A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Ultrafast Dynamics of a Nucleobase Analogue Illuminated by a Short Intense X-ray Free Electron Laser Pulse
Authors: K. Nagaya, K. Motomura, E. Kukk, H. Fukuzawa, S. Wada, T. Tachibana, Y. Ito, S. Mondal, T. Sakai, K. Matsunami, R. Koga, S. Ohmura, Y. Takahashi, M. Kanno, A. Rudenko, C. Nicolas, X.-J. Liu, Y. Zhang, J. Chen, M. Anand, Y. H. Jiang, D.-E. Kim, K. Tono, M. Yabashi, H. Kono, C. Miron, M. Yao, and K. Ueda
Publisher: AMER PHYSICAL SOC
Publication year: 2016
Journal: Physical Review X
Journal name in source: PHYSICAL REVIEW X
Journal acronym: PHYS REV X
Article number: 021035
Volume: 6
Issue: 2
Number of pages: 9
ISSN: 2160-3308
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.6.021035
Understanding x-ray radiation damage is a crucial issue for both medical applications of x rays and x-ray free-electron-laser (XFEL) science aimed at molecular imaging. Decrypting the charge and fragmentation dynamics of nucleobases, the smallest units of a macro-biomolecule, contributes to a bottom-up understanding of the damage via cascades of phenomena following x-ray exposure. We investigate experimentally and by numerical simulations the ultrafast radiation damage induced on a nucleobase analogue (5-iodouracil) by an ultrashort (10 fs) high-intensity radiation pulse generated by XFEL at SPring-8 Angstrom Compact free electron Laser (SACLA). The present study elucidates a plausible underlying radiosensitizing mechanism of 5-iodouracil. This mechanism is independent of the exact composition of 5-iodouracil and thus relevant to other such radiosensitizers. Furthermore, we found that despite a rapid increase of the net molecular charge in the presence of iodine, and of the ultrafast release of hydrogen, the other atoms are almost frozen within the 10-fs duration of the exposure. This validates single-shot molecular imaging as a consistent approach, provided the radiation pulse used is brief enough.
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