2. Timeline
⢠Radioactivity was discovered by Antonio Henri Becquerel in
1896
⢠Radium was isolated by Pierre & Marie Curie in 1898
⢠First recorded radiobiology experiment was performed by
Becquerel - He inadvertently left a Radium container in his
pocket, resulting in skin erythema about 2 weeks later
⢠In 1901, Pierre Curie repeated this experiment on his forearm
and produced an ulceration and charted its healing
⢠Field of Radiobiology began in 1901
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3. Energy Absorption In Radiobiology
⢠Energy is absorbed in form of small discrete
packets â PHOTONS
⢠The energy deposition is uneven, discrete & non-
uniform
⢠Leads to chemical & biological changes
⢠Absorption of radiation may lead to ionization or
excitation of atoms
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5. Biological Interactions of Radiation
⢠The interaction of radiation with cells is a probability
function or a matter of chance. i.e., it may or may
not interact and if interaction occurs, damage may or
may not be produced
⢠Radiation interaction in a cell is nonâselective.i.e., the
energy from ionization radiation is deposited
randomly in the cell. No areas of the cell are
âpreferredâ or âchosenâ by the radiation
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6. ⢠The initial deposition of energy occurs very
rapidly in a period of ~ 10-17 seconds
⢠The biologic changes from radiation occur only
after a period of time (latent period) which
depends on the initial dose and varies from
minutes to weeks, or even years
Biological Interactions of Radiation
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7. Biological Interactions of Radiation
⢠When ionizing radiation interacts with a cell,
possibility of either ionization or excitation
exists in macromolecules (e.g., DNA) or in the
medium
⢠Based on the site of these interactions, the
action of radiation on cell can be classified as:
o Direct action
o Indirect action
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10. Direct Action
⢠Occurs when an ionizing particle
interacts with and is absorbed by
a biologic macromolecule such
as DNA, RNA or enzyme in the
cell
⢠These ionized macromolecules
are now abnormal structures
⢠They lose their normal
functioning unless repaired in
time which is infrequent with
direct damage
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11. Indirect Action
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⢠Refers to absorption of
ionizing radiation in the
medium when the molecules
are suspended primarily in
water
⢠Absorption of radiation by
water molecule results in
production of ion pairs
â˘The ion pairs react and cause
damage to cellular
macromolecules
14. ⢠As there exists more water in the cell than any structural
component, the probability of radiation damage occurring
through indirect action is >> than the probability of damage
occurring through direct action
⢠In addition, indirect action occurs primarily but not exclusively
from free radicals resulting from ionization of water
⢠The ionization of other cellular constituents, particularly fat,
also can result in free radicals formation
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15. Oxygen Fixation Hypothesis
⢠If molecular oxygen is present, DNA reacts with the free
radicals to yield DNA radical (R¡)
⢠The DNA radical can be chemically restored to its reduced
form through reaction with a sulfhydryl (SH) group
⢠However, the formation of RO2 ¡, an organic peroxide,
represents a non-restorable form of the target material
⢠Oxygen may be thus said to âfixâ or make permanent the
radiation lesion
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20. Absorption of Radiation
⢠Absorption of X-rays
⢠Absorption of Neutrons
⢠Absorption of Protons
⢠Absorption of Heavy Ions
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21. Absorption of X-Rays
⢠Depends on energy of concerned photon and
chemical composition of absorber
⢠Mainly two processes involved :
ď Compton effect
ď Photo-electric effect
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22. Absorption of Neutrons
⢠Interact with nuclei of atoms,not planetary electrons
⢠Direct ionization is the predominant mode of damage
⢠Produce fast recoil protons
⢠In case of higher energy neutrons - âspallation productsâ are
formed
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23. Absorption of Protons
⢠Protons interact with both planetary electrons and with
nuclei of atoms
⢠Planetary electrons â Fast recoil electrons
⢠Nuclei of atoms â Heavy secondary particles
⢠As proton energy increases, nuclear disintegration
increases
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24. Absorption of Heavy Ions
⢠Direct action of radiation is predominant
⢠As the density of ionisation increases, probability of
direct interaction between particle track and target
molecule increases
⢠Radioprotective compounds are effective for x-rays
and gamma rays but are of little use in case of
heavier ions, neutrons or alpha particles
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29. SSB and DSB in DNA
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⢠Little biologic significance
⢠Repaired readily using
opposite strand as template
and defect may result in
mutation
⢠More common
⢠1000 SSB per cell after 1- 2
Gy
⢠Most important lesions
produced by radiation
⢠Defect in repair may result
in cell killing, carcinogenesis
or mutation
⢠Less common
⢠40 DSBs per cell
Single Stranded Break Double Stranded Break
30. Measurement of DNA breaks
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ď Pulsed field gel electrophoresis(PFGE)
ď Single cell electrophoresis(comet assay)
ď DNA damage induced nuclear foci assay
31. ⢠Most widely used method to detect the induction and repair
of DNA DSBs
⢠It is based on the electrophoretic elution of DNA from agarose
plugs within which irradiated cells have been embedded and
lysed
⢠PFGE allows separation of DNA fragments according to size
with the assumption that DNA DSBs are induced randomly
⢠The fraction of DNA released from the agarose plug is directly
proportional to dose
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Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis(PFGE)
32. Single Cell Electrophoresis (Comet assay)
⢠It has the advantage of detecting differences in DNA
damage and repair at the single-cell level
⢠Cells are exposed to ionizing radiation, embedded in
agarose, and lysed under neutral buffer conditions to
quantify induction and repair of DNA DSBs
⢠To assess DNA SSBs and alkaline-sensitive sites, lysis
is performed with an alkaline buffer
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33. Single Cell Electrophoresis(Comet assay)
⢠As a result of the lysis and
electrophoresis conditions,
the fragmented DNA
migrates
⢠Unirradiated cells possess
a near spherical
appearance, whereas the
fragmented DNA in
irradiated cells gives the
appearance of a comet
when stained with
ethidium bromide
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34. DNA damage induced nuclear foci
assay
⢠In response to ionizing radiation, complexes of
signaling and repair proteins localize to sites of DNA
strand breaks
⢠It can be carried out on both tissue sections and
individual cell preparations
⢠Cells/tissues are incubated with a specific antibody
raised to the signaling/repair protein of interest
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35. DNA damage induced nuclear foci assay
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⢠Binding of the antibody is
then detected with a
secondary antibody, which
carries a fluorescent tag
⢠Fluorescence microscopy
detects the location and
intensity of the tag, which is
then quantified
36. Radiation Induced DNA Crosslinks
⢠DNA â Protein crosslinks
⢠DNA-DNA intrastand crosslinks
⢠DNA-DNA interstrand crosslinks
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37. Crosslinking of DNA
⢠Occurs under conditions of oxidative stress, in which free
oxygen radicals generate reactive intermediates
⢠They react with two nucleotides of DNA, forming a covalent
linkage between them
⢠This crosslink can occur within the same strand (intrastrand)
or between opposite strands of double-stranded DNA
(interstrand) or between an oxidised protein and DNA (DNA -
protein crosslink)
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38. Crosslinking of DNA
⢠These adducts interfere
with cellular metabolism,
such as DNA replication and
transcription, triggering cell
death
⢠Crosslinks can, however,
be repaired through
excision pathways
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39. Radiation Induced Chromosomal
Aberrations
⢠Occurs when cell is irradiated early in interphase, before the
chromosome material has been duplicated
⢠Radiation-induced break is in a single strand of chromatin
⢠During the DNA synthesis, this strand of chromatin lays down
an identical strand next to itself and replicates the break that
has been produced
⢠Leads to a chromosome aberration visible at the next mitosis
because there is an identical break in the corresponding
points of a pair of chromatin strands
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40. Dicentric Chromosome
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â˘Occurs by irradiation of
prereplication chromosomes
â˘Break is produced in each of
two separate chromosomes
â˘The âstickyâ ends may join
incorrectly to form an
interchange between the two
chromosomes
â˘Replication then occurs in the
DNA synthetic period
â˘One chromosome has two
centromeres: a dicentric
41. Ring Aberration
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â˘Formation of a ring occurs
by irradiation of a
prereplication (i.e., G1)
chromosome
â˘A break occurs in each arm
of the same chromosome
â˘The sticky ends rejoin
incorrectly to form a ring and
an acentric fragment
â˘Replication then occurs
42. Radiation Induced Chromatid
Aberrations
⢠Occurs when cell is irradiated in late interphase after the DNA
material has doubled
⢠In regions away from the centromere, chromatid arms are
well separated, and the radiation might break one chromatid
without breaking its sister chromatid
⢠A break that occurs in a single chromatid arm after
chromosome replication and leaves the opposite arm of the
same chromosome undamaged leads to chromatid
aberrations
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43. Anaphase Bridge
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⢠By irradiation of a postreplication
chromosome
⢠Breaks occur in each chromatid of
the same chromosome
⢠Incorrect rejoining of the sticky ends
- sister union
⢠At next anaphase, the acentric
fragment is lost, one centromere of
the dicentric goes to each pole, and
the chromatid is stretched between
the poles
⢠This aberration is likely to be lethal
44. Non-lethal Chromosomal Lesions
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Symmetric translocation :
â˘Radiation produces breaks in two different
prereplication chromosomes
â˘The broken pieces are exchanged between
â˘the two chromosomes, and the âstickyâ
ends rejoin
â˘Might lead to activation of an oncogene
Deletion
⢠Radiation produces two breaks in the same
arm of the same chromosome
45. Chromosomal Aberrations in Human
Lymphocytes
⢠In blood samples obtained for cytogenetic evaluation within a
few days to a few weeks after total body irradiation, the
frequency of asymmetric aberrations (dicentrics and rings) in
the lymphocytes reflects the dose received
⢠The dose can be estimated by comparison with in vitro
cultures exposed to known doses
⢠Cytogenetic evaluations in cultured lymphocytes readily can
detect a recent total body exposure of as low as 0.25 Gy in the
exposed person
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46. ⢠Useful in distinguishing between ârealâ and âsuspectedâ
exposures involving film badges
⢠Dicentrics are âunstableâ aberrations because their number
declines with time after irradiation
⢠Symmetric translocations are âstableâ aberrations because
they persist for many years
⢠If many years have elapsed, dicentrics underestimates the
dose and only stable aberrations such as translocations give
an accurate picture
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Chromosomal Aberrations in
Human Lymphocytes
49. Key Points
⢠The timescale of radiation effects can be divided into 3 phases â
physical, chemical and biological
⢠DNA within the cell nucleus is the primary target for radiation
effects
⢠Free radicals produced by water radiolysis contribute to 70 % of the
effect
⢠A range of DNA lesions are introduced by radiation including SSBs,
DSBs, base damage, nucleotide damage, crosslink formation
⢠DNA DSBs yields correlate best with cellular effects
⢠Oxygen and radiation quality are important response modifiers
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