O'Neill Peter, Wardman Peter
University of Oxford, Gray Institute for Radiation Oncology and Biology, Oxford, UK.
Int J Radiat Biol. 2009 Jan;85(1):9-25. doi: 10.1080/09553000802640401.
This article seeks to illustrate some contributions of radiation chemistry to radiobiology and related science, and to draw attention to examples where radiation chemistry is central to our knowledge of specific aspects. Radiation chemistry is a mature branch of radiation science which is continually evolving and finding wider applications. This is particularly apparent in the study of the roles of free radicals in biology generally, and radiation biology specifically. The chemical viewpoint helps unite the spatial and temporal insight coming from radiation physics with the diversity of biological responses. While historically, the main application of radiation chemistry of relevance to radiation biology has been investigations of the free-radical processes leading to radiation-induced DNA damage and its chemical characterization, two features of radiation chemistry point to its wider importance. First, its emphasis on quantification and characterization at the molecular level helps provide links between DNA damage, biochemical repair processes, and mutagenicity and radiosensitivity. Second, its central pillar of chemical kinetics aids understanding of the roles of 'reactive oxygen species' in cell signalling and diverse biological effects more generally, and application of radiation chemistry in the development of drugs to enhance radiotherapy and as hypoxia-specific cytotoxins or diagnostic agents. The illustrations of the broader applications of radiation chemistry in this article focus on their relevance to radiation biology and demonstrate the importance of synergy in the radiation sciences.
The past contributions of radiation chemistry to radiation biology are evident, but there remains considerable potential to help advance future biological understanding using the knowledge and techniques of radiation chemistry.
本文旨在阐述辐射化学对放射生物学及相关科学的一些贡献，并提请关注辐射化学在我们对特定方面的认识中处于核心地位的实例。辐射化学是辐射科学的一个成熟分支，它在不断发展并得到更广泛的应用。这在自由基在一般生物学尤其是辐射生物学中的作用研究中尤为明显。化学观点有助于将辐射物理学提供的时空见解与生物反应的多样性结合起来。从历史上看，与辐射生物学相关的辐射化学的主要应用一直是对导致辐射诱导的DNA损伤的自由基过程及其化学表征的研究，但辐射化学的两个特点表明了它更广泛的重要性。第一，它对分子水平的定量和表征的强调有助于在DNA损伤、生化修复过程、致突变性和放射敏感性之间建立联系。第二，其化学动力学的核心支柱有助于更全面地理解“活性氧物种”在细胞信号传导和多种生物效应中的作用，以及辐射化学在开发增强放射治疗效果的药物、作为缺氧特异性细胞毒素或诊断剂方面的应用。本文中辐射化学更广泛应用的实例侧重于它们与辐射生物学的相关性，并展示了辐射科学中协同作用的重要性。
辐射化学过去对辐射生物学的贡献是明显的，但利用辐射化学的知识和技术来推动未来对生物学的理解仍有相当大的潜力。
