Shorter exposures to harder X-rays trigger early apoptotic events in Xenopus laevis embryos.

ABSTRACT:

Background

A long-standing conventional view of radiation-induced apoptosis is that increased exposure results in augmented apoptosis in a biological system, with a threshold below which radiation doses do not cause any significant increase in cell death. The consequences of this belief impact the extent to which malignant diseases and non-malignant conditions are therapeutically treated and how radiation is used in combination with other therapies. Our research challenges the current dogma of dose-dependent induction of apoptosis and establishes a new parallel paradigm to the photoelectric effect in biological systems.

Methodology/principal findings

We explored how the energy of individual X-ray photons and exposure time, both factors that determine the total dose, influenc

SUBMITTER: Dong J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2813296 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature