the radiation yield of 8-OHG with increasing concentrations of sodium acetate is consistent with the hypothesis that sodium acetate produces two concentration-dependent effects in the DNA solutions: (1) A conformational change in the DNA caused by Na(+) counterions; and (2) free radical reactions related to the radiolysis of acetate ion.

Non-linear effects in the formation of DNA damage in medaka fish fibroblast cells caused by combined action of cadmium and ionizing radiation.

Ionizing radiation-induced formation of genomic DNA damage can be modulated by nearby chemical species such as heavy metal ions, which can lead to non-linear dose response. To investigate this phenomenon, we studied cell survival and formation of 8-hydroxyguanine (8-OHG) base modifications and double strand breaks (DSB) caused by combined action of cadmium (Cd) and gamma radiation in cultured medaka fish (Oryzias latipes) fibroblast cells. Our data show that the introduction of Cd leads to a significant decrease in the fraction of surviving cells and to increased sensitivity of cells to ionizing radiation (IR). Cd also appears to cause non-linear increases in radiation-induced yields of 8-OHG and DSB as dose-yield plots of these lesions exhibit non-linear S-shaped curves with a sharp increase in the yields of lesions in the 10-20 microM range of Cd concentrations. The combined action of ionizing radiation and Cd leads to increased DNA damage formation compared to the effects of the individual stressors. These results are consistent with a hypothesis that the presence of Cd modulates the efficiency of DNA repair systems thus causing increases in radiation-induced DNA damage formation and decreases in cell survival.

Track structure in DNA irradiated with heavy ions.

The spatial properties of trapped radicals produced in heavy-ion-irradiated solid DNA at 77 K have been probed using pulsed electron paramagnetic double resonance (PELDOR or DEER) techniques. Salmon testes DNA hydrated to 12 water molecules per nucleotide was irradiated with 40Ar ions of energy 100 MeV/nucleon and LET ranging from 300 to 400 keV/microm. Irradiated samples were maintained at cryogenic temperature at all times. PELDOR measurements were made using a refocused echo detection sequence that allows dipolar interaction between trapped radicals to be observed. The EPR spectrum is attributed to electron loss/gain DNA base radicals and neutral carbon-centered radicals that likely arise from sugar damage. We find a radical concentration of 13.5 x 10(18) cm(-3) in the tracks and a track radius of 6.79 nm. The cross section of these tracks is 144 nm2, yielding a lineal radical density of 2.6 radicals/nm. Based on the yields determined previously for particles having calculated LET values of 300-400 keV/microm and our measured lineal density, we obtain an LET of 270 keV/microm, which is in good agreement with the calculated range of values. These measurements of radical density and spatial extent provide the first direct experimental determination of track characteristics in irradiated DNA.

Radiation chemistry and the Radiation Research Society: a history from the beginning.

Radiation chemistry studies began in the early 20th century with observations involving the decomposition of various materials by X rays and radium. Hugo Fricke recognized that the chemical effects of radiation should be studied to help understand the response of living systems to radiation, and in 1928 he established a laboratory to conduct such studies. Early radiation chemists were intimately involved in the founding of the Radiation Research Society and contributed substantially to its interdisciplinary culture. In this historical review, the highlights of research in radiation chemistry leading up to the founding of the Radiation Research Society in 1952 are discussed. The status of the field is established at that point, and a sampling of the major accomplishments from then until the present is presented, with emphasis on those scientists who have contributed substantially to the life and culture of the Radiation Research Society.