Cancer and non-cancer risks in normal and cancer-prone Trp53 heterozygous mice exposed to high-dose radiation

Spontaneous p53 activation in middle-aged C57BL/6 mice mitigates the lifespan-extending adaptive response induced by low-dose ionizing radiation

Understanding the biological effects of low-dose (<100 mGy) ionizing radiation (LDR) is technically challenging. We investigated age-dependent LDR effects using adaptive response experiments in young (7-to 12-week-old) and middle-aged (40-to 62-week-old) C57BL/6 mice. Compared with 3 Gy irradiation, 0.02 Gy preirradiation followed by 3 Gy irradiation prolonged life in young mice but not middle-aged mice. Preirradiation also suppressed irradiation-induced 53BP1 repair foci in the small intestines, splenic apoptosis, and p53 activity in young mice but not middle-aged mice. Young p53+/- C57BL/6 mice did not show these adaptive responses, indicating that insufficient p53 function in young mice mitigated the adaptive responses. Interestingly, p53 activation in middle-aged mice spontaneously became approximately 4.5-fold greater than that in young mice, possibly masking LDR stresses. Furthermore, adaptive responses in young mice, but not in middle-aged mice, suppressed some senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) factors (IL-6, CCL2, CCL5, CXCL1). Thus, LDR-induced adaptive responses associated with specific SASP factors may be attenuated by a combination of reduced DNA damage sensor/transducer function and chronic p53 activation in middle-aged mice.

Identification of Potential Biomarkers of Radiation Exposure in Blood Cells by Capillary Electrophoresis Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry

Biodosimetry is a useful method for estimating personal exposure doses to ionizing radiation. Studies have identified metabolites in non-cellular biofluids that can be used as markers in biodosimetry. Levels of metabolites in blood cells may reflect health status or environmental stresses differentially. Here, we report changes in the levels of murine blood cell metabolites following exposure to X-rays in vivo. Levels of blood cell metabolites were measured by capillary electrophoresis time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The levels of 100 metabolites were altered substantially following exposure. We identified 2-aminobutyric acid, 2'-deoxycytidine, and choline as potentially useful markers of radiation exposure and established a potential prediction panel of the exposure dose using stepwise regression. Levels of blood cell metabolites may be useful biomarkers in estimating exposure doses during unexpected radiation incidents.

Radiation-induced malignancies after intensity-modulated versus conventional mediastinal radiotherapy in a small animal model

A long-standing hypothesis in radiotherapy is that intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) increases the risk of second cancer due to low-dose exposure of large volumes of normal tissue. Therefore, young patients are still treated with conventional techniques rather than with modern IMRT. We challenged this hypothesis in first-of-its-kind experiments using an animal model. Cancer-prone Tp53^+/C273X knockout rats received mediastinal irradiation with 3 × 5 or 3 × 8 Gy using volumetric-modulated arc therapy (VMAT, an advanced IMRT) or conventional anterior-posterior/posterior-anterior (AP/PA) beams using non-irradiated rats as controls (n = 15/group, n_total = 90). Tumors were assigned to volumes receiving 90–107%, 50–90%, 5–50%, and <5% of the target dose and characterized by histology and loss-of-heterozygosity (LOH). Irradiated rats predominantly developed lymphomas and sarcomas in areas receiving 50–107% (n = 26) rather than 5–50% (n = 7) of the target dose. Latency was significantly shortened only after 3 × 8 Gy vs. controls (p < 0.0001). The frequency (14/28 vs. 19/29; p = 0.29) and latency (218 vs. 189 days; p = 0.17) of radiation-associated tumors were similar after VMAT vs. AP/PA. LOH was strongly associated with sarcoma but not with treatment. The results do not support the hypothesis that IMRT increases the risk of second cancer. Thus the current practice of withholding dose-sparing IMRT from young patients may need to be re-evaluated.

The influence of Trp53 in the dose response of radiation-induced apoptosis, DNA repair and genomic stability in murine haematopoietic cells

Apoptotic and DNA damage endpoints are frequently used as surrogate markers of cancer risk, and have been well-studied in the Trp53+/- mouse model. We report the effect of differing Trp53 gene status on the dose response of ionizing radiation exposures (0.01-2 Gy), with the unique perspective of determining if effects of gene status remain at extended time points. Here we report no difference in the dose response for radiation-induced DNA double-strand breaks in bone marrow and genomic instability (MN-RET levels) in peripheral blood, between wild-type (Trp53+/+) and heterozygous (Trp53+/-) mice. The dose response for Trp53+/+ mice showed higher initial levels of radiation-induced lymphocyte apoptosis relative to Trp53+/- between 0 and 1 Gy. Although this trend was observed up to 12 hours post-irradiation, both genotypes ultimately reached the same level of apoptosis at 14 hours, suggesting the importance of late-onset p53-independent apoptotic responses in this mouse model. Expected radiation-induced G1 cell cycle delay was observed in Trp53+/+ but not Trp53+/-. Although p53 has an important role in cancer risk, we have shown its influence on radiation dose response can be temporally variable. This research highlights the importance of caution when using haematopoietic endpoints as surrogates to extrapolate radiation-induced cancer risk estimation.

Low-dose radiation exposure and protection against atherosclerosis in ApoE(-/-) mice: the influence of P53 heterozygosity

We recently described the effects of low-dose γ-radiation exposures on atherosclerosis in genetically susceptible (ApoE(-/-)) mice with normal p53 function. Doses as low as 25 mGy, given at either early or late stage disease, generally protected against atherosclerosis in a manner distinctly nonlinear with dose. We now report the influence of low doses (25-500 mGy) on atherosclerosis in ApoE(-/-) mice with reduced p53 function (Trp53(+/-)). Single exposures were given at either low or high dose rate (1 or 150 mGy/min) to female C57BL/6J ApoE(-/-) Trp53(+/-) mice. Mice were exposed at either early stage disease (2 months of age) and examined 3 or 6 months later, or at late stage disease (7 months of age) and examined 2 or 4 months later. In unirradiated mice, reduced p53 functionality elevated serum cholesterol and accelerated both aortic root lesion growth and severity in young mice. Radiation exposure to doses as low as 25 mGy at early stage disease, at either the high or the low dose rate, inhibited lesion growth, decreased lesion frequency and slowed the progression of lesion severity in the aortic root. In contrast, exposure at late stage disease produced generally detrimental effects. Both low-and high-dose-rate exposures accelerated lesion growth and high dose rate exposures also increased serum cholesterol levels. These results show that at early stage disease, reduced p53 function does not influence the protective effects against atherosclerosis of low doses given at low dose rate. In contrast, when exposed to the same doses at late stage disease, reduced p53 function produced detrimental effects, rather than the protective effects seen in Trp53 normal mice. As in the Trp53 normal mice, all effects were highly nonlinear with dose. These results indicate that variations in p53 functionality can dramatically alter the outcome of a low-dose exposure, and that the assumption of a linear response with dose for human populations is probably unwarranted.

Irradiated stem cells and ageing of the haematopoietic system

In the work presented here, changes in haematopoiesis of mice (B6129SF2/J) were studied 1 year after their whole-body exposure to a dose of 7 Gy (72% of mice survived). The irradiated mice were compared with non-irradiated younger (4 months of age) and older (16 months of age) mice. There was a significant increase in the relative abundance of primitive stem cells with long-term capability of the haematopoiesis recovery lin(-)/Sca-1(+)/CD117(+)/CD34(-) in the bone marrow of mice aged 16 months (irradiated and non-irradiated) compared with those aged 4 months. In terms of the ability to respond to further whole-body irradiation at a dose of 1 Gy, the presence of γH2A.X foci was studied in lin(-) bone marrow cells. There was a considerable number of persisting foci in lin(-) stem cells isolated from the bone marrow of the older irradiated mice. In the blood count from the peripheral blood of the older mice (both non-irradiated and irradiated at 7 Gy), there was a significant increase in granulocytes. In the group exposed to 7 Gy, the numbers of thrombocytes significantly increased, and on the contrary, the numbers of erythrocytes, the amount of haemoglobin, and haematocrit significantly decreased.

The dose window for radiation-induced protective adaptive responses

Adaptive responses to low doses of low LET radiation occur in all organisms thus far examined, from single cell lower eukaryotes to mammals. These responses reduce the deleterious consequences of DNA damaging events, including radiation-induced or spontaneous cancer and non-cancer diseases in mice. The adaptive response in mammalian cells and mammals operates within a certain window that can be defined by upper and lower dose thresholds, typically between about 1 and 100 mGy for a single low dose rate exposure. However, these thresholds for protection are not a fixed function of total dose, but also vary with dose rate, additional radiation or non-radiation stressors, tissue type and p53 functional status. Exposures above the upper threshold are generally detrimental, while exposures below the lower threshold may or may not increase either cancer or non-cancer disease risk.