Fast Ion Beam Inactivation of Viruses, Where Radiation Track Structure Meets RNA Structural Biology

Abstract

Here we show an interplay between the structures present in ionization tracks and nucleocapsid RNA structural biology, using fast ion beam inactivation of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) virion as an example. This interplay is one of the key factors in predicting dose-inactivation curves for high energy ion beam inactivation of virions. We also investigate the adaptation of well-established cross-section data derived from radiation interactions with water to the interactions involving the components of a virion, going beyond the density-scaling approximation developed previously. We conclude that solving one of the grand challenges of structural biology - the determination of RNA tertiary/quaternary structure structure - is intimately linked to predicting ion-beam inactivation of viruses and that the two problems can be mutually informative. Indeed, our simulations show that fast ion beams have a key role to play in elucidating RNA tertiary/quaternary structure.

Monte Carlo Simulation of SARS-CoV-2 Radiation-Induced Inactivation for Vaccine Development

“…Therefore, for each energy deposition point inside the virus a random sampling was applied with a 4% probability that this point is positioned on the RNA. In a recently published study (35) using the Monte Carlo code TOPAS, investigation was performed on different RNA setups with fast ion irradiation showing differences in the extreme case where RNA is densely centered in the middle of the capsid. The assumption that RNA is homogeneously distributed inside the virus was previously used elsewhere (36) for DNA damage assessment after proton irradiations, leading to reasonable results.…”

Inactivation of SARS-CoV-2 by charged particles for Future Vaccine Production Applications: A Monte Carlo study

“…However, they acknowledged that the practical implementation would be difficult due to the very short range of electrons with such energies. Villagomez-Bernabe et al simulated the SARS-CoV-2 structure with TOPAS Monte Carlo code, and investigated the effect of the 3D arrangement of the Ribonucleic acid (RNA) on survival curves ( Villagomez-Bernabe et al, 2020 ). In a comprehensive study, Francis et al simulated the SARS-CoV-2 inactivation caused by photons, electrons, and heavy ions using Geant4-DNA Monte Carlo code ( Francis et al, 2021 ).…”