Nanodosimetric study of the γ-ray damage repair model based on the germ cell of Caenorhabditis elegans

Abstract

Monte Carlo calculations are extensively used in the fields of nanodosimetry and DNA damage research. Presently, the focus of DNA repair simulation studies is predominantly on the temporal aspects of the repair process, the impact of radiation dose on DNA repair requires further investigation. Caenorhabditis elegans (C.elegans) is one of the important model organisms in radiation biology research, and its germ cells are closely related to the DNA damage. Using the Hilbert curve, the DNA germ cell of C. elegans was constructed, and the double-strand breaks (DSB) yields quantified by Geant4-DNA. After comparing the simulation results of total DNA damage and cluster damage with biological data, it was found that the simulation results of cluster damage are close to the biological data. The number of DSBs induced by 137Cs radiation was further compared with experimental data at different doses and proposed a damage repair model for the number of DSBs in the germ cell of C.elegans that is related to the dose.The repair fitting was conducted for both total DSB damages and DSB cluster damages. After the application of the repair model fitting for the two types of DNA damage mentioned above, the results matched well with the corresponding biological experimental data (R2 > 0.950).