DNA Oxidation by reactive oxygen species produced by atmospheric pressure microplasmas

Abstract

Arrays of microcathode sustained discharges (MCSD's) have been -developed for the production of high fluxes of singlet delta oxygen (SDO) and ozone (O 3) at atmospheric pressure. SDO and O 3 densities higher than 10 17 and 10 16 cm -3, respectively, have been efficiently produced and transported over distances longer than 50 cm. These arrays of MCSD's have been optimized to supply well-quantified and tunable fluxes of either SDO or O 3. This plasma source has been found to be very useful for examining the reactivity of these reactive oxygen species with biological components. Preliminary results indicate that both SDO and O 3 are able to oxidize DNA, originating great damages in DNA such as single- and double-strand breaks and base oxidation. It has been observed that while all bases of DNA are almost indifferently and quite effectively oxidized by O 3, SDO reacts mainly with guanine. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.