Project description:The widespread use of wireless devices during the last decades is rising the concern about the adverse health effects of the radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation (RF-EMR) emitted from these devices. Studies are targeting on unrevealing the underlying mechanisms of RF-EMR action. The contribution of the “omics” high throughput approaches is a prerequisite towards this direction. In the present work, C57BL/6 adult male mice were sham-exposed (nSE=8) or whole-body exposed (nExp=8) for 2h to GSM 1800 MHz mobile phone radiation at 11 V/m average electric field intensity, and the RF-EMR effects on the hippocampal lipidome and transcriptome profile were evaluated. The data analysis of the phospholipids’ fatty acid residues revealed that the levels of six fatty acids (16:0, 16:1 6+7c, 18:1 9c, 20:5 w3, SFA, MUFA) were significantly altered (p<0.05) in the exposed group. The microarray data analysis demonstrated that the expression of 178 genes changed significantly (p<0.05) between the two groups with a fold change cut off of 1.5. In general, the observed changes point out the attention to a membrane remodeling response of the tissue phospholipids after non-ionizing radiation exposure, reducing the Saturated Fatty Acids (SFA) and EPA omega-3 (20:5 w3) and increasing Monounsaturated Fatty Acids (MUFA) residues and in parallel reflect an impact to genes implicated in critical biological processes, as cell cycle, DNA replication and repair, cell death, cell signaling, nervous system development and function, immune system response, lipid metabolism and cancer
Project description:Background: The brain undergoes ionizing radiation exposure in many clinical situations, particularly during radiotherapy for brain tumors. The critical role of hippocampus in the pathogenesis of radiation-induced neurocognitive dysfunction is well recognized. Aim: The goal of this study is to test the potential contribution of non-targeted effects in the detrimental response of hippocampus to irradiation and to elucidate the mechanisms involved. Material and Methods: C57Bl/6 mice were whole body (WBI) or partial body (PBI) irradiated with 0.1 or 2.0 Gy of X-rays or sham irradiated. PBI consisted in the exposure of the lower third of the mouse body, whilst the upper two thirds were shielded. Hippocampi were collected 15 days or 6 months post-irradiation and a multi-omics approach was adopted to assess the molecular changes in non-coding RNAs, proteins and metabolic levels, as well as histological changes in the rate of hippocampal neurogenesis. Results: Notably, at 2.0 Gy the pattern of early molecular and histopathological changes induced in the hippocampus at 15 days following PBI was similar in quality and quantity to the effects induced by WBI, thus providing a proof of principle of the existence of out-of-target radiation response in the hippocampus of conventional mice. We detected major alterations in DAG/IP3 and TGF- signaling pathways as well as in the expression of proteins involved in the regulation of long-term neuronal synaptic plasticity and synapse organization, coupled with defects in NSCs self-renewal in the hippocampal dentate gyrus. However, compared to the persistence of the WBI effects, most of the PBI effects were only transient and tended to decrease at 6 months post-irradiation, indicating important mechanistic difference. On the contrary, at low dose we identified a progressive accumulation of molecular defects that tended to manifest at later post-irradiation times. These data, indicating that both targeted and non-targeted radiation effects might contribute to the pathogenesis of hippocampal radiation-damage, have general implications for human health
Project description:The environment outside the Earth’s protective magnetosphere is a much more threatening and complex space environment. The dominant causes for radiation exposure, solar particle events and galactic cosmic rays, contain high-energy protons. In space, astronauts need healthy and highly functioning cognitive abilities, of which the hippocampus plays a key role. Therefore, understanding the effects of 1H exposure on hippocampal-dependent cognition is vital for de-veloping mitigative strategies and protective countermeasures for future missions. To investi-gate these effects, we subjected 6-month-old female CD1 mice to 0.75 Gy fractionated 1H (250 MeV) whole-body irradiation at the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory. The cognitive perfor-mance of the mice was tested 3 months after irradiation using Y-maze and morris water maze tests. Both sham-irradiated and 1H-irradiated mice significantly preferred exploration of the novel arm compared to the familiar and start arms, indicating intact spatial and short-term memory. Both groups statistically spent more time in the target quadrant, indicating spatial memory retention. There were no significant differences in neurogenic and gliogenic cell counts after irradiation. In addition, proteomic analysis revealed no significant upregulation or down-regulation of proteins related to behavior, neurological disease, or neural morphology. Our data suggests 1H exposure does not impair hippocampal-dependent spatial or short-term memory in female mice.
Project description:Protocol describing step-by-step of an in-gel digestion to analyze Medaka proteome after acute exposure to ionizing radiation as alternative to epidemiological studies.
Project description:Accidents with ionizing radiation (IR) often involve acute high dose exposures that can lead to acute radiation syndrome and late effects. IR can induce genomic lesions, cell death or carcinogenesis. Here, we investigated acute IR-induced cellular genomic signatures at the genome wide level. After exposing the adenocarcinoma cell line A549 to an acute 6 Gy 240 kV X-Ray dose, four surviving clonogenic cells were recovered by minimal dilution and further expanded and analyzed by cytogenetics, chromosome painting and tiling-path array CGH, with the non-irradiated clone0 serving as control. It was found that acute X-ray exposure induced changes in modal chromosome number and specific translocations in the four irradiation surviving clones. Furthermore, clone4 displayed an increased radiosensitivity at D > 5 Gy. Array CGH disclosed unique and recurrent genomic changes, predominantly gains, and disclosed fragile sites FRA3B and FRA16D as preferential regions of genomic alterations in all irradiated clones, which likely relates to irradiation-induced genomic stress. Gene expression analysis revealed a specific profile of 364 genes in clone4, of which p53 pathway genes may contribute to its increased radiosensitivity. IR-induced genomic changes AND fragile site expression highlight the capacity of a single acute radiation exposure to resculpture the genome of tumor cells by inflicting genomic stress. Gene expression in A549 cell line was analysed after exposure to 6Gy X-rays at a dose rate of 1Gy/min.
Project description:Millimetre-wave (MMW) frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum are increasingly being adopted in modern technologies including mobile communications, networking, and security screening. These frequencies are absorbed by the outer layers of the skin, however the biological effects are not well characterised. Thus, as emerging technologies increase human exposure, understanding the effects of MMWs on biological material and cell biology in the skin is critical in determining safe exposure levels. Here, we report on the exposure of primary human dermal fibroblasts to MMWs; we find that the radiation triggers genomic and transcriptomic alterations. In particular, repeated 60 GHz MMW exposures at 2.6 mW cm-2, 46.8 J cm-2 doses, trigger a physiological response in human fibroblasts distinct from conventional cytokine-induced stimulation. Our results show that high dose MMWs induce non-thermal transcriptomic alterations with simultaneous changes in DNA structural dynamics including formation of G-quadruplex and i-motif secondary structures, but not DNA damage.
Project description:Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is a major source of skin damage. It is important to define the programmed gene expression change after UV exposure, particularly in the C57BL/6 lab mice model. Here we systematically analyze the acute gene expression change in mouse skin after UV exposure.
Project description:Irradiation of the K-rasLA1 mouse model with a fractionated dose of 1.0Gy 56Fe- particles increases the incidence of invasive carcinoma compared to unirradiated controls or those irradiated with an acute dose. Microarray profiling was perfromed on whole lungs from K-rasLA1 mice in order to determine global expression changes in the lung following radiation exposure. RNA was extracted from K-rasLA1 lungs from unirradiated control animals or those irradiated with a fractionated or acute dose of 1.0Gy 56Fe- particles 70 days post-irradiation when lungs are still histologically indistiguishable and only contain benign lesions.
Project description:Accidents with ionizing radiation (IR) often involve acute high dose exposures that can lead to acute radiation syndrome and late effects. IR can induce genomic lesions, cell death or carcinogenesis. Here, we investigated acute IR-induced cellular genomic signatures at the genome wide level. After exposing the adenocarcinoma cell line A549 to an acute 6 Gy 240 kV X-Ray dose, four surviving clonogenic cells were recovered by minimal dilution and further expanded and analyzed by cytogenetics, chromosome painting and tiling-path array CGH, with the non-irradiated clone0 serving as control. It was found that acute X-ray exposure induced changes in modal chromosome number and specific translocations in the four irradiation surviving clones. Furthermore, clone4 displayed an increased radiosensitivity at D > 5 Gy. Array CGH disclosed unique and recurrent genomic changes, predominantly gains, and disclosed fragile sites FRA3B and FRA16D as preferential regions of genomic alterations in all irradiated clones, which likely relates to irradiation-induced genomic stress. Gene expression analysis revealed a specific profile of 364 genes in clone4, of which p53 pathway genes may contribute to its increased radiosensitivity. IR-induced genomic changes AND fragile site expression highlight the capacity of a single acute radiation exposure to resculpture the genome of tumor cells by inflicting genomic stress.