A New Strategy to Protect the Cell from Damage

The article theoretically and experimentally substantiates a new method in the free-radical theory of aging, where the target is not the free radicals but the DNA molecules; while radioprotectors are used as antioxidants, previously used to protect the body from radiation damage. A brief overview of various strategies and methods in gerontology is provided. In the quasicrystalline model of DNA, the role of impurity levels is considered. The electronic spectra of DNA bases were calculated by the quantum-chemical extended Hückel method, which gave the DNA band structure. As radioprotectors, when irradiated with laboratory mice, the Po-210 isotope, in particular, orotic, thiouric acid, orotylglycine, and others which has DNA as a target were used. The maximum survival of laboratory mice was obtained by injecting such a radioprotector from a series of selenium derivatives whose n-level was located in the middle of the forbidden band; a comparison was made of the proposed method of using radioprotectors with other methods in gerontology. When using the component selenium orotic acid, Se in combination with hypovitaminosis B13, a significant increase in the rate of tissue regeneration was revealed. So the use of certain radioprotectors as geroprotectors is fully justified; such substances in doses far from lethal have several advantages over other geroprotectors, which at the same time are antioxidants.