Distal airway epithelial progenitor cells are radiosensitive to High-LET radiation.

ABSTRACT: Exposure to high-linear energy transfer (LET) radiation occurs in a variety of situations, including charged particle radiotherapy, radiological accidents, and space travel. However, the extent of normal tissue injury in the lungs following high-LET radiation exposure is unknown. Here we show that exposure to high-LET radiation led to a prolonged loss of in vitro colony forming ability by airway epithelial progenitor cells. Furthermore, exposure to high-LET radiation induced clonal expansion of a subset of progenitor cells in the distal airway epithelium. Clonal expansion following high-LET radiation exposure was correlated with elevated progenitor cell apoptosis, persistent γ-H2AX foci, and defects in mitotic progression of distal airway progenitors. We discovered that the effects of high

SUBMITTER: McConnell AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5034250 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature