DNA fragmentation induced in human fibroblasts by 56Fe ions: experimental data and MC simulations

We studied the DNA fragmentation induced in human fibroblasts by iron ion beams of 115 and 414 MeV/u. Experimental data were obtained in the fragment size range 1-5700 kilo-base-pairs (kbp), Monte Carlo simulations were performed with the PARTRAC code, and data analysis was also performed through the Generalized Broken Stick (GBS) model. The comparison between experimental and simulated data provided satisfactory agreement. The Monte Carlo simulations allowed also the count of fragments outside the experimental range.