The analysis of the densely populated patterns of radiation-induced foci by a stochastic, Monte Carlo model of DNA double-strand breaks induction by heavy ions

Geometrical Properties of the Nucleus and Chromosome Intermingling Are Possible Major Parameters of Chromosome Aberration Formation

Ionizing radiation causes chromosome aberrations, which are possible biomarkers to assess space radiation cancer risks. Using the Monte Carlo codes Relativistic Ion Tracks (RITRACKS) and Radiation-Induced Tracks, Chromosome Aberrations, Repair and Damage (RITCARD), we investigated how geometrical properties of the cell nucleus, irradiated with ion beams of linear energy transfer (LET) ranging from 0.22 keV/μm to 195 keV/μm, influence the yield of simple and complex exchanges. We focused on the effect of (1) nuclear volume by considering spherical nuclei of varying radii; (2) nuclear shape by considering ellipsoidal nuclei of varying thicknesses; (3) beam orientation; and (4) chromosome intermingling by constraining or not constraining chromosomes in non-overlapping domains. In general, small nuclear volumes yield a higher number of complex exchanges, as compared to larger nuclear volumes, and a higher number of simple exchanges for LET < 40 keV/μm. Nuclear flattening reduces complex exchanges for high-LET beams when irradiated along the flattened axis. The beam orientation also affects yields for ellipsoidal nuclei. Reducing chromosome intermingling decreases both simple and complex exchanges. Our results suggest that the beam orientation, the geometry of the cell nucleus, and the organization of the chromosomes within are important parameters for the formation of aberrations that must be considered to model and translate in vitro results to in vivo risks.

Radiobiological response to ultra-short pulsed megavoltage electron beams of ultra-high pulse dose rate

PURPOSE

In line with the long-term aim of establishing the laser-based particle acceleration for future medical application, the radiobiological consequences of the typical ultra-short pulses and ultra-high pulse dose rate can be investigated with electron delivery.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The radiation source ELBE (Electron Linac for beams with high Brilliance and low Emittance) was used to mimic the quasi-continuous electron beam of a clinical linear accelerator (LINAC) for comparison with electron pulses at the ultra-high pulse dose rate of 10(10) Gy min(-1) either at the low frequency of a laser accelerator or at 13 MHz avoiding effects of prolonged dose delivery. The impact of pulse structure was analyzed by clonogenic survival assay and by the number of residual DNA double-strand breaks remaining 24 h after irradiation of two human squamous cell carcinoma lines of differing radiosensitivity.

RESULTS

The radiation response of both cell lines was found to be independent from electron pulse structure for the two endpoints under investigation.

CONCLUSIONS

The results reveal, that ultra-high pulse dose rates of 10(10) Gy min(-1) and the low repetition rate of laser accelerated electrons have no statistically significant influence (within the 95% confidence intervals) on the radiobiological effectiveness of megavoltage electrons.

Biological characterization of low-energy ions with high-energy deposition on human cells

During space travel, astronauts are exposed to cosmic radiation that is comprised of high-energy nuclear particles. Cancer patients are also exposed to high-energy nuclear particles when treated with proton and carbon beams. Nuclear interactions from high-energy particles traversing shielding materials and tissue produce low-energy (<10 MeV/n) secondary particles of high-LET that contribute significantly to overall radiation exposures. Track structure theories suggest that high charge and energy (HZE) particles and low-energy secondary ions of similar LET will have distinct biological effects for cellular and tissue damage endpoints. We investigated the biological effects of low-energy ions of high LET utilizing the Tandem Van de Graaff accelerator at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), and compared these to experiments with HZE particles, that mimic the space environment produced at NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) at BNL. Immunostaining for DNA damage response proteins was carried out after irradiation with 5.6 MeV/n boron (LET 205 keV/μm), 5.3 MeV/n silicon (LET 1241 keV/μm), 600 MeV/n Fe (LET 180 keV/μm) and 77 MeV/n oxygen (LET 58 keV/μm) particles. Low-energy ions caused more persistent DNA damage response (DDR) protein foci in irradiated human fibroblasts and esophageal epithelial cells compared to HZE particles. More detailed studies comparing boron ions to Fe particles, showed that boron-ion radiation resulted in a stronger G2 delay compared to Fe-particle exposure, and boron ions also showed an early recruitment of Rad51 at double-strand break (DSB) sites, which suggests a preference of homologous recombination for DSB repair in low-energy albeit high-LET particles. Our experiments suggest that the very high-energy radiation deposition by low-energy ions, representative of galactic cosmic radiation and solar particle event secondary radiation, generates massive but localized DNA damage leading to delayed DSB repair, and distinct cellular responses from HZE particles. Thus, low-energy heavy ions provide a valuable probe for studies of homologous recombination repair in radiation responses.

Generalized time-dependent model of radiation-induced chromosomal aberrations in normal and repair-deficient human cells

We have developed a model that can simulate the yield of radiation-induced chromosomal aberrations (CAs) and unrejoined chromosome breaks in normal and repair-deficient cells. The model predicts the kinetics of chromosomal aberration formation after exposure in the G₀/G₁ phase of the cell cycle to either low- or high-LET radiation. A previously formulated model based on a stochastic Monte Carlo approach was updated to consider the time dependence of DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair (proper or improper), and different cell types were assigned different kinetics of DSB repair. The distribution of the DSB free ends was derived from a mechanistic model that takes into account the structure of chromatin and DSB clustering from high-LET radiation. The kinetics of chromosomal aberration formation were derived from experimental data on DSB repair kinetics in normal and repair-deficient cell lines. We assessed different types of chromosomal aberrations with the focus on simple and complex exchanges, and predicted the DSB rejoining kinetics and misrepair probabilities for different cell types. The results identify major cell-dependent factors, such as a greater yield of chromosome misrepair in ataxia telangiectasia (AT) cells and slower rejoining in Nijmegen (NBS) cells relative to the wild-type. The model's predictions suggest that two mechanisms could exist for the inefficiency of DSB repair in AT and NBS cells, one that depends on the overall speed of joining (either proper or improper) of DNA broken ends, and another that depends on geometric factors, such as the Euclidian distance between DNA broken ends, which influences the relative frequency of misrepair.

Calculation of the energy deposition in nanovolumes by protons and HZE particles: geometric patterns of initial distributions of DNA repair foci

The biological effects of high-linear energy transfer (LET) radiation are different from those caused by low-LET radiation due to the difference in the patterns of energy deposition in cells. In this work, we studied the role of the track structure in the spatial distribution of radiation-induced double-strand breaks (DSBs). In the first part, the irradiation of a cubic volume of 12 µm of side by 300 MeV protons (LET ∼0.3 keV µm(-1)) and by 1 GeV/amu iron ion particles (LET∼150 keV µm(-1)) was simulated with the Monte Carlo code RITRACKS (relativistic ion tracks) and the dose was calculated in voxels of different sizes. In the second part, dose calculations were combined with chromosomes simulated by a random walk (RW) model to assess the formation of DSBs. The number of DSBs was calculated as a function of the dose and particle fluence for 1 GeV protons, 293 MeV/u carbon, and 1 GeV/u iron particles. Finally, the DSB yield was obtained as a function of the LET for protons, helium, and carbon. In general, the number and distribution of calculated DSBs were similar to experimental DNA repair foci data. From this study, we concluded that a stochastic model combining nanoscopic dose calculations and chromosomes simulated by RWs is a useful approach to study radiation-induced DSBs.

Influence of track directions on the biological consequences in cells irradiated with high LET heavy ions

PURPOSE

The impact of the damage distribution to cellular survival and chromosomal aberrations following high Linear Energy Transfer (LET) radiation was investigated.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

High LET iron-ions (500 MeV/n, LET 200 keV/μm) were delivered to G1-phase synchronized Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells located at a vertical or horizontal angle relative to the ion beam in order to give same dose but different fluence and damage distribution.

RESULTS

Horizontal irradiation produced DNA double-strand break (DSB) along each ion track represented as clustered lines, and vertical irradiation produced a greater fluence. The initial damages measured by premature chromosome condensation were equal per dose in both irradiation types. Horizontal irradiation proved to be less effective in cell killing than vertical at doses of more than 3 Gy. Vertical irradiation produced a higher number of metaphase chromosomal aberrations compared to horizontally irradiated samples. In particular, formation of exchange-type aberrations was the same, but that of deletion-type aberrations were significantly higher after vertical irradiation than horizontal irradiation.

CONCLUSIONS

Therefore, we concluded that high fluence per dose is more effective than low fluence per dose to produce radiation-induced chromosomal aberrations and to kill exposed cells following high LET heavy-ion exposure.

Novel Smad proteins localize to IR-induced double-strand breaks: interplay between TGFβ and ATM pathways

Cellular damage from ionizing radiation (IR) is in part due to DNA damage and reactive oxygen species, which activate DNA damage response (DDR) and cytokine signaling pathways, including the ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) and transforming growth factor (TGF)β/Smad pathways. Using classic double-strand breaks (DSBs) markers, we studied the roles of Smad proteins in DDR and the crosstalk between TGFβ and ATM pathways. We observed co-localization of phospho-Smad2 (pSmad2) and Smad7 with DSB repair proteins following low and high linear energy transfer (LET) radiation in human fibroblasts and epithelial cells. The decays of both foci were similar to that of γH2AX foci. Irradiation with high LET particles induced pSmad2 and Smad7 foci tracks indicating the particle trajectory through cells. pSmad2 foci were absent in S phase cells, while Smad7 foci were present in all phases of cell cycle. pSmad2 (but not Smad7) foci were completely abolished when ATM was depleted or inactivated. In contrast, a TGFβ receptor 1 (TGFβR1) inhibitor abrogated Smad7, but not pSmad2 foci at DSBs sites. In summary, we suggest that Smad2 and Smad7 contribute to IR-induced DSB signaling in an ATM or TGFβR1-dependent manner, respectively.

Mathematical models of the generation of radiation-induced DNA double-strand breaks

The double-strand break (dsb) is one of the most critical lesions leading to a variety of radiobiological effects. In this paper, we reconsider the previously constructed and generally accepted mathematical models for dsb generation, and give a concrete mathematical basis for the generation of dsbs and the calculation of the number of induced dsbs, under the assumption of randomness in the break location in DNA and in the number of breaks. Using these models based on the Poisson distribution and the binomial distribution, we calculate the dose dependence of dsb generation. We deduced from our models that the dose dependence of the number of dsbs is described approximately as a quadratic form in both distribution models where dsb generation is accounted for by two ssbs. Previously reported experimental data on the dsb generation in phage DNA was found to be in good agreement with our models. Though the widely used model, the linear quadratic (LQ) model or the molecular theory of dsb formation based on the Poisson distribution, also gives the quadratic term, in spite of rough estimates or some mathematical incompleteness, a marked feature of our formulation is the absence of a parameter like the [Formula: see text] in the quadratic term that requires experimental data to determine. Thus in this study we provide mathematical validity to the generally accepted models of the number of dsb.

DNA damage response signaling in lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells following gamma and carbon beam irradiation

Carbon beams (5.16MeV/u, LET=290keV/μm) are high linear energy transfer (LET) radiation characterized by higher relative biological effectiveness than low LET radiation. The aim of the current study was to determine the signaling differences between γ-rays and carbon ion-irradiation. A549 cells were irradiated with 1Gy carbon or γ-rays. Carbon beam was found to be three times more cytotoxic than γ-rays despite the fact that the numbers of γ-H2AX foci were same. Percentage of cells showing ATM/ATR foci were more with γ-rays however number of foci per cell were more in case of carbon irradiation. Large BRCA1 foci were found in all carbon irradiated cells unlike γ-rays irradiated cells and prosurvival ERK pathway was activated after γ-rays irradiation but not carbon. The noteworthy finding of this study is the early phase apoptosis induction by carbon ions. In the present study in A549 lung adenocarcinoma, authors conclude that despite activation of same repair molecules such as ATM and BRCA1, differences in low and high LET damage responses might be due to their distinct macromolecular complexes rather than their individual activation and the activation of cytoplasmic pathways such as ERK, whether it applies to all the cell lines need to be further explored.