Monitoring radiation induced alterations in biological systems, from molecules to tissues, through infrared spectroscopy

Abstract

Humans can be exposed to non-ionizing and ionizing radiation for diagnostic, therapeutic, accidental, and occupational reasons. Consequently, the effect of radiation on biological systems has attracted the attention of researchers for a rather long time. This review is about the mid-infrared Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic characterization of non-ionizing and ionizing radiation-induced changes in DNA, lipids, and proteins, as isolated or synthetic macromolecules, and in biological membranes, cells, and tissues. Here, the context of radiation was limited with electromagnetic radiation including gamma rays. The review first outlines introductory information about non-ionizing and ionizing radiation and their interaction with biological systems. Afterwards, FTIR spectroscopy and spectroscopic analysis are briefly discussed. Finally, FTIR spectroscopic analysis of DNA, lipids, proteins, membranes, cells, and tissues that were exposed to radiation are presented. The findings show that FTIR spectroscopy can be successfully used as a novel method to monitor radiation-induced alteratios in biological systems.