Intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) is one of the modern conformal radiotherapies that is widely used within the context of cancer patient treatment. It uses multiple radiation beams targeted to the tumor, however, large volumes of the body receive low doses of irradiation. Using γ-H2AX and global genome expression analysis, we studied the biological responses induced by low doses of ionizi...

Exposure of cells to ionizing radiation leads to formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that are associated with radiation-induced cytotoxicity. Therefore, compounds that scavenge ROS may confer radioprotective effects. Recently, it has been shown that the decomposition product of the spin-trapping agent alpha-phenyl-N-t-butylnitrone (PBN), N-t-butyl hydroxylamine (NtBHA), mimics PBN and is...

background: astronauts will be exposed to both chronic space radiation and acute high doses of energetic radiation of solar particle events in long-term deep space missions. the application of radioprotectors in space missions has basic limitations such as their very short time window as well as their acute toxicity and considerable side effects. the aim of the present study was to investigate ...

The Akt and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways have been implicated in tumor cell survival and contribute to radiation resistance. However, the molecular basis for link between MAPK and Akt in cell survival response to radiation is unclear. Here, we show that c-Src-Rac1-p38 MAPK pathway signals Akt activation and cell survival in response to radiation. Ionizing radiation triggered...

Although ionizing radiation causes DNA damage that can play a role in tumorigenesis, such irradiation is also an important modality of cancer therapy. We studied the radiation response of the U-87 MG human glioblastoma cell line and transfected derivatives in which p53 function had been inactivated. Although little effect of p53 on the radiation sensitivity of asynchronously growing cultures co...

Radiotherapy is used to treat approximately 50% of all cancer patients, with varying success. Radiation therapy has become an in-tegral part of modern treatment strategies for many types of cancer in recent decades, but is associated with a risk of long-term adverse effects. Of these side effects, car-diac complications are particularly relevant since they not only adversely affect quality of l...

In order to survive, cells have evolved highly effective repair mechanisms to deal with the potentially lethal DNA damage produced by exposure to endogenous as well as exogenous agents. Ionizing radiation exposure induces highly lethal DNA damage, especially DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), that is sensed by the cellular machinery and then subsequently repaired by either of two different DSB re...

Aims Invasive cardiologists are the most exposed to ionizing radiation among health professionals and show an increased rate of somatic DNA damage. To evaluate the effects of chronic low-dose exposure to ionizing radiation on redox state and apoptotic activation. Methods and results We enrolled 10 healthy exposed professionals (all interventional cardiologists, Group II, exposed: age = 38 ± 5 ...

During the last few decades, improvements in the planning and application of radiotherapy in combination with surgery and chemotherapy resulted in increased survival rates of tumor patients. However, the success of radiotherapy is impaired by two reasons: firstly, the radioresistance of tumor cells and, secondly, the radiation-induced damage of normal tissue cells located in the field of ionizi...

Fractionated, high-dose total body irradiation (TBI) is used therapeutically to myeloablate and immune suppress patients undergoing hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) transplantation. Acute exposure to ionizing radiation can have fatal effects on the hematopoietic and immune systems. Currently, therapies aimed at ameliorating ionizing radiation-associated toxicities are limited. In the February 2014...