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VIRUS‐CELL INTERACTIONS AS PROBES FOR VACUUM‐ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION DAMAGE AND REPAIR
Author(s) -
Coohill Thomas P.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
photochemistry and photobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.818
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1751-1097
pISSN - 0031-8655
DOI - 10.1111/j.1751-1097.1986.tb04676.x
Subject(s) - wavelength , penetration (warfare) , radiation , irradiation , absorption (acoustics) , ultraviolet , radiation damage , materials science , cell damage , penetration depth , biophysics , virus , optoelectronics , visible spectrum , ultraviolet radiation , chemistry , optics , biology , radiochemistry , virology , physics , biochemistry , operations research , nuclear physics , engineering , composite material
Irradiation of biological materials in the vacuum‐ultraviolet (VUV*‐wavelengths below 200nm) is inhibited by the substantial absorption of water, air, and of the material itself. We have made a rough estimate of the penetration of radiation to the center of three kinds of cells and three viruses of different sizes at three wavelengths in the VUV (155 nm, 170 nm, and 200 nm) and two wavelengths in the far‐UV (220 nm and 250 nm). With the exception of bacteria, absorption limits the penetration of wavelengths below 200 nm to the center of the cell, to less than one percent of the radiation striking the cell surface. Thus, effects on the genetic material when cells larger than bacteria are irradiated with VUV should be insignificant. However, even the largest viruses were relatively transparent to all the wavelengths that we used. Therefore viruses can be considered to be model organisms for VUV studies; we list some of the maj or advantages of using them as probes to study cellular responses to VUV biological damage. The use of viral probes to study membrane phenomena also is noted since damage by VUV often is limited to cell surfaces. We suggest that the use of viruses may make possible biological experiments in the VUV that were not feasible with cells alone.