Low doses of alpha- and gamma-radiation enhance DNA thermal stability

Isolated calf thymus DNA in buffered solutions has been exposed to 0-150 Gy of alpha- and gamma-radiation. The effects of alpha- and gamma-radiation on the thermal stability and electrophoretic mobility of the DNA molecules have been studied by UV spectroscopic 'melting' and Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE), respectively. The observed thermal denaturation parameters were fitted to the energy propagation descriptive model. The experimental results for the samples exposed to relatively low (low) doses indicate an increased thermal stability and a reduced mobility over that of the controls. The expected overall degradation of the DNA molecules was confirmed for the samples exposed to high doses. Our results are in good agreement with the predictions of the energy propagation model, which now is also tested in the low dose region and for an additional type of ionising radiation (alpha-particles). Our findings are consistent with conformational changes at low doses resulting in a DNA form characterised by localised alterations, which affect the energy flow along the DNA molecule.