Radiation Biochemistry

Name:
Radiation Biochemistry
Detailed information:
The study of substances having the ability to protect cells and body tissue against the deleterious effects of ionizing radiation. Because one of these effects is to deprive proteins of sulfhydryl (⁻SH) groups necessary for cell division, the injection of compounds rich in this radical (notably cysteine) has been successfully tried with laboratory animals. Thiourea has been found to protect DNA from depolymerization by X-rays; enzymes containing ⁻SH groups inactivated by radiation are reactivated by addition of glutathione. Some of the other radiochemically induced reactions that adversely affect biochemical activity are (1) formation of hydrogen peroxide (a biological poison) by free radical mechanism; (2) denaturation of proteins; (3) change in substituent groups of amino acids; (4) oxidation of hemoglobin; (5) depolymerization of DNA.See Radiation, Ionizing.