Differences in Phosphorylated Histone H2AX Foci Formation and Removal of Cells Exposed to Low and High Linear Energy Transfer Radiation

The use of particle ion beams in cancer radiotherapy has a long history. Today, beams of protons or heavy ions, predominantly carbon ions, can be accelerated to precisely calculated energies which can be accurately targeted to tumors. This particle therapy works by damaging the DNA of tissue cells, ultimately causing their death. Among the different types of DNA lesions, the formation of DNA double strand breaks is considered to be the most relevant of deleterious damages of ionizing radiation in cells. It is well-known that the extremely large localized energy deposition can lead to complex types of DNA double strand breaks. These effects can lead to cell death, mutations, genomic instability, or carcinogenesis. Complex double strand breaks can increase the probability of mis-rejoining by NHEJ. As a consequence differences in the repair kinetics following high and low LET irradiation qualities are attributed mainly to quantitative differences in their contributions of the fast and slow repair component. In general, there is a higher contribution of the slow component of DNA double strand repair after exposure to high LET radiation, which is thought to reflect the increased amount of complex DNA double strand breaks. These can be accurately measured by the γ-H2AX assay, because the number of phosphorylated H2AX foci correlates well with the number of double strand breaks induced by low or / and high LET radiation.     

Opposite responses in two DNA repair capacity tests in lymphocytes of head and neck cancer patients

Genomic instability has long been recognized as the main feature of neoplasia and a factor modulating individual cancer susceptibility. There are attempts to find effective assays of both individual DNA repair capacity and genetic instability, and their relation to the cancer risk. Genetic predisposition plays an important role in the etiology and development of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). The aim of our study was to search for a correlation between chromosomal instability and DNA repair capacity in HNSCC patients and healthy controls. The chromosomal instability was measured by the number of bleomycin (BLM)-induced chromosomal aberrations and diepoxybutane (DEB)-induced sister chromatid exchanges. The DNA repair capacity was assessed using the DEB-induced adaptive response (AR). The HNSCC patients in our study showed a significant increase in chromosomal instability after a preterminal exposure of their lymphocytes to either BLM for the last 5 h or DEB for the last 24 h of incubation. However, the AR was higher in HNSCC patients than in the control group, suggesting an increase in the DNA repair capacity in the cancer patients as compared to the control. There is no correlation between the DNA repair capacity estimated on the basis of preterminal exposures to BLM and DEB and the DNA repair capacity estimated on the basis of the adaptive response to DEB. The preterminal exposure and the adaptive response test may activate different DNA repair mechanisms.     

Irradiation induced foci (IRIF) as a biomarker for radiosensitivity

It has long been known that the level of radiosensitivity between individuals covers a considerable range. This range is reflected in analysis of patient cell lines with some cell lines showing significantly reduced sensitivity to in vitro radiation exposure. Our increased exposure to radiation from diagnostic medical procedures and other life style changes has raised concerns that there may be individuals who are at an elevated risk from the harmful impact of acute or chronic low dose radiation exposure. Additionally, a subset of patients show an enhanced normal tissue response following radiotherapy, which can cause significant discomfort and, at the extreme, be life threatening. It has long been realised that the ability to identify sensitive individuals and to understand the mechanistic basis underlying the range of sensitivity within the population is important. A reduced ability to efficiently repair DNA double strand breaks (DSB) and/or activate the DSB damage response underlies some, although not necessarily all, of this sensitivity. In this article, we consider the utility of the recently developed γH2AX foci analysis to provide insight into radiation sensitivity within the population. We consider the nature of sensitivity including the impact of radiation on cell survival, tissue responses and carcinogenesis and the range of responses within the population. We overview the current utility of the γH2AX assay for assessing the efficacy of the DNA damage response to low and high dose radiation and its potential future exploitation.     

Distinct Roles of Ape1 Protein,an Enzyme Involved in DNA Repair,in High or Low Linear Energy Transfer Ionizing Radiation-induced Cell Killing

High linear energy transfer (LET) radiation from space heavy charged particles or a heavier ion radiotherapy machine kills more cells than low LET radiation, mainly because high LET radiation-induced DNA damage is more difficult to repair. Relative biological effectiveness (RBE) is the ratio of the effects generated by high LET radiation to low LET radiation. Previously, our group and others demonstrated that the cell-killing RBE is involved in the interference of high LET radiation with non-homologous end joining but not homologous recombination repair. This effect is attributable, in part, to the small DNA fragments (≤40 bp) directly produced by high LET radiation, the size of which prevents Ku protein from efficiently binding to the two ends of one fragment at the same time, thereby reducing non-homologous end joining efficiency. Here we demonstrate that Ape1, an enzyme required for processing apurinic/apyrimidinic (known as abasic) sites, is also involved in the generation of small DNA fragments during the repair of high LET radiation-induced base damage, which contributes to the higher RBE of high LET radiation-induced cell killing. This discovery opens a new direction to develop approaches for either protecting astronauts from exposure to space radiation or benefiting cancer patients by sensitizing tumor cells to high LET radiotherapy.     

The effect of mitotic inhibitors on DNA strand size and radiation-associated break repair in Down syndrome fibroblasts

The effect of mitotic inhibitors on formation and repair of DNA breaks was studied in cultured fibroblasts from patients with Down syndrome in order to investigate the hypothesis that the karyotyping procedure itself may play a role in the increased chromosome breakage seen in these cells after gamma radiation exposure. Using the nondenaturing elution and alkaline elution techniques to examine fibroblasts from Down syndrome patients and from controls, no specific abnormalities in Down syndrome cells could be detected after exposure to mitotic inhibitors, including rate and extent of elution of DNA from filters as well as repair of radiation-induced DNA breaks. In both normal and Down syndrome cell strains, however, exposure to mitotic inhibitors was associated with a decrease in cellular DNA strand size, suggesting the presence of drug-induced DNA strand breaks. The mechanism of increased chromosome sensitivity of Down syndrome cells to gamma radiation remains unknown.     

Effect of DNA repair on the cytotoxicity and mutagenicity of polycyclic hydrocarbon derivatives in normal and xeroderma pigmentosum human fibroblasts

The cytotoxicity of the “K-region” epoxides as well as several other reactive metabolites or chemical derivatives of polycyclic hydrocarbons was compared in normally-repairing human diploid skin fibroblasts and in fibroblasts from a classical xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) patient (XP2BE) whose cells have been shown to carry out excision repair of damage induced in DNA by ultraviolet (UV) radiation at a rate approx. 20% that of normal cells. Each compound tested exhibited a 2- to 3-fold greater cytotoxicity in this XP strain than in the normal strain. To determine whether this difference in survival reflected a difference in the capacity of the strains to repair DNA damage caused by such hydrocarbon derivatives, we compared the cytotoxic effect of several “K-region” epoxides in two additional XP strains, each with a different capacity for repair of UV damage. The ration of the slopes of the survival curves for each of the XP strains to that of the normal strain, following exposure to each epoxide, was very similar to that which we had previously determined for their respective UV curves, suggesting that human cells repair damage induced in DNA by exposure to hydrocarbon derivatives with the same system used for UV-induced lesions.To determine whether the deficiency in rate of excision repair in this classical XP strain (XP2BE) causes such cells to be abnormally susceptible to mutations induced by “K-region” epoxides of polycyclic hydrocarbons, we compared them with normal cells for the frequency of induced mutations to 8-azaguanine resistance. The XP cells were two to three times more susceptible to mutations induced by the “K-region” epoxide of benzo(a)pyrene (BP), 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA), and dibenz(a,h)anthracene (DBA). Evidence also was obtained that cells from an XP variant patient are abnormally susceptible to mutations induced by hydrocarbon epoxides and, as is the case following exposure to UV, are abnormally slow in converting low molecular weight DNA, synthesized from a template following exposure to hydrocarbon epoxides, into large-size DNA.     

HIV-1Tat蛋白抑制DNA修复和增强细胞辐射敏感性

近年来临床研究发现,艾滋病合并肿瘤患者放疗后产生的正常组织和皮肤毒性反应明显高于普通肿瘤患者.本研究将探讨HIV-1Tat蛋白是否影响细胞对电离辐射敏感性及机理. 两个表达Tat蛋白的细胞系TT2和TE671-Tat均来源于人的横纹肌肉瘤细胞（TE671）并已转染了不同来源的tat基因.使用细胞辐射后克隆形成率检测辐射敏感性,RT-PCR和Western 印迹检测基因表达,彗星电泳和γ-H2AX位点检测DNA双链断裂和修复. TT2和TE671-Tat细胞的辐射敏感性与转染空载体及对照细胞相比明显增加.彗星电泳和γ-H2AX位点检测表明,在表达Tat蛋白的细胞中,辐射诱导DNA双链断裂的修复水平明显降低.通过RT-PCR和Western 印迹检测进一步证实,表达Tat蛋白的细胞中DNA修复蛋白DNA-PKcs的表达被抑制. HIV-1Tat蛋白抑制DNA-PKcs的表达,降低DNA双链断裂的修复,使细胞的电离辐射敏感性增高.本研究为了解AIDS合并肿瘤患者对放射治疗敏感性变化提供了重要信息.     

Cancer pharmacogenomics: role of DNA repair genetic polymorphisms in individualizing cancer therapy

The evolving field of cancer pharmacogenomics uses genetic profiling to predict the response of tumor and normal tissue to therapy. The narrow therapeutic index and heterogeneity of patient responses to chemotherapy and radiotherapy implies that the efficacy of these treatments could, potentially, be significantly enhanced by improving our understanding of the genetic bases for interindividual differences in their effects. The cytotoxicity of both chemotherapy and radiotherapy is to a large extent directly related to their ability to induce DNA damage. The ability of cancer cells to recognize and repair this damage contributes to therapeutic resistance. On the other hand, suboptimal DNA repair in normal tissue may negatively impact on normal tissue tolerance.More than 130 genes have been identified that are associated with human DNA repair, and single nucleotide polymorphisms of several of the DNA repair genes have been described recently. In this article, we present the current evidence implicating variations within DNA repair genes as important predictive and prognostic markers in cancer. We review evidence suggesting DNA repair genetic polymorphisms may significantly influence the clinical response to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and may influence normal tissue tolerance to cancer treatments.     

Lead Exposure Induces Telomere Instability in Human Cells

Lead (Pb) is an important environmental contaminant due to its widespread use over many centuries. While it affects primarily every organ system of the body, the most pernicious effects of Pb are on the central nervous system leading to cognitive and behavioral modification. Despite decades of research, the mechanisms responsible for Pb toxicity remain poorly understood. Recent work has suggested that Pb exposure may have consequences on chromosomal integrity as it was shown that Pb exposure leads to the generation of γH2Ax foci, a well-established biomarker for DNA double stranded break (DSB formation). As the chromosomal localization of γH2Ax foci plays an important role in determining the molecular mechanism responsible for their formation, we examined the localization of Pb-induced foci with respect to telomeres. Indeed, short or dysfunctional telomeres (uncapped or damaged telomeres) may be recognized as DSB by the DNA repair machinery, leading to “telomere-Induced Foci” (TIFs). In the current study, we show that while Pb exposure did not increase intra-chromosomal foci, it significantly induced TIFs, leading in some cases, to chromosomal abnormalities including telomere loss. The evidence suggests that these chromosomal abnormalities are likely due to perturbation of telomere replication, in particular on the lagging DNA strand. We propose a mechanism by which Pb exposure leads to the loss of telomere maintenance. As numerous studies have demonstrated a role for telomere maintenance in brain development and tissue homeostasis, our results suggest a possible mechanism for lead-induced neurotoxicity.     

Radiation sensitivity increases with proliferation-associated telomere dysfunction in nontransformed human epithelial cells

Epidemiological studies have demonstrated age differences among human adults in susceptibility to radiation, with cancer cases attributable to radiation being more frequent for older individuals at time of exposure. In addition to the notion that susceptibility increases because of progressive decline in DNA monitoring and immunosurveillance, telomere function is now emerging as a new and important factor in modulating cellular and organism sensitivity to ionizing radiation. The link between telomeres and radiosensitivity is well-documented in humans, but the causal events remain elusive. In this paper, it is shown that irradiated human epithelial cells with short dysfunctional telomeres derived from normal mammary gland display elevated DNA damage. An approach identifying the specific chromosomes with critically shortened telomeres in each donor has allowed us to conclude that short dysfunctional telomeres in human epithelial cells join radiation-induced DNA broken ends, thus interfering with their efficient repair. These findings argue against telomeres participating as sensors or transducers of DNA damage, as previously suggested. Rather, our current findings give support to the idea that dysfunctional telomeres, by acting as an additional joining option, reduce the repair fidelity of DNA broken-ends induced by radiation throughout the genome. In the mammary gland, age-dependent telomere attrition due to epithelial turnover, together with the accretion of checkpoint deficiencies, might render the accumulation of short dysfunctional telomeres. This implies that the risks associated with mammography screening could be higher than previously assumed. Our results have the possibility of imprinting a temporal dimension onto radiation sensitivity, namely, that shortened telomeres in aged cells may more easily compromise normal tissue function in the elderly.     

Enhanced Activity of Deoxycytidine Kinase After Pulsed Low Dose Rate and Single Dose Gamma Irradiation

In both pulsed low dose rate (LDR) and single high dose radiation schedules, gemcitabine pretreatment sensitizes tumor cells to radiation. These radiosensitizing effects could be the result of decreased DNA repair. In this study, the effect of irradiation on the deoxycytidine kinase (dCK) needed for DNA repair was investigated. The activity of dCK, a deoxynucleoside analogue-activating enzyme was increased upon irradiation in both schedules. No change in dCK protein expression was observed that indicates a post-translational regulation. The benefit of this increased activity induced by irradiation should be further investigated in combination with deoxynucleoside analogues activated by this enzyme.     

Evaluation of Different Biomarkers to Predict Individual Radiosensitivity in an Inter-Laboratory Comparison–Lessons for Future Studies

Radiotherapy is a powerful cure for several types of solid tumours, but its application is often limited because of severe side effects in individual patients. With the aim to find biomarkers capable of predicting normal tissue side reactions we analysed the radiation responses of cells from individual head and neck tumour and breast cancer patients of different clinical radiosensitivity in a multicentric study. Multiple parameters of cellular radiosensitivity were analysed in coded samples of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) and derived lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) from 15 clinical radio-hypersensitive tumour patients and compared to age- and sex-matched non-radiosensitive patient controls and 15 lymphoblastoid cell lines from age- and sex- matched healthy controls of the KORA study. Experimental parameters included ionizing radiation (IR)-induced cell death (AnnexinV), induction and repair of DNA strand breaks (Comet assay), induction of yH2AX foci (as a result of DNA double strand breaks), and whole genome expression analyses. Considerable inter-individual differences in IR-induced DNA strand breaks and their repair and/or cell death could be detected in primary and immortalised cells with the applied assays. The group of clinically radiosensitive patients was not unequivocally distinguishable from normal responding patients nor were individual overreacting patients in the test system unambiguously identified by two different laboratories. Thus, the in vitro test systems investigated here seem not to be appropriate for a general prediction of clinical reactions during or after radiotherapy due to the experimental variability compared to the small effect of radiation sensitivity. Genome-wide expression analysis however revealed a set of 67 marker genes which were differentially induced 6 h after in vitro-irradiation in lymphocytes from radio-hypersensitive and non-radiosensitive patients. These results warrant future validation in larger cohorts in order to determine parameters potentially predictive for clinical radiosensitivity.     

Rejoining kinetics of DNA single- and double-strand breaks in normal and DNA ligase-deficient cells after exposure to ultraviolet C and gamma radiation: an evaluation of ligating activities involved in different DNA repair processes

The repair kinetics for rejoining of DNA single- and double-strand breaks after exposure to UVC or gamma radiation was measured in cells with deficiencies in DNA ligase activities and in their normal counterparts. Human 46BR cells were deficient in DNA ligase I. Hamster EM9 and EM-C11 cells were deficient in DNA ligase III activity as a consequence of mutations in the XRCC1 gene. Hamster XR-1 cells had mutation in the XRCC4 gene, whose product stimulates DNA ligase IV activity. DNA single- and double-strand breaks were assessed by the comet assay in alkaline conditions and by the technique of graded-field gel electrophoresis in neutral conditions, respectively. 46BR cells, which are known to re-ligate at a reduced rate the DNA single-strand breaks incurred during processing of damage induced by UVC but not gamma radiation, were shown to have a normal repair of radiation-induced DNA double-strand breaks. EM9 cells exhibited a reduced rate of rejoining of DNA single-strand breaks after exposure to ionizing radiation, as reported previously, as well as UVC radiation. EM-C11 cells were deficient in the repair of radiation-induced-DNA single-strand breaks but, in contrast to EM9 cells, demonstrated the same kinetics as the parental cell line in the resealing of DNA breaks resulting from exposure to UVC radiation. Both EM9 and EM-C11 cells displayed a significant defect in rejoining of radiation-induced-DNA double-strand breaks. XR-1 cells were confirmed to be highly deficient in the repair of radiation-induced DNA double-strand breaks but appeared to rejoin DNA single-strand breaks after UVC and gamma irradiation at rates close to normal. Taken together these results indicate that: (1) DNA ligase I is involved only in nucleotide excision repair; (2) DNA ligase IV plays an important role only in repair of DNA double-strand breaks; and (3) DNA ligase III is implicated in base excision repair and in repair of DNA double-strand breaks, but probably not in nucleotide excision repair.     

An alternative pathway of recombination of chromosomal fragments precedes recA-dependent recombination in the radioresistant bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans.

Deinococcus radiodurans R1 and other members of this genus are able to repair and survive extreme DNA damage induced by ionizing radiation and many other DNA-damaging agents. The ability of R1 to repair completely > 100 double-strand breaks in its chromosome without lethality or mutagenesis is recA dependent. However, during the first 1.5 h after irradiation, recA+ and recA cells show similar increases in the average size of chromosomal fragments. In recA+ cells, DNA continues to enlarge to wild-type size within 29 h. However, in recA cells, no DNA repair is observed following the first 1.5 h postirradiation. This recA-independent effect was studied further, using two slightly different Escherichia coli plasmids forming adjacent duplication insertions in the chromosome, providing repetitive sequences suitable for circularization by non-recA-dependent pathways following irradiation. After exposure to 1.75 Mrad (17,500 Gy), circular derivatives of the integration units were detected in both recA+ and recA cells. These DNA circles were formed in the first 1.5 h postirradiation, several hours before the onset of detectable recA-dependent homologous recombination. By comparison, D. radiodurans strains containing the same E. coli plasmids as nonrepetitive direct insertions did not form circular derivatives of the integration units before or after irradiation in recA+ or recA cells. The circular derivatives of the tandemly integrated plasmids were formed before the onset of recA-dependent repair and have structures consistent with the hypothesis that DNA repair occurring immediately postirradiation is by a recA-independent single-strand annealing reaction and may be a preparatory step for further DNA repair in wild-type D. radiodurans.     

Molecular response to climate change: temperature dependence of UV-induced DNA damage and repair in the freshwater crustacean Daphnia pulicaria

In temperate lakes, asynchronous cycles in surface water temperatures and incident ultraviolet (UV) radiation expose aquatic organisms to damaging UV radiation at different temperatures. The enzyme systems that repair UV‐induced DNA damage are temperature dependent, and thus potentially less effective at repairing DNA damage at lower temperatures. This hypothesis was tested by examining the levels of UV‐induced DNA damage in the freshwater crustacean Daphnia pulicaria in the presence and absence of longer‐wavelength photoreactivating radiation (PRR) that induces photoenzymatic repair (PER) of DNA damage. By exposing both live and dead (freeze‐killed) Daphnia as well as raw DNA to UV‐B in the presence and absence of PRR, we were able to estimate the relative importance and temperature dependence of PER (light repair), nucleotide excision repair (NER, dark repair), and photoprotection (PP). Total DNA damage increased with increasing temperature. However, the even greater increase in DNA repair rates at higher temperatures led net DNA damage (total DNA damage minus repair) to be greater at lower temperatures. Photoprotection accounted for a much greater proportion of the reduction in DNA damage than did repair. Experiments that looked at survival rates following UV exposure demonstrated that PER increased survival rates. The important implication is that aquatic organisms that depend heavily on DNA repair processes may be less able to survive high UV exposure in low temperature environments. Photoprotection may be more effective under the low temperature, high UV conditions such as are found in early spring or at high elevations.     

Damaging and protective cell signalling in the untargeted effects of ionizing radiation

The major adverse consequences of radiation exposures are attributed to DNA damage in irradiated cells that has not been correctly restored by metabolic repair processes. However, the dogma that genetic alterations are restricted to directly irradiated cells has been challenged by observations in which effects of ionizing radiation arise in non-irradiated cells. These, so called, untargeted effects are demonstrated in cells that are the descendants of irradiated cells either directly or via media transfer (radiation-induced genomic instability) or in cells that have communicated with irradiated cells (radiation-induced bystander effects). Radiation-induced genomic instability is characterized by a number of delayed responses including chromosomal abnormalities, gene mutations and cell death. Bystander effects include increases or decreases in damage-inducible and stress-related proteins, increases or decreases in reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, cell death or cell proliferation, cell differentiation, radioadaptation, induction of mutations and chromosome aberrations and chromosomal instability. The phenotypic expression of untargeted effects and the potential consequences of these effects in tissues reflect a balance between the type of bystander signals produced and the responses of cell populations to such signals, both of which may be significantly influenced by cell type and genotype. Thus, in addition to targeted effects of damage induced directly in cells by irradiation, a variety of untargeted effects may also make important short-term and long-term contributions to determining overall outcome after radiation exposures.     

Characterization of Postreplication Repair in Mutagen-Sensitive Strains of DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER

Mutants of Drosophila melanogaster, with suspected repair deficiencies, were analyzed for their capacity to repair damage induced by X-rays and UV radiation. Analysis was performed on cell cultures derived from embryos of homozygous mutant stocks. Postreplication repair following UV radiation has been analyzed in mutant stocks derived from a total of ten complementation groups. Cultures were irradiated, pulse-labeled, and incubated in the dark prior to analysis by alkaline sucrose gradient centrifugation. Kinetics of the molecular weight increase in newly synthesized DNA were assayed after cells had been incubated in the presence or absence of caffeine. Two separate pathways of postreplication repair have been tentatively identified by mutants derived from four complementation groups. The proposed caffeine sensitive pathway (CAS) is defined by mutants which also disrupt meiosis. The second pathway (CIS) is caffeine insensitive and is not yet associated with meiotic functions. All mutants deficient in postreplication repair are also sensitive to nitrogen mustard. The mutants investigated display a normal capacity to repair single-strand breaks induced in DNA by X-rays, although two may possess a reduced capacity to repair damage caused by localized incorporation of high specific activity thymidine-³H. The data have been employed to construct a model for repair of UV-induced damage in Drosophila DNA. Implications of the model for DNA repair in mammals are discussed.