TY - JOUR A1 - Rackwitz, J. A1 - Kopyra, J. A1 - Dabkowska, I. A1 - Ebel, K. A1 - Rankovic, M. A1 - Milosavljevic, A. R. A1 - Bald, Ilko T1 - Sensitizing DNAtowards low-energy electrons with 2-fluoroadenine JF - Angewandte Chemie Int. Ed. N2 - 2-Fluoroadenine (2FA) is a therapeutic agent, which is suggested for application in cancer radiotherapy. The molecular mechanism of DNA radiation damage can be ascribed to a significant extent to the action of low-energy (<20 eV) electrons (LEEs), which damage DNA by dissociative electron attachment. LEE induced reactions in 2FA are characterized both isolated in the gas phase and in the condensed phase when it is incorporated into DNA. Information about negative ion resonances and anion-mediated fragmentation reactions is combined with an absolute quantification of DNA strand breaks in 2FA-containing oligonucleotides upon irradiation with LEEs. The incorporation of 2FA into DNA results in an enhanced strand breakage. The strand-break cross sections are clearly energy dependent, whereas the strand-break enhancements by 2FA at 5.5, 10, and 15 eV are very similar. Thus, 2FA can be considered an effective radiosensitizer operative at a wide range of electron energies. KW - Ab initio calculations KW - Dissociative electron attachment KW - DNA origami KW - DNA radiation damage KW - Fludarabine PY - 2016 UR - http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201603464/full DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.201603464 SN - 1433-7851 SN - 1521-3773 VL - 55 IS - 35 SP - 10248 EP - 10252 AN - OPUS4-37372 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Keller, A. A1 - Kopyra, J. A1 - Gothelf, K.V. A1 - Bald, Ilko T1 - Electron-induced damage of biotin studied in the gas phase and in the condensed phase at a single-molecule level JF - New journal of physics N2 - Biotin is an essential vitamin that is, on the one hand, relevant for the metabolism, gene expression and in the cellular response to DNA damage and, on the other hand, finds numerous applications in biotechnology. The functionality of biotin is due to two particular sub-structures, the ring structure and the side chain with carboxyl group. The heterocyclic ring structure results in the capability of biotin to form strong intermolecular hydrogen and van der Waals bonds with proteins such as streptavidin, whereas the carboxyl group can be employed to covalently bind biotin to other complex molecules. Dissociative electron attachment (DEA) to biotin results in a decomposition of the ring structure and the carboxyl group, respectively, within resonant features in the energy range 0–12 eV, thereby preventing the capability of biotin for intermolecular binding and covalent coupling to other molecules. Specifically, the fragment anions (M–H)-, (M–O)-, C3N2O-, CH2O2-, OCN-, CN-, OH- and O- are observed, and exemplarily the DEA cross section of OCN- formation is determined to be 3 × 10-19 cm². To study the response of biotin to electrons within a complex condensed environment, we use the DNA origami technique and determine a dissociation yield of (1.1 ± 0.2) × 10-14 cm² at 18 eV electron energy, which represents the most relevant energy for biomolecular damage induced by secondary electrons. The present results thus have important implications for the use of biotin as a label in radiation experiments. KW - Low-energy electrons KW - DNA radiation damage KW - Biotin KW - Atomic force microscopy KW - Anions KW - Mass spectrometry PY - 2013 DO - https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/15/8/083045 SN - 1367-2630 VL - 15 SP - 083045-1 - 083045-14 PB - IOP Publishing Ltd. AN - OPUS4-29610 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kopyra, J. A1 - Keller, A. A1 - Bald, Ilko T1 - On the role of fluoro-substituted nucleosides in DNA radiosensitization for tumor radiation therapy JF - RSC Advances N2 - Gemcitabine (2',2'-difluorocytidine) is a well-known radiosensitizer routinely applied in concomitant chemoradiotherapy. During irradiation of biological media with high-energy radiation secondary low-energy (<10 eV) electrons are produced that can directly induce chemical bond breakage in DNA by dissociative electron attachment (DEA). Here, we investigate and compare DEA to the three molecules 2'-deoxycytidine, 2'-deoxy-5-fluorocytidine, and gemcitabine. Fluorination at specific molecular sites, i.e., nucleobase or sugar moiety, is found to control electron attachment and subsequent dissociation pathways. The presence of two fluorine atoms at the sugar ring results in more efficient electron attachment to the sugar moiety and subsequent bond cleavage. For the formation of the dehydrogenated nucleobase anion, we obtain an enhancement factor of 2.8 upon fluorination of the sugar, whereas the enhancement factor is 5.5 when the nucleobase is fluorinated. The observed fragmentation reactions suggest enhanced DNA strand breakage induced by secondary electrons when gemcitabine is incorporated into DNA. KW - Dissociative electron attachment KW - DNA radiation damage KW - Gemcitabine KW - DNA radiosensitizer KW - Tumor radiation therapy PY - 2014 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-302872 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/c3ra46735j SN - 2046-2069 VL - 4 IS - 13 SP - 6825 EP - 6829 PB - RSC Publishing CY - London AN - OPUS4-30287 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Abdoul-Carime, H. A1 - Bald, Ilko A1 - Illenberger, E. A1 - Kopyra, J. T1 - Selective synthesis of ethylene and acetylene from dimethyl sulfide cold films controlled by slow electrons JF - Journal of Physical Chemistry C N2 - One of the major challenges in chemical synthesis is to trigger and control a specific reaction route leading to a specific final product, while side products are avoided. Methodologies based on resonant processes at the molecular level, for example, photochemistry, offer the possibility of inducing selective reactions. Electrons at energies below the molecular ionization potential (<10 eV) are known to dissociate molecules via resonant processes with higher cross sections and specificity than photons. Here we show that even subexcitation electrons with energies as low as 1 eV produce ethylene and acetylene from dimethyl sulfide in competing reactions. However, the production of ethylene can specifically be targeted by controlling the energy of electrons (∼3 to 4 eV). Finally, pure ethylene is selectively desorbed by heating the substrate from 90 to 105 K. Beyond the synthesis of these versatile hydrocarbons for various industrial applications from a biogenic sulfur compound, our findings demonstrate the feasibility of electron-induced selective chemistry applicable on the nanoscale. KW - Low-energy electrons KW - Dissociative electron attachment KW - Green chemistry PY - 2018 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b07377 SN - 1932-7447 VL - 122 IS - 42 SP - 24137 EP - 24142 PB - ACS AN - OPUS4-46679 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ferreira da Silva, F. A1 - do N. Varella, M. T. A1 - Jones, N. C. A1 - Vrönning Hoffmann, S. A1 - Denifl, S. A1 - Bald, Ilko A1 - Kopyra, J. T1 - Electron-Induced Reactions in 3-Bromopyruvic Acid JF - Chemistry-A European Journal N2 - 3-Bromopyruvic acid (3BP) is a potential anticancer drug, the action of which on cellular metabolism is not yet entirely clear. The presence of a bromine atom suggests that it is also reactive towards low-energy electrons, which are produced in large quantities during tumour Radiation therapy. Detailed knowledge of the interaction of 3BP with secondary electrons is a prerequisite to gain a complete picture of the effects of 3BP in different forms of Cancer therapy. Herein, dissociative electron attachment (DEA) to 3BP in the gas phase has been studied both experimentally by using a crossed-beam setup and theoretically through scattering and quantum chemical calculations. These results are complemented by a vacuum ultraviolet absorption spectrum. The main fragmentation channel is the formation of Br@ close to 0 eV and within several resonant features at 1.9 and 3–8 eV. At low electron energies, Br@ formation proceeds through s* and p* shape resonances, and at higher energies through core-excited resonances. It is found that the electron-capture cross-section is clearly increased compared with that of non-brominated pyruvic acid, but, at the same time, fragmentation reactions through DEA are significantly altered as well. The 3BP transient negative ion is subject to a lower number of fragmentation reactions than those of pyruvic acid, which indicates that 3BP could indeed act by modifying the electron-transport chains within oxidative phosphorylation. It could also act as a radio-sensitiser. KW - Density functional calculations KW - Dissociative electron attachment KW - Drug discovery KW - Gas-phase reactions KW - Sensitizers PY - 2019 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.201806132 SN - 0947-6539 VL - 25 IS - 21 SP - 5498 EP - 5506 PB - WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-48003 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -