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Carante MP, Embriaco A, Aricò G, Ferrari A, Mairani A, Mein S, Ramos R, Sala P, Ballarini F. Biological effectiveness of He-3 and He-4 ion beams for cancer hadrontherapy: a study based on the BIANCA biophysical model. Phys Med Biol 2021; 66. [PMID: 34507306 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6560/ac25d4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2021] [Accepted: 09/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
While cancer therapy with protons and C-ions is continuously spreading, in the near future patients will be also treated with He-ions which, in comparison to photons, combine the higher precision of protons with the higher relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of C-ions. Similarly to C-ions, also for He-ions the RBE variation along the beam must be known as precisely as possible, especially for active beam delivery systems. In this framework the BIANCA biophysical model, which has already been applied to calculate the RBE along proton and C-ion beams, was extended to4He-ions and, following interface with the FLUKA code, was benchmarked against cell survival data on CHO normal cells and Renca tumour cells irradiated at different positions along therapeutic-like4He-ion beams at the Heidelberg Ion-beam Therapy centre, where the first He-ion patient will be treated soon. Very good agreement between simulations and data was obtained, showing that BIANCA can now be used to predict RBE following irradiation with all ion types that are currently used, or will be used soon, for hadrontherapy. Thanks to the development of a reference simulation database describing V79 cell survival for ion and photon irradiation, these predictions can be cell-type specific because analogous databases can be produced, in principle, for any cell line. Furthermore, survival data on CHO cells irradiated by a He-3 beam were reproduced to compare the biophysical properties of He-4 and He-3 beams, which is currently an open question. This comparison showed that, at the same depth, He-4 beams tend to have a higher RBE with respect to He-3 beams, and that this difference is also modulated by the considered physical dose, as well as the cell radiosensitivity. However, at least for the considered cases, no significant difference was found for the ratio between the RBE-weighted dose in the SOBP and that in the entrance plateau.
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Affiliation(s)
- M P Carante
- INFN (Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics), Sezione di Pavia, via Bassi 6, I-27100 Pavia, Italy.,University of Pavia, Physics Department, via Bassi 6, I-27100 Pavia, Italy
| | - A Embriaco
- INFN (Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics), Sezione di Pavia, via Bassi 6, I-27100 Pavia, Italy
| | - G Aricò
- CERN-European Organization for Nuclear Research, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - A Ferrari
- University Hospital Heidelberg, Germany.,Gangneung-Wonju National University-Gangneung, Republic of Korea
| | - A Mairani
- HIT (Heidelberg Ion-beam Therapy center), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - S Mein
- HIT (Heidelberg Ion-beam Therapy center), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - R Ramos
- INFN (Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics), Sezione di Pavia, via Bassi 6, I-27100 Pavia, Italy
| | - P Sala
- INFN (Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics), Sezione di Milano, via Celoria 16, I-20133 Milano, Italy
| | - F Ballarini
- INFN (Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics), Sezione di Pavia, via Bassi 6, I-27100 Pavia, Italy.,University of Pavia, Physics Department, via Bassi 6, I-27100 Pavia, Italy
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2
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Ramirez Butavand D, Hirsch I, Tomaiuolo M, Moncada D, Viola H, Ballarini F. Novelty Improves the Formation and Persistence of Memory in a Naturalistic School Scenario. Front Psychol 2020; 11:48. [PMID: 32063874 PMCID: PMC7000375 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2019] [Accepted: 01/08/2020] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
One of the top challenges in education and neuroscience consists in translating laboratory results into strategies to improve learning and memory in teaching environments. In that sense, during the last two decades, researchers have discovered specific temporal windows around learning, during which the intervention with some experiences induces modulatory effects on the formation and/or persistence of memory. Based on these results, the aim of the present study was to design a specific strategy to improve the memory of students in a high-school scenario, by assessing the effect of a novel situation experienced close to learning. We found that the long-term memory about a geometrical figure was more precise in the group of students that faced a novel situation 1 h before or after learning the figure than the control group of students who did not face the novelty. This enhancement was probably triggered by processes acting on memory formation mechanisms that remained evident 45 days after learning, indicating that the improvement was sustained over time. In addition, our results showed that novelty no longer improved the memory if it was experienced 4 h before or after learning. However, far beyond this window of efficacy, when it was faced around 10 h after learning, the novel experience improved the memory persistence tested 7 days later. In summary, our findings characterized different temporal windows of the effectiveness of novelty acting on memory processing, providing a simple and inexpensive strategy that could be used to improve memory formation and persistence in high-school students.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Ramirez Butavand
- Laboratorio de Neurociencia Traslacional, Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencias "Dr. Eduardo De Robertis" (IBCN), CONICET - Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - I Hirsch
- Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Laboratorio de Memoria, Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencias "Dr. Eduardo De Robertis" (IBCN), CONICET - Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - M Tomaiuolo
- Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Laboratorio de Memoria, Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencias "Dr. Eduardo De Robertis" (IBCN), CONICET - Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - D Moncada
- Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencias "Dr. Eduardo De Robertis" (IBCN), CONICET - Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - H Viola
- Laboratorio de Memoria, Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencias "Dr. Eduardo De Robertis" (IBCN), CONICET - Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular "Dr. Héctor Maldonado" (FBMC), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - F Ballarini
- Laboratorio de Neurociencia Traslacional, Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencias "Dr. Eduardo De Robertis" (IBCN), CONICET - Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina.,Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Carante MP, Aricò G, Ferrari A, Kozlowska W, Mairani A, Ballarini F. First benchmarking of the BIANCA model for cell survival prediction in a clinical hadron therapy scenario. Phys Med Biol 2019; 64:215008. [PMID: 31569085 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6560/ab490f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
In the framework of RBE modelling for hadron therapy, the BIANCA biophysical model was extended to O-ions and was used to construct a radiobiological database describing the survival of V79 cells as a function of ion type (1 ⩽ Z ⩽ 8) and energy. This database allowed performing RBE predictions in very good agreement with experimental data. A method was then developed to construct analogous databases for different cell lines, starting from the V79 database as a reference. Following interface to the FLUKA Monte Carlo radiation transport code, BIANCA was then applied for the first time to predict cell survival in a typical patient treatment scenario, consisting of two opposing fields of range-equivalent protons or C-ions. The model predictions were found to be in good agreement with CHO cell survival data obtained at the Heidelberg ion-beam therapy (HIT) centre, as well as predictions performed by the local effect model (version LEM IV). This work shows that BIANCA can be used to predict cell survival and RBE not only for V79 and AG01522 cells, as shown previously, but also, in principle, for any cell line of interest. Furthermore, following interface to a transport code like FLUKA, BIANCA can provide predictions of 3D biological dose distributions for hadron therapy treatments, thus laying the foundations for future applications in clinics.
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Affiliation(s)
- M P Carante
- INFN (National Institute of Nuclear Physics), Sezione di Pavia, via Bassi 6, I-27100 Pavia, Italy. Physics Department, University of Pavia, via Bassi 6, I-27100 Pavia, Italy
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Schuemann J, McNamara AL, Warmenhoven JW, Henthorn NT, Kirkby KJ, Merchant MJ, Ingram S, Paganetti H, Held KD, Ramos-Mendez J, Faddegon B, Perl J, Goodhead DT, Plante I, Rabus H, Nettelbeck H, Friedland W, Kundrát P, Ottolenghi A, Baiocco G, Barbieri S, Dingfelder M, Incerti S, Villagrasa C, Bueno M, Bernal MA, Guatelli S, Sakata D, Brown JMC, Francis Z, Kyriakou I, Lampe N, Ballarini F, Carante MP, Davídková M, Štěpán V, Jia X, Cucinotta FA, Schulte R, Stewart RD, Carlson DJ, Galer S, Kuncic Z, Lacombe S, Milligan J, Cho SH, Sawakuchi G, Inaniwa T, Sato T, Li W, Solov'yov AV, Surdutovich E, Durante M, Prise KM, McMahon SJ. A New Standard DNA Damage (SDD) Data Format. Radiat Res 2018; 191:76-92. [PMID: 30407901 DOI: 10.1667/rr15209.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Our understanding of radiation-induced cellular damage has greatly improved over the past few decades. Despite this progress, there are still many obstacles to fully understand how radiation interacts with biologically relevant cellular components, such as DNA, to cause observable end points such as cell killing. Damage in DNA is identified as a major route of cell killing. One hurdle when modeling biological effects is the difficulty in directly comparing results generated by members of different research groups. Multiple Monte Carlo codes have been developed to simulate damage induction at the DNA scale, while at the same time various groups have developed models that describe DNA repair processes with varying levels of detail. These repair models are intrinsically linked to the damage model employed in their development, making it difficult to disentangle systematic effects in either part of the modeling chain. These modeling chains typically consist of track-structure Monte Carlo simulations of the physical interactions creating direct damages to DNA, followed by simulations of the production and initial reactions of chemical species causing so-called "indirect" damages. After the induction of DNA damage, DNA repair models combine the simulated damage patterns with biological models to determine the biological consequences of the damage. To date, the effect of the environment, such as molecular oxygen (normoxic vs. hypoxic), has been poorly considered. We propose a new standard DNA damage (SDD) data format to unify the interface between the simulation of damage induction in DNA and the biological modeling of DNA repair processes, and introduce the effect of the environment (molecular oxygen or other compounds) as a flexible parameter. Such a standard greatly facilitates inter-model comparisons, providing an ideal environment to tease out model assumptions and identify persistent, underlying mechanisms. Through inter-model comparisons, this unified standard has the potential to greatly advance our understanding of the underlying mechanisms of radiation-induced DNA damage and the resulting observable biological effects when radiation parameters and/or environmental conditions change.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Schuemann
- a Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - A L McNamara
- a Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - J W Warmenhoven
- b Division of Cancer Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - N T Henthorn
- b Division of Cancer Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - K J Kirkby
- b Division of Cancer Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - M J Merchant
- b Division of Cancer Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - S Ingram
- b Division of Cancer Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - H Paganetti
- a Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - K D Held
- a Department of Radiation Oncology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - J Ramos-Mendez
- c Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - B Faddegon
- c Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California
| | - J Perl
- d SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California
| | - D T Goodhead
- e Medical Research Council, Harwell, United Kingdom
| | | | - H Rabus
- g Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Braunschweig, Germany.,h Task Group 6.2 "Computational Micro- and Nanodosimetry", European Radiation Dosimetry Group e.V., Neuherberg, Germany
| | - H Nettelbeck
- g Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Braunschweig, Germany.,h Task Group 6.2 "Computational Micro- and Nanodosimetry", European Radiation Dosimetry Group e.V., Neuherberg, Germany
| | - W Friedland
- h Task Group 6.2 "Computational Micro- and Nanodosimetry", European Radiation Dosimetry Group e.V., Neuherberg, Germany.,i Institute of Radiation Protection, Helmholtz Zentrum München - German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany
| | - P Kundrát
- i Institute of Radiation Protection, Helmholtz Zentrum München - German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany
| | - A Ottolenghi
- j Physics Department, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - G Baiocco
- h Task Group 6.2 "Computational Micro- and Nanodosimetry", European Radiation Dosimetry Group e.V., Neuherberg, Germany.,j Physics Department, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - S Barbieri
- h Task Group 6.2 "Computational Micro- and Nanodosimetry", European Radiation Dosimetry Group e.V., Neuherberg, Germany.,j Physics Department, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - M Dingfelder
- k Department of Physics, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina
| | - S Incerti
- l CNRS, IN2P3, CENBG, UMR 5797, F-33170 Gradignan, France.,m University of Bordeaux, CENBG, UMR 5797, F-33170 Gradignan, France
| | - C Villagrasa
- h Task Group 6.2 "Computational Micro- and Nanodosimetry", European Radiation Dosimetry Group e.V., Neuherberg, Germany.,n Institut de Radioprotection et Sûreté Nucléaire, F-92262 Fontenay aux Roses Cedex, France
| | - M Bueno
- n Institut de Radioprotection et Sûreté Nucléaire, F-92262 Fontenay aux Roses Cedex, France
| | - M A Bernal
- o Applied Physics Department, Gleb Wataghin Institute of Physics, State University of Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil
| | - S Guatelli
- p Centre for Medical Radiation Physics, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
| | - D Sakata
- p Centre for Medical Radiation Physics, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
| | - J M C Brown
- q Department of Radiation Science and Technology, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands
| | - Z Francis
- r Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Saint Joseph University, Beirut, Lebanon
| | - I Kyriakou
- s Medical Physics Laboratory, University of Ioannina Medical School, Ioannina, Greece
| | - N Lampe
- l CNRS, IN2P3, CENBG, UMR 5797, F-33170 Gradignan, France
| | - F Ballarini
- j Physics Department, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.,t Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics, Section of Pavia, I-27100 Pavia, Italy
| | - M P Carante
- j Physics Department, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.,t Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics, Section of Pavia, I-27100 Pavia, Italy
| | - M Davídková
- u Department of Radiation Dosimetry, Nuclear Physics Institute of the CAS, Řež, Czech Republic
| | - V Štěpán
- u Department of Radiation Dosimetry, Nuclear Physics Institute of the CAS, Řež, Czech Republic
| | - X Jia
- v Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas
| | - F A Cucinotta
- w Health Physics and Diagnostic Sciences, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada
| | - R Schulte
- x Division of Biomedical Engineering Sciences, School of Medicine, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California
| | - R D Stewart
- y Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
| | - D J Carlson
- z Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
| | - S Galer
- aa Medical Radiation Science Group, National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, United Kingdom
| | - Z Kuncic
- bb School of Physics, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - S Lacombe
- cc Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d'Orsay (UMR 8214) University Paris-Sud, CNRS, University Paris-Saclay, 91405 Orsay Cedex, France
| | | | - S H Cho
- ee Department of Radiation Physics and Imaging Physics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
| | - G Sawakuchi
- ee Department of Radiation Physics and Imaging Physics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
| | - T Inaniwa
- ff Department of Accelerator and Medical Physics, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba, Japan
| | - T Sato
- gg Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Nuclear Science and Engineering Center, Tokai 319-1196, Japan
| | - W Li
- i Institute of Radiation Protection, Helmholtz Zentrum München - German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, Germany.,hh Task Group 7.7 "Internal Micro- and Nanodosimetry", European Radiation Dosimetry Group e.V., Neuherberg, Germany
| | - A V Solov'yov
- ii MBN Research Center, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - E Surdutovich
- jj Department of Physics, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan
| | - M Durante
- kk GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung, Biophysics Department, Darmstadt, Germany
| | - K M Prise
- ll Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology, Queens University Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom
| | - S J McMahon
- ll Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology, Queens University Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom
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Lopes da Cunha P, Ramirez Butavand D, Chisari LB, Ballarini F, Viola H. Exams at classroom have bidirectional effects on the long-term memory of an unrelated graphical task. NPJ Sci Learn 2018; 3:19. [PMID: 30631480 PMCID: PMC6220208 DOI: 10.1038/s41539-018-0036-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2018] [Revised: 09/13/2018] [Accepted: 09/18/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
The influence of a given event on long-term memory formation of another one has been a relevant topic of study in the neuroscience field in recent years. Students at school learn contents which are usually tested in exam format. However, exam elevates the arousal state of the students acting as a mild stressor that could influence another memory formation ongoing process. Thus, in this study we examine in high school students the effect of exams on long-term retention of unrelated information, learned at different times before or after the exams. Our results show that exams are not innocuous and that they could improve or reduce the retention of temporarily associated content. These effects did not show gender differences. Our findings should alert teachers about the side effects of exams on the learning of other content within the same school day.
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Affiliation(s)
- P. Lopes da Cunha
- Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Laboratorio de Memoria, Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencias “Dr Eduardo De Robertis” (IBCN), CONICET- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - D. Ramirez Butavand
- Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Laboratorio de Neurociencia Traslacional, Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencias “Dr Eduardo De Robertis” (IBCN), CONICET- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Present Address: Instituto de Neurociencia Cognitiva y Traslacional (INCyT), Universidad de Favaloro, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - L. B. Chisari
- Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Laboratorio de Memoria, Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencias “Dr Eduardo De Robertis” (IBCN), CONICET- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - F. Ballarini
- Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Laboratorio de Neurociencia Traslacional, Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencias “Dr Eduardo De Robertis” (IBCN), CONICET- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - H. Viola
- Laboratorio de Memoria, Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencias “Dr Eduardo De Robertis” (IBCN), CONICET- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular “Dr. Héctor Maldonado” (FBMC), Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Carante M, Ballarini F. EP-1606: Calculating ion-induced cell death and chromosome damage by the BIANCA biophysical model. Radiother Oncol 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/s0167-8140(17)32041-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Ballarini F, Altieri S, Bortolussi S, Carante M, Giroletti E, Protti N. The role of DNA cluster damage and chromosome aberrations in radiation-induced cell killing: a theoretical approach. Radiat Prot Dosimetry 2015; 166:75-79. [PMID: 25877543 DOI: 10.1093/rpd/ncv135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
The role played by DNA cluster damage and chromosome aberrations in radiation-induced cell killing was investigated, assuming that certain chromosome aberrations (dicentrics, rings and large deletions, or 'lethal aberrations') lead to clonogenic inactivation and that chromosome aberrations are due to micrometre-scale rejoining of chromosome fragments derived from DNA cluster lesions (CLs). The CL yield and the threshold distance governing fragment rejoining were left as model parameters. The model, implemented as a Monte Carlo code called BIANCA (BIophysical ANalysis of Cell death and chromosome Aberrations), provided simulated survival curves that were compared with survival data on AG1522 and V79 cells exposed to different radiation types, including heavy ions. The agreement between simulation outcomes and experimental data suggests that lethal aberrations are likely to play an important role in cell killing not only for AG1522 cells exposed to X rays, as already reported by others, but also for other radiation types and other cells. Furthermore, the results are consistent with the hypothesis that the critical DNA lesions leading to cell death and chromosome aberrations are double-strand break clusters (possibly involving the ∼1000-10 000 bp scale) and that the effects of such clusters are modulated by micrometre-scale proximity effects during DNA damage processing.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Ballarini
- Department of Physics, University of Pavia, and INFN, Sezione di Pavia, via Bassi 6, Pavia, Italy
| | - S Altieri
- Department of Physics, University of Pavia, and INFN, Sezione di Pavia, via Bassi 6, Pavia, Italy
| | - S Bortolussi
- Department of Physics, University of Pavia, and INFN, Sezione di Pavia, via Bassi 6, Pavia, Italy
| | - M Carante
- Department of Physics, University of Pavia, and INFN, Sezione di Pavia, via Bassi 6, Pavia, Italy
| | - E Giroletti
- Department of Physics, University of Pavia, and INFN, Sezione di Pavia, via Bassi 6, Pavia, Italy
| | - N Protti
- Department of Physics, University of Pavia, and INFN, Sezione di Pavia, via Bassi 6, Pavia, Italy
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Protti N, Geninatti-Crich S, Alberti D, Lanzardo S, Deagostino A, Toppino A, Aime S, Ballarini F, Bortolussi S, Bruschi P, Postuma I, Altieri S, Nikjoo H. Evaluation of the dose enhancement of combined ¹⁰B + ¹⁵⁷Gd neutron capture therapy (NCT). Radiat Prot Dosimetry 2015; 166:369-73. [PMID: 26246584 DOI: 10.1093/rpd/ncv300] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
An innovative molecule, GdBLDL, for boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) has been developed and its effectiveness as a BNCT carrier is currently under evaluation using in vivo experiments on small animal tumour models. The molecule contains both (10)B (the most commonly used NCT agent) and (157)Gd nuclei. (157)Gd is the second most studied element to perform NCT, mainly thanks to its high cross section for the capture of low-energy neutrons. The main drawback of (157)Gd neutron capture reaction is the very short range and low-energy secondary charged particles (Auger electrons), which requires (157)Gd to be very close to the cellular DNA to have an appreciable biological effect. Treatment doses were calculated by Monte Carlo simulations to ensure the optimised tumour irradiation and the sparing of the healthy organs of the irradiated animals. The enhancement of the absorbed dose due to the simultaneous presence of (10)B and (157)Gd in the experimental set-up was calculated and the advantage introduced by the presence of (157)Gd was discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- N Protti
- Department of Physics, University of Pavia, via Bassi 6, Pavia 27100, Italy National Institute of Nuclear Physics INFN, Section of Pavia, via Bassi 6, Pavia 27100, Italy
| | - S Geninatti-Crich
- Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences, University of Torino, via Nizza 52, Torino 10126, Italy
| | - D Alberti
- Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences, University of Torino, via Nizza 52, Torino 10126, Italy
| | - S Lanzardo
- Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences, University of Torino, via Nizza 52, Torino 10126, Italy
| | - A Deagostino
- Department of Chemistry, University of Torino, via P.Giuria 7, Torino 10125, Italy
| | - A Toppino
- Department of Chemistry, University of Torino, via P.Giuria 7, Torino 10125, Italy
| | - S Aime
- Department of Molecular Biotechnology and Health Sciences, University of Torino, via Nizza 52, Torino 10126, Italy
| | - F Ballarini
- Department of Physics, University of Pavia, via Bassi 6, Pavia 27100, Italy National Institute of Nuclear Physics INFN, Section of Pavia, via Bassi 6, Pavia 27100, Italy
| | - S Bortolussi
- Department of Physics, University of Pavia, via Bassi 6, Pavia 27100, Italy National Institute of Nuclear Physics INFN, Section of Pavia, via Bassi 6, Pavia 27100, Italy
| | - P Bruschi
- Department of Physics, University of Pavia, via Bassi 6, Pavia 27100, Italy
| | - I Postuma
- Department of Physics, University of Pavia, via Bassi 6, Pavia 27100, Italy National Institute of Nuclear Physics INFN, Section of Pavia, via Bassi 6, Pavia 27100, Italy
| | - S Altieri
- Department of Physics, University of Pavia, via Bassi 6, Pavia 27100, Italy National Institute of Nuclear Physics INFN, Section of Pavia, via Bassi 6, Pavia 27100, Italy
| | - H Nikjoo
- Department of Oncology-Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm SE171 76, Sweden
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Carante MP, Altieri S, Bortolussi S, Postuma I, Protti N, Ballarini F. Modeling radiation-induced cell death: role of different levels of DNA damage clustering. Radiat Environ Biophys 2015; 54:305-316. [PMID: 25956821 DOI: 10.1007/s00411-015-0601-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2015] [Accepted: 04/28/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Some open questions on the mechanisms underlying radiation-induced cell death were addressed by a biophysical model, focusing on DNA damage clustering and its consequences. DNA "cluster lesions" (CLs) were assumed to produce independent chromosome fragments that, if created within a micrometer-scale threshold distance (d), can lead to chromosome aberrations following mis-rejoining; in turn, certain aberrations (dicentrics, rings and large deletions) were assumed to lead to clonogenic cell death. The CL yield and d were the only adjustable parameters. The model, implemented as a Monte Carlo code called BIophysical ANalysis of Cell death and chromosome Aberrations (BIANCA), provided simulated survival curves that were directly compared with experimental data on human and hamster cells exposed to photons, protons, α-particles and heavier ions including carbon and iron. d = 5 μm, independent of radiation quality, and CL yields in the range ~2-20 CLs Gy(-1) cell(-1), depending on particle type and energy, led to good agreement between simulations and data. This supports the hypothesis of a pivotal role of DNA cluster damage at sub-micrometric scale, modulated by chromosome fragment mis-rejoining at micrometric scale. To investigate the features of such critical damage, the CL yields were compared with experimental or theoretical yields of DNA fragments of different sizes, focusing on the base-pair scale (related to the so-called local clustering), the kbp scale ("regional clustering") and the Mbp scale, corresponding to chromatin loops. Interestingly, the CL yields showed better agreement with kbp fragments rather than bp fragments or Mbp fragments; this suggests that also regional clustering, in addition to other clustering levels, may play an important role, possibly due to its relationship with nucleosome organization in the chromatin fiber.
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Affiliation(s)
- M P Carante
- Physics Department, University of Pavia, Via Bassi 6, 27100, Pavia, Italy
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Cansolino L, Clerici AM, Zonta C, Dionigi P, Mazzini G, Di Liberto R, Altieri S, Ballarini F, Bortolussi S, Carante MP, Ferrari M, González SJ, Postuma I, Protti N, Santa Cruz GA, Ferrari C. Comparative study of the radiobiological effects induced on adherent vs suspended cells by BNCT, neutrons and gamma rays treatments. Appl Radiat Isot 2015; 106:226-32. [PMID: 26256647 DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2015.07.054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2015] [Revised: 06/26/2015] [Accepted: 07/29/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
The present work is part of a preclinical in vitro study to assess the efficacy of BNCT applied to liver or lung coloncarcinoma metastases and to limb osteosarcoma. Adherent growing cell lines can be irradiated as adherent to the culture flasks or as cell suspensions, differences in radio-sensitivity of the two modalities of radiation exposure have been investigated. Dose related cell survival and cell cycle perturbation results evidenced that the radiosensitivity of adherent cells is higher than that of the suspended ones.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Cansolino
- Department of Clinic-Surgical Sciences, Experimental Surgery Laboratory, University of Pavia, Italy; IRCCS S. Matteo Hospital, Pavia, Italy
| | - A M Clerici
- Department of Clinic-Surgical Sciences, Experimental Surgery Laboratory, University of Pavia, Italy
| | - C Zonta
- Department of Clinic-Surgical Sciences, Experimental Surgery Laboratory, University of Pavia, Italy
| | - P Dionigi
- Department of Clinic-Surgical Sciences, Experimental Surgery Laboratory, University of Pavia, Italy; IRCCS S. Matteo Hospital, Pavia, Italy
| | - G Mazzini
- IGM-CNR and Department of Biology and Biotechnologies "L. Spallanzani", University of Pavia, Italy
| | | | - S Altieri
- Department of Physics, University of Pavia, Italy; INFN (National Institute of Nuclear Physics) Section of Pavia, Italy
| | - F Ballarini
- Department of Physics, University of Pavia, Italy; INFN (National Institute of Nuclear Physics) Section of Pavia, Italy
| | - S Bortolussi
- INFN (National Institute of Nuclear Physics) Section of Pavia, Italy
| | - M P Carante
- Department of Physics, University of Pavia, Italy; INFN (National Institute of Nuclear Physics) Section of Pavia, Italy
| | - M Ferrari
- Department of Physics, University of Pavia, Italy; INFN (National Institute of Nuclear Physics) Section of Pavia, Italy
| | - S J González
- Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica (CNEA), Buenos Aires, Argentina; CONICET, Argentina
| | - I Postuma
- Department of Physics, University of Pavia, Italy; INFN (National Institute of Nuclear Physics) Section of Pavia, Italy
| | - N Protti
- Department of Physics, University of Pavia, Italy; INFN (National Institute of Nuclear Physics) Section of Pavia, Italy
| | - G A Santa Cruz
- Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica (CNEA), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - C Ferrari
- Department of Clinic-Surgical Sciences, Experimental Surgery Laboratory, University of Pavia, Italy.
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Ballarini F, Bakeine J, Bortolussi S, Bruschi P, Cansolino L, Clerici AM, Ferrari C, Protti N, Stella S, Zonta A, Zonta C, Altieri S. Cell death following BNCT: a theoretical approach based on Monte Carlo simulations. Appl Radiat Isot 2011; 69:1745-7. [PMID: 21481595 DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2011.03.030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2010] [Revised: 03/02/2011] [Accepted: 03/18/2011] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
In parallel to boron measurements and animal studies, investigations on radiation-induced cell death are also in progress in Pavia, with the aim of better characterisation of the effects of a BNCT treatment down to the cellular level. Such studies are being carried out not only experimentally but also theoretically, based on a mechanistic model and a Monte Carlo code. Such model assumes that: (1) only clustered DNA strand breaks can lead to chromosome aberrations; (2) only chromosome fragments within a certain threshold distance can undergo misrejoining; (3) the so-called "lethal aberrations" (dicentrics, rings and large deletions) lead to cell death. After applying the model to normal cells exposed to monochromatic fields of different radiation types, the irradiation section of the code was purposely extended to mimic the cell exposure to a mixed radiation field produced by the (10)B(n,α) (7)Li reaction, which gives rise to alpha particles and Li ions of short range and high biological effectiveness, and by the (14)N(n,p)(14)C reaction, which produces 0.58 MeV protons. Very good agreement between model predictions and literature data was found for human and animal cells exposed to X- or gamma-rays, protons and alpha particles, thus allowing to validate the model for cell death induced by monochromatic radiation fields. The model predictions showed good agreement also with experimental data obtained by our group exposing DHD cells to thermal neutrons in the TRIGA Mark II reactor of the University of Pavia; this allowed to validate the model also for a BNCT exposure scenario, providing a useful predictive tool to bridge the gap between irradiation and cell death.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Ballarini
- University of Pavia, Department of Nuclear and Theoretical Physics, Pavia, Italy.
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Ballarini F, Bortolussi S, Clerici AM, Ferrari C, Protti N, Altieri S. From radiation-induced chromosome damage to cell death: modelling basic mechanisms and applications to boron neutron capture therapy. Radiat Prot Dosimetry 2011; 143:523-527. [PMID: 21159746 DOI: 10.1093/rpd/ncq466] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
Cell death is a crucial endpoint in radiation-induced biological damage: on one side, cell death is a reference endpoint to characterise the action of radiation in biological targets; on the other side, any cancer therapy aims to kill tumour cells. Starting from Lea's target theory, many models have been proposed to interpret radiation-induced cell killing; after briefly discussing some of these models, in this paper, a mechanistic approach based on an experimentally observed link between chromosome aberrations and cell death was presented. More specifically, a model and a Monte Carlo code originally developed for chromosome aberrations were extended to simulate radiation-induced cell death applying an experimentally observed one-to-one relationship between the average number of 'lethal aberrations' (dicentrics, rings and deletions) per cell and -ln S, S being the fraction of surviving cells. Although such observation was related to X rays, in the present work, the approach was also applied to protons and alpha particles. A good agreement between simulation outcomes and literature data provided a model validation for different radiation types. The same approach was then successfully applied to simulate the survival of cells enriched with boron and irradiated with thermal neutrons at the Triga Mark II reactor in Pavia, to mimic a typical treatment for boron neutron capture therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Ballarini
- Department of Nuclear and Theoretical Physics, University of Pavia, INFN-Pavia, via Bassi 6, I-27100 Pavia, Italy.
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Bortolussi S, Bakeine J, Ballarini F, Bruschi P, Gadan M, Protti N, Stella S, Clerici A, Ferrari C, Cansolino L, Zonta C, Zonta A, Nano R, Altieri S. Boron uptake measurements in a rat model for Boron Neutron Capture Therapy of lung tumours. Appl Radiat Isot 2011; 69:394-8. [DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2010.11.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2010] [Revised: 10/16/2010] [Accepted: 11/19/2010] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Ferrari C, Bakeine J, Ballarini F, Boninella A, Bortolussi S, Bruschi P, Cansolino L, Clerici AM, Coppola A, Di Liberto R, Dionigi P, Protti N, Stella S, Zonta A, Zonta C, Altieri S. In vitro and in vivo studies of boron neutron capture therapy: boron uptake/washout and cell death. Radiat Res 2010; 175:452-62. [PMID: 21133762 DOI: 10.1667/rr2156.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is a binary radiotherapy based on thermal-neutron irradiation of cells enriched with (10)B, which produces α particles and (7)Li ions of short range and high biological effectiveness. The selective uptake of boron by tumor cells is a crucial issue for BNCT, and studies of boron uptake and washout associated with cell survival studies can be of great help in developing clinical applications. In this work, boron uptake and washout were characterized both in vitro for the DHDK12TRb (DHD) rat colon carcinoma cell line and in vivo using rats bearing liver metastases from DHD cells. Despite a remarkable uptake, a large boron release was observed after removal of the boron-enriched medium from in vitro cell cultures. However, analysis of boron washout after rat liver perfusion in vivo did not show a significant boron release, suggesting that organ perfusion does not limit the therapeutic effectiveness of the treatment. The survival of boron-loaded cells exposed to thermal neutrons was also assessed; the results indicated that the removal of extracellular boron does not limit treatment effectiveness if adequate amounts of boron are delivered and if the cells are kept at low temperature. Cell survival was also investigated theoretically using a mechanistic model/Monte Carlo code originally developed for radiation-induced chromosome aberrations and extended here to cell death; good agreement between simulation outcomes and experimental data was obtained.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Ferrari
- University of Pavia, Department of Surgery, Experimental Surgery Laboratory, Pavia, Italy
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Campa A, Ballarini F, Belli M, Cherubini R, Dini V, Esposito G, Friedland W, Gerardi S, Molinelli S, Ottolenghi A, Paretzke H, Simone G, Tabocchini MA. DNA DSB induced in human cells by charged particles and gamma rays: Experimental results and theoretical approaches. Int J Radiat Biol 2009; 81:841-54. [PMID: 16484153 DOI: 10.1080/09553000500530888] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE To quantify the role played by radiation track structure and background fragments in modulating DNA fragmentation in human cells exposed to gamma-rays and light ions. MATERIALS AND METHODS Human fibroblasts were exposed in vitro to different doses (in the range from 40 - 200 Gy) of (60)Co gamma-rays and 0.84 MeV protons (Linear Energy Transfer, LET, in tissue 28.5 keV/microm). The resulting DNA fragments were scored under two electrophoretic conditions, in order to optimize separation in the size ranges 0.023 - 1.0 Mbp and 1.0 - 5.7 Mbp. In parallel, DNA fragmentation was simulated both with a phenomenological approach based on the "generalized broken-stick" model, and with a mechanistic approach based on the PARTRAC (acronym of PARticle TRACk) Monte Carlo code (1.32 MeV photons were used for the simulation of (60)Co gamma-rays). RESULTS For both gamma-rays and protons, the experimental dose response in the range 0.023 - 5.7 Mbp could be approximated as a straight line, the slope of which provided a yield of (5.3 +/- 0.4) x 10(-9) Gy(-1) bp(-1) for gamma-rays and (7.1 +/- 0.6) x 10(-9) Gy(-1) bp(-1) for protons, leading to a Relative Biological Effectiveness (RBE) of 1.3 +/- 0.2. From both theoretical analyses it appeared that, while gamma-ray data were consistent with double-strand breaks (DSB) random induction, protons at low doses showed significant deviation from randomness, implying enhanced production of small fragments in the low molecular weight part of the experimental range. The theoretical analysis of fragment production was then extended to ranges where data were not available, i.e. to fragments larger than 5.7 Mbp and smaller than 23 kbp. The main outcome was that small fragments (<23 kbp) are produced almost exclusively via non-random processes, since their number is considerably higher than that produced by a random insertion of DSB. Furthermore, for protons the number of these small fragments is a significant fraction (about 20%) of the total number of fragments; these fragments remain undetected in these experiments. Calculations for 3.3 MeV alpha particle irradiation (for which no experimental data were available) were performed to further investigate the role of fragments smaller than 23 kbp; in this case, besides the non-random character of their production, their number resulted to be at least as much as half of the total number of fragments. CONCLUSION Comparison between experimental data and two different theoretical approaches provided further support to the hypothesis of an important role of track structure in modulating DNA damage. According to the theoretical approaches, non-randomness of fragment production was found for proton irradiation for the smaller fragments in the experimental size range and, in a significantly larger extent, for fragments of size less than 23 kbp, both for protons and alpha particles.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Campa
- Health and Technology Department, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, INFN Sezione di Roma1, Gruppo Collegato Sanità, Roma, Italy.
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Protti N, Bortolussi S, Stella S, Gadan M, De Bari A, Ballarini F, Bruschi P, Ferrari C, Clerici A, Zonta C, Bakeine J, Dionigi P, Zonta A, Altieri S. Calculations of dose distributions in the lungs of a rat model irradiated in the thermal column of the TRIGA reactor in Pavia. Appl Radiat Isot 2009; 67:S210-3. [DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2009.03.052] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Campa A, Alloni D, Antonelli F, Ballarini F, Belli M, Dini V, Esposito G, Facoetti A, Friedland W, Furusawa Y, Liotta M, Ottolenghi A, Paretzke HG, Simone G, Sorrentino E, Tabocchini MA. DNA Fragmentation Induced in Human Fibroblasts by56Fe Ions: Experimental Data and Monte Carlo Simulations. Radiat Res 2009; 171:438-45. [DOI: 10.1667/rr1442.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Garzelli MV, Ballarini F, Battistoni G, Cerutti F, Fassò A, Ferrari A, Gadioli E, Ottolenghi A, Pinsky LS, Sala PR, Ranft J. Heavy-ion collisions: preliminary results of a new QMD model coupled with FLUKA. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2006. [DOI: 10.1088/1742-6596/41/1/059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
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Ballarini F, Alloni D, Battistoni G, Cerutti F, Ferrari A, Gadioli E, Garzelli MV, Liotta M, Mairani A, Ottolenghi A, Paretzke HG, Parini V, Pelliccioni M, Pinsky L, Sala P, Scannicchio D, Trovati S, Zankl M. Modelling human exposure to space radiation with different shielding: the FLUKA code coupled with anthropomorphic phantoms. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2006. [DOI: 10.1088/1742-6596/41/1/012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
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Cerutti F, Ballarini F, Battistoni G, Colleoni P, Ferrari A, Förtsch SV, Gadioli E, Garzelli MV, Mairani A, Ottolenghi A, Pepe A, Pinsky LS, Sala PR, Scannicchio D, Steyn GF. Carbon induced reactions at low incident energies. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2006. [DOI: 10.1088/1742-6596/41/1/021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
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Facoetti A, Ballarini F, Cherubini R, Gerardi S, Nano R, Ottolenghi A, Prise KM, Trott KR, Zilio C. Gamma ray-induced bystander effect in tumour glioblastoma cells: a specific study on cell survival, cytokine release and cytokine receptors. Radiat Prot Dosimetry 2006; 122:271-4. [PMID: 17251249 DOI: 10.1093/rpd/ncl431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
Recent experimental evidence has challenged the paradigm according to which radiation traversal through the nucleus of a cell is a prerequisite for producing genetic changes or biological responses. Thus, unexposed cells in the vicinity of directly irradiated cells or recipient cells of medium from irradiated cultures can also be affected. The aim of the present study was to evaluate, by means of the medium transfer technique, whether interleukin-8 and its receptor (CXCR1) may play a role in the bystander effect after gamma irradiation of T98G cells in vitro. In fact the cell specificity in inducing the bystander effect and in receiving the secreted signals that has been described suggests that not only the ability to release the cytokines but also the receptor profiles are likely to modulate the cell responses and the final outcome. The dose and time dependence of the cytokine release into the medium, quantified using an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay, showed that radiation causes alteration in the release of interleukin-8 from exposed cells in a dose-independent but time-dependent manner. The relative receptor expression was also affected in exposed and bystander cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Facoetti
- Department of Animal Biology, University of Pavia, Piazza Botta 10, 27100 Pavia, Italy.
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Trovati S, Ballarini F, Battistoni G, Cerutti F, Fassò A, Ferrari A, Gadioli E, Garzelli MV, Mairani A, Ottolenghi A, Paretzke HG, Parini V, Pelliccioni M, Pinsky L, Sala PR, Scannicchio D, Zankl M. Human exposure to space radiation: role of primary and secondary particles. Radiat Prot Dosimetry 2006; 122:362-6. [PMID: 17151013 DOI: 10.1093/rpd/ncl438] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
Human exposure to space radiation implies two kinds of risk, both stochastic and deterministic. Shielding optimisation therefore represents a crucial goal for long-term missions, especially in deep space. In this context, the use of radiation transport codes coupled with anthropomorphic phantoms allows to simulate typical radiation exposures for astronauts behind different shielding, and to calculate doses to different organs. In this work, the FLUKA Monte Carlo code and two phantoms, a mathematical model and a voxel model, were used, taking the Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR) spectra from the model of Badhwar and O'Neill. The time integral spectral proton fluence of the August 1972 Solar Particle Event (SPE) was represented by an exponential function. For each aluminium shield thickness, besides total doses the contributions from primary and secondary particles for different organs and tissues were calculated separately. More specifically, organ-averaged absorbed doses, dose equivalents and a form of 'biological dose', defined on the basis of initial (clustered) DNA damage, were calculated. As expected, the SPE doses dramatically decreased with increasing shielding, and doses in internal organs were lower than in skin. The contribution of secondary particles to SPE doses was almost negligible; however it is of note that, at high shielding (10 g cm(-2)), most of the secondaries are neutrons. GCR organ doses remained roughly constant with increasing Al shielding. In contrast to SPE results, for the case of cosmic rays, secondary particles accounted for a significant fraction of the total dose.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Trovati
- Department of Nuclear and Theoretical Physics, University of Pavia, via Bassi 6, 27100 Pavia, Italy.
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Ballarini F, Alloni D, Facoetti A, Mairani A, Nano R, Ottolenghi A. Modelling radiation-induced bystander effect and cellular communication. Radiat Prot Dosimetry 2006; 122:244-51. [PMID: 17142819 DOI: 10.1093/rpd/ncl446] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
In the last 10 years evidence has accumulated on the so-called radiation-induced 'non-targeted effects' and in particular on bystander effects, consisting of damage induction in non-irradiated cells most likely following the release of soluble factors by the irradiated ones. These phenomena were observed for different biological endpoints, both lethal and non-lethal for the cell. Although the underlying mechanisms are largely unknown, it is now widely recognised that two types of cellular communication (i.e. via gap junctions and/or release of molecular messengers into the extracellular environment) play a pivotal role. Furthermore, the effects can be significantly modulated by parameters such as cell type and cell-cycle stage, cell density, time after irradiation etc. Theoretical models and simulation codes can be of help to improve our knowledge of the mechanisms, as well as to investigate the possible role of these effects in determining deviations from the linear relationship between dose and risk which is generally applied in radiation protection. In this paper three models, including an approach under development at the University of Pavia, will be presented in detail. The focus will be on the various adopted assumptions, together with their implications in terms of non-targeted radiobiological damage and, more generally, low-dose radiation risk. Comparisons with experimental data will also be discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Ballarini
- Dipartimento di Fisica Nucleare e Teorica, Università degli Studi di Pavia, via Bassi 6, 27100 Pavia, Italy.
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Alloni D, Ballarini F, Friedland W, Liotta M, Molinelli S, Ottolenghi A, Paretzke HG, Rossetti M. Role of DNA/chromatin organisation and scavenging capacity in USX- and proton- induced DNA damage. Radiat Prot Dosimetry 2006; 122:141-6. [PMID: 17284477 DOI: 10.1093/rpd/ncl419] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
DNA higher-order structures and (non-histonic) *;OH radical scavengers have well known protective effects in the induction of single- and double-strand breaks by ionising radiation. In a previous work, such protective roles have been quantified for gamma radiation (Valota et al., Int. J. Radiat. Biol. 79, 2003). As a starting base for the simulations, we used the PARTRAC Monte Carlo code, developed within a collaboration involving the University of Pavia and the GSF institute. The code can reproduce the track structure of photons, electrons, protons and heavier ions in liquid water, and it can simulate the DNA content of a human cell at different organisation levels, based on an atom-by-atom approach. In this work we extended the calculations to Ultra-Soft X rays (USX) and protons, separately analysing the effects of different radiation types on various DNA structures (i.e. linear DNA, SV40 'minichromosomes' and compact chromatin) as a function of the *OH scavenging capacity (SC). Both for USX and protons, the calculated damage yields decreased by increasing the SC for the three considered target types. Such decrease can be ascribed to the competition between the reactions *OH-DNA and *OH-scavenger, which becomes more and more likely by increasing the SC. Furthermore, linear DNA was found to be more radiosensitive than SV40 'minichromosomes', which in turn were more radiosensitive than compact chromatin, which is protected by histones. Comparisons with experimental data by Fulford et al. (Int. J. Radiat. Biol. 77, 2001) relative to USX irradiation showed very good agreement. The dependence of the modulating role played by DNA organisation and scavenging capacity on radiation quality is presented and discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Alloni
- Department of Nuclear and Theoretical Physics, University of Pavia, Via Bassi 6, Pavia 27100, Italy.
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25
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Aiginger H, Andersen V, Ballarini F, Battistoni G, Campanella M, Carboni M, Cerutti F, Empl A, Enghardt W, Fassò A, Ferrari A, Gadioli E, Garzelli MV, Lee K, Ottolenghi A, Parodi K, Pelliccioni M, Pinsky L, Ranft J, Roesler S, Sala PR, Scannicchio D, Smirnov G, Sommerer F, Wilson T, Zapp N. The FLUKA code: new developments and application to 1 GeV/n iron beams. Adv Space Res 2005; 35:214-22. [PMID: 15934197 DOI: 10.1016/j.asr.2005.01.090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/02/2023]
Abstract
The modeling of ion transport and interactions in matter is a subject of growing interest, driven by the continuous increase of possible application fields. These include hadron therapy, dosimetry, and space missions, but there are also several issues involving fundamental research, accelerator physics, and cosmic ray physics, where a reliable description of heavy ion induced cascades is important. In the present work, the capabilities of the FLUKA code for ion beams will be briefly recalled and some recent developments presented. Applications of the code to the simulation of therapeutic carbon, nitrogen and oxygen ion beams, and of iron beams, which are of direct interest for space mission related experiments, will be also presented together with interesting consideration relative to the evaluation of dosimetric quantities. Both applications involve ion beams in the AGeV range.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Aiginger
- Vienna University of Technology, Austria
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Andersen V, Ballarini F, Battistoni G, Cerutti F, Empl A, Fassò A, Ferrari A, Garzelli MV, Ottolenghi A, Paretzke H, Pinsky L, Ranft J, Sala P, Wilson T, Zankl M. The application of FLUKA to dosimetry and radiation therapy. Radiat Prot Dosimetry 2005; 116:113-7. [PMID: 16604609 DOI: 10.1093/rpd/nci040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
The FLUKA Monte Carlo code has been evolving over the last several decades and is now widely used for radiation shielding calculations. In order to facilitate the use of FLUKA in dosimetry and therapy applications, supporting software has been developed to allow the direct conversion of the output files from standard CT-scans directly into a voxel geometry for transport within FLUKA. Since the CT-scan information essentially contains only the electron density information over the scanned volume, one needs the specific compositions for each voxel individually. We present here the results of a simple algorithm to assign tissues in the human body to one of four categories: soft-tissue, hard-bone, trabecular-bone and porous-lung. In addition, we explore the problem of the pathlength distributions in porous media such as trabecular bone. A mechanism will be implemented within FLUKA to allow for variable multipal fixed density materials to accommodate the pathlength distributions discovered.
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Ballarini F, Ottolenghi A. Models of chromosome aberration induction: an example based on radiation track structure. Cytogenet Genome Res 2004; 104:149-56. [PMID: 15162029 DOI: 10.1159/000077480] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2003] [Accepted: 11/10/2003] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
A few examples of models of chromosome aberration induction are summarised and discussed on the basis of the three main theories of aberration formation, that is "breakage-and-reunion", "exchange" and "one-hit". A model and code developed at the Universities of Milan and Pavia is then presented in detail. The model provides dose-response curves for different aberration types (dicentrics, translocations, rings, complex exchanges and deletions) induced in human lymphocytes by gamma rays, protons and alpha particles of different energies, both as monochromatic fields and as mixed fields. The main assumptions are that only clustered - and thus severe - DNA breaks ("Complex Lesions", CL) can participate in the production of aberrations, and that only break free ends in neighbouring chromosome territories can interact and form exchanges. The yields of CLs induced by the various radiation types of interest are taken from a previous modelling work. These lesions are distributed within a sphere representing the cell nucleus according to the radiation track structure, e.g. randomly for gamma rays and along straight lines for light ions. Interphase chromosome territories are explicitly simulated and configurations are obtained in which each chromosome occupies an intranuclear domain with volume proportional to its DNA content. In order to allow direct comparisons with experimental data, small fragments can be neglected since usually they cannot be detected in experiments. The presence of a background level of aberrations is also taken into account. The results of the simulations are in good agreement with experimental dose-response curves available in the literature, that provides a validation of the model both in terms of the adopted assumptions and in terms of the simulation techniques. To address the question of "true" incompleteness, simulations were also run in which all fragments were assumed to be visible.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Ballarini
- Università degli Studi di Pavia, Dipartimento di Fisica Nucleare e Teorica, INFN-National Institute of Nuclear Physics, Pavia, Italy.
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29
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Andersen V, Ballarini F, Battistoni G, Campanella M, Carboni M, Cerutti F, Empl A, Fassò A, Ferrari A, Gadioli E, Garzelli MV, Lee K, Ottolenghi A, Pelliccioni M, Pinsky LS, Ranft J, Roesler S, Sala PR, Wilson TL. The FLUKA code for space applications: recent developments. Adv Space Res 2004; 34:1302-10. [PMID: 15881773 DOI: 10.1016/j.asr.2003.03.045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/02/2023]
Abstract
The FLUKA Monte Carlo transport code is widely used for fundamental research, radioprotection and dosimetry, hybrid nuclear energy system and cosmic ray calculations. The validity of its physical models has been benchmarked against a variety of experimental data over a wide range of energies, ranging from accelerator data to cosmic ray showers in the earth atmosphere. The code is presently undergoing several developments in order to better fit the needs of space applications. The generation of particle spectra according to up-to-date cosmic ray data as well as the effect of the solar and geomagnetic modulation have been implemented and already successfully applied to a variety of problems. The implementation of suitable models for heavy ion nuclear interactions has reached an operational stage. At medium/high energy FLUKA is using the DPMJET model. The major task of incorporating heavy ion interactions from a few GeV/n down to the threshold for inelastic collisions is also progressing and promising results have been obtained using a modified version of the RQMD-2.4 code. This interim solution is now fully operational, while waiting for the development of new models based on the FLUKA hadron-nucleus interaction code, a newly developed QMD code, and the implementation of the Boltzmann master equation theory for low energy ion interactions.
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30
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Ballarini F, Biaggi M, De Biaggi L, Ferrari A, Ottolenghi A, Panzarasa A, Paretzke HG, Pelliccioni M, Sala P, Scannicchio D, Zankl M. Role of shielding in modulating the effects of solar particle events: Monte Carlo calculation of absorbed dose and DNA complex lesions in different organs. Adv Space Res 2004; 34:1338-46. [PMID: 15881774 DOI: 10.1016/j.asr.2003.08.055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/02/2023]
Abstract
Distributions of absorbed dose and DNA clustered damage yields in various organs and tissues following the October 1989 solar particle event (SPE) were calculated by coupling the FLUKA Monte Carlo transport code with two anthropomorphic phantoms (a mathematical model and a voxel model), with the main aim of quantifying the role of the shielding features in modulating organ doses. The phantoms, which were assumed to be in deep space, were inserted into a shielding box of variable thickness and material and were irradiated with the proton spectra of the October 1989 event. Average numbers of DNA lesions per cell in different organs were calculated by adopting a technique already tested in previous works, consisting of integrating into "condensed-history" Monte Carlo transport codes--such as FLUKA--yields of radiobiological damage, either calculated with "event-by-event" track structure simulations, or taken from experimental works available in the literature. More specifically, the yields of "Complex Lesions" (or "CL", defined and calculated as a clustered DNA damage in a previous work) per unit dose and DNA mass (CL Gy-1 Da-1) due to the various beam components, including those derived from nuclear interactions with the shielding and the human body, were integrated in FLUKA. This provided spatial distributions of CL/cell yields in different organs, as well as distributions of absorbed doses. The contributions of primary protons and secondary hadrons were calculated separately, and the simulations were repeated for values of Al shielding thickness ranging between 1 and 20 g/cm2. Slight differences were found between the two phantom types. Skin and eye lenses were found to receive larger doses with respect to internal organs; however, shielding was more effective for skin and lenses. Secondary particles arising from nuclear interactions were found to have a minor role, although their relative contribution was found to be larger for the Complex Lesions than for the absorbed dose, due to their higher LET and thus higher biological effectiveness.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Ballarini
- Dipartimento di Fisica Nucleare e Teorica, Università degli Studi di Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
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31
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Valota A, Ballarini F, Friedland W, Jacob P, Ottolenghi A, Paretzke HG. Modelling study on the protective role of OH radical scavengers and DNA higher-order structures in induction of single- and double-strand break by gamma-radiation. Int J Radiat Biol 2003; 79:643-53. [PMID: 14555347 DOI: 10.1080/09553000310001596977] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE To quantify the protective effects of (non-histonic) OH-radical scavengers and DNA higher-order structures in induction of single- (ssbs) and double-strand breaks (dsbs) by gamma-rays. MATERIALS AND METHODS Spatial distributions of energy depositions by gamma-rays in liquid water were modelled with the track structure modules of the biophysical simulation code PARTRAC. Such distributions were superimposed on different DNA structure models (e.g. linear DNA, SV40 'minichromosomes' and compact chromatin), and direct energy depositions in the sugar-phosphate were considered as potential (direct) ssbs. The diffusion and interaction of the main chemical species produced in liquid water radiolysis were explicitly simulated, and reactions of *OH with the sugar-phosphate were considered as potential (indirect) ssbs. Two ssb on opposite DNA strands within 10 base pairs were considered as one dsb. Yields of ssb and dsb Gy(-1) Dalton(-1) in different DNA target structures were calculated as a function of the *OH mean lifetime, whose inverse value was taken as representative of the scavenging capacity of the DNA environment. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS A further validation of the models implemented in the PARTRAC code has been provided, thus allowing a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying DNA damage. More specifically, the protection due to *OH scavengers was separately quantified with respect to that due to histones and chromatin folding, which could be 'switched off' in the simulations. As expected, for a given value of the environment scavenging capacity, linear DNA was more susceptible to strand breakage than SV40 minichromosomes, which in turn showed higher damage yields with respect to cellular DNA due to the larger accessibility offered to *OH. Furthermore, by increasing the scavenging capacity, the break yields decreased in all structures and tended to coincide with direct damage yields. Very good agreement was found with available experimental data. Comparisons with data on 'nucleoid' DNA (i.e. unfolded and histone-depleted DNA) also suggested that the experimental procedures used to obtain such structures might lower the environment scavenging capacity owing to the loss of cellular scavengers.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Valota
- Università degli Studi di Milano, Dipartimento di Fisica, via Celoria 16, I-20133 Milan Italy
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32
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Abstract
The space radiation environment is a mixed field consisting of different particles having different energies, including high charge and energy (HZE) ions. Conventional measurements of absorbed doses may not be sufficient to completely characterise the radiation field and perform reliable estimates of health risks. Biological dosimetry, based on the observation of specific radiation-induced endpoints (typically chromosome aberrations), can be a helpful approach in case of monitored exposure to space radiation or other mixed fields, as well as in case of accidental exposure. Furthermore, various ratios of aberrations (e.g. dicentric chromosomes to centric rings and complex exchanges to simple exchanges) have been suggested as possible fingerprints of radiation quality, although all of them have been subjected to some criticisms. In this context a mechanistic model and a Monte Carlo code for the simulation of chromosome aberration induction were developed. The model, able to provide dose-responses for different aberrations (e.g. dicentrics, rings, fragments, translocations, insertions and other complex exchanges), was further developed to assess the dependence of various ratios of aberrations on radiation quality. The predictions of the model were compared with available data, whose experimental conditions were faithfully reproduced. Particular attention was devoted to the scoring criteria adopted in different laboratories and to possible biases introduced by interphase death and mitotic delay. This latter aspect was investigated by taking into account both metaphase data and data obtained with Premature Chromosome Condensation (PCC).
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Affiliation(s)
- F Ballarini
- Universita degli Studi di Milano, Dipartimento di Fisica, Milano, Italy.
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33
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Ballarini F, Biaggi M, Edwards A, Ferrari A, Ottolenghi A, Pelliccioni M, Scannicchio D. Estimating mixed field effects: an application supporting the lack of a non-linear component for chromosome aberration induction by neutrons. Radiat Prot Dosimetry 2003; 103:19-28. [PMID: 12596985 DOI: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.rpd.a006109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
The action of neutron fields on biological structures was investigated on the basis of chromosome aberration induction in human cells. Available experimental data on aberration induction by neutrons and their interaction products were reviewed. Present criteria adopted in neutron radiation protection were discussed. The linear coefficient alpha and the quadratic coefficient beta describing dose-response curves for dicentric chromosomes induced by neutrons of different energies were calculated via integration of experimental data on dicentric induction by photons and charged particles into the Monte Carlo transport code FLUKA. The predicted values of the linear coefficients for neutron beams of different energies showed good agreement with the corresponding experimental values, whereas the data themselves indicated that the neutron quadratic coefficient cannot be obtained by 'averaging' the beta values of recoil ions and other nuclear reaction products. This supports the hypothesis that neutron induced aberrations increase substantially linearly with dose, a question that has been object of debate for a long time and is still open.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Ballarini
- Università degli Studi di Milano, Dipartimento di Fisica and INFN-Sezione di Milano, via Celoria 16, 1-20133 Milano, Italy
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34
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Moroni A, Abbondanno U, Agodi C, Alba R, Ballarini F, Bellia G, Biaggi M, Bruno M, Casini G, Cavallaro S, Cherubini R, Chiari M, Colonna N, Coniglione R, D'Agostino M, Del Zoppo A, Giussani A, Gramegna F, Maiolino C, Margagliotti GV, Mastinu PF, Migneco E, Milazzo PM, Nannini A, Ordine A, Ottolenghi A, Piattelli P, Santonocito D, Sapienza P, Vannini G, Vannucci L, Vardaci E. Nuclear detecting systems at LNL and LNS: foreseen experiments to provide basic data for heavy-ion risk assessment. Phys Med 2002; 17 Suppl 1:124-7. [PMID: 11770527] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/23/2023] Open
Abstract
The use of existing detecting systems developed for nuclear physics studies allows collecting data on particle and ion production cross-sections in reactions induced by Oxygen and Carbon beams, of interest for hadrontherapy and heavy-ion risk assessment. The MULTICS and GARFIELD apparatus, together with the foreseen experiments, are reviewed.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Moroni
- INFN and Dipartimento di Fisica, Milano, Italy
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35
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Biaggi M, Ballarini F, Ferrari A, Ottolenghi A, Pelliccioni M. A Monte Carlo code for a direct estimation of radiation risk. Phys Med 2002; 17 Suppl 1:103-5. [PMID: 11770522] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/23/2023] Open
Abstract
An example of pragmatic approach for predicting mixed field effects is presented. The method was initially applied adopting the following, commonly used, assumptions: a) radiation risk (typically cancer) is correlated with chromosome aberration induction; b) radiation-induced chromosome-exchange yield can be well described by a linear-quadratic dependence on particle fluences (mostly linear with high-LET radiation), with parameters depending on particle types and energies. Information on monochromatic field radiobiological effects was integrated in a condensed-history Monte Carlo transport code (FLUKA), able to simulate nuclear interactions. The integrated code provides the chromosome aberration yield (and thus an estimation of radiation risk) in each voxel of any irradiated volume, given any external mixed-field irradiation; in the present work, the method was tested for neutron irradiation of a water phantom. FLUKA was then coupled with a geometrical human phantom provided with different radiation shielding, in order to apply this approach to estimate radiation risk in manned space missions.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Biaggi
- Universita degli Studi di Milano, Dipartimento di Fisica, Via Celoria 16, 20133 Milano, Italy
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36
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Ottolenghi A, Ballarini F, Biaggi M. Mechanistic bases for modelling space radiation risk and planning radiation protection of astronauts. Phys Med 2002; 17 Suppl 1:272-7. [PMID: 11780618] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/23/2023] Open
Abstract
The approaches generally adopted for planning radiation protection in ground-based facilities cannot be applied straightforward for astronaut protection in space. Indeed in such extreme conditions, modelling methods and shielding design must be based on a detailed mechanistic knowledge of the peculiar astronauts irradiation conditions. Great help can derive from mechanistic modelling, generally aimed to better understand the intermediate steps leading from the initial energy depositions to different biological endpoints, up to organ and organism level. In the present work, criteria will be illustrated for using mechanistic approaches in developing practical tools for astronauts radioprotection, once the external field and the interaction cross sections with the spacecraft walls are known; particular attention will be given to the treatment of mixed fields. Techniques for integrating into condensed-history codes stochastic information provided by event-by-event simulations will be presented.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Ottolenghi
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Universita degli Studi di Milano and INFN--Sezione di Milano, Milano, Italy
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37
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Abstract
Knowledge of radiation track structure and its interaction with biological targets is a fundamental starting point in understanding the mechanisms underlying the induction of biological damage. In this context Monte Carlo codes are a powerful tool of investigation, allowing one to simulate both track structure and the features of the target(s) of interest at different scales, from nanometres (linear dimensions of DNA) to micrometres (linear dimensions of human cell nuclei and interphase chromosome territories). In the light of recent experimental findings on nuclear architecture, different approaches in modelling chromosome structure and aberration induction are discussed. In particular, a model is presented in which chromosome territories were explicitly described as subnuclear regions and aberration induction was modelled by coupling the structure of the target with that of the radiation track. Comparisons between model predictions and experimental results from the literature are also reported.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Ballarini
- Dipartimento di Fisica dell'Università di Milano, via Celoria 16, I-20133 Milano, Italy.
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38
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Ruco LP, Stoppacciaro A, Ballarini F, Prat M, Scarpino S. Met protein and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) in papillary carcinoma of the thyroid: evidence for a pathogenetic role in tumourigenesis. J Pathol 2001; 194:4-8. [PMID: 11329134 DOI: 10.1002/path.847] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
In the last 10 years, evidence has accumulated that overexpression of Met protein is a distinguishing feature of almost every case of well-differentiated papillary carcinoma. Increased expression of the protein is probably due to enhanced transcription of the MET gene and/or to post-transcriptional mechanisms. So far, alterations of the MET gene have not been recognized, but evidence has been provided that activated RAS and RET can cause accumulation of MET RNA. Thus, the possibility exists that dysregulation of MET is the final result of different molecular pathways capable of inducing thyroid cell transformation; RET rearrangements might account for some of the cases, but the demonstration that the majority of papillary carcinomas do not have recognized alterations of the RET gene strongly suggests that MET gene dysregulation can also be achieved through other molecular pathways. Dysregulation of MET causes marked accumulation of Met protein in tumour cells that is promptly detected by immunohistochemistry. Thus, overexpression of Met protein might represent an immunohistochemical marker of papillary carcinoma, potentially helpful in problematic cases, but caution is required; moderate expression of Met protein is observed in non-neoplastic thyroid diseases, such as Graves' and Hashimoto's thyroiditis, and reagents active on paraffin sections may have a low affinity and/or low specificity for Met protein, leading to artifactual staining. Met protein-positive papillary carcinoma cells may produce hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and may activate HGF through the urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) bound to urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPA-R). Thus, papillary carcinoma cells possess the molecular machinery necessary for a productive HGF/Met interaction. In vitro studies have demonstrated that HGF enhances the motility and invasiveness of tumour cells and induces the synthesis and release of chemokines active in the recruitment of dendritic cells. These observations provide a rational basis for the understanding of two distinguishing features of papillary carcinoma. First, the tumour is often characterized by early metastatic spread to regional lymph nodes and by multifocal involvement of the gland, which suggests highly invasive behaviour. Second, a prominent peritumoural inflammatory reaction is often observed, which suggests cross-talk between tumour cells and the immune system.
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Affiliation(s)
- L P Ruco
- Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale e Patologia, Università La Sapienza, Viale Regina Elena 324, 00161 Rome, Italy.
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39
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Ottolenghi A, Ballarini F, Biaggi M. Modelling chromosomal aberration induction by ionising radiation: the influence of interphase chromosome architecture. Adv Space Res 2001; 27:369-382. [PMID: 11642299 DOI: 10.1016/s0273-1177(01)00004-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Several advances have been achieved in the knowledge of nuclear architecture and functions during the last decade, thus allowing the identification of interphase chromosome territories and sub-chromosomal domains (e.g. arm and band domains). This is an important step in the study of radiation-induced chromosome aberrations; indeed, the coupling between track-structure simulations and reliable descriptions of the geometrical properties of the target is one of the main tasks in modelling aberration induction by radiation, since it allows one to clarify the role of the initial positioning of two DNA lesions in determining their interaction probability. In the present paper, the main recent findings on nuclear and chromosomal architecture are summarised. A few examples of models based on different descriptions of interphase chromosome organisation (random-walk models, domain models and static models) are presented, focussing on how the approach adopted in modelling the target nuclei and chromosomes can influence the simulation of chromosomal aberration yields. Each model is discussed by taking into account available experimental data on chromosome aberration induction and/or interphase chromatin organisation. Preliminary results from a mechanistic model based on a coupling between radiation track-structure features and explicitly-modelled, non-overlapping chromosome territories are presented.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Ottolenghi
- Dipartimento di Fisica--Universita di Milano and INFN--Sezione di Milano, via Celoria 16, 20133 Milano, Italy
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40
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Ballarini F, Biaggi M, Merzagora M, Ottolenghi A, Dingfelder M, Friedland W, Jacob P, Paretzke HG. Stochastic aspects and uncertainties in the prechemical and chemical stages of electron tracks in liquid water: a quantitative analysis based on Monte Carlo simulations. Radiat Environ Biophys 2000; 39:179-188. [PMID: 11095148 DOI: 10.1007/s004110000060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
A new physical module for the biophysical simulation code PARTRAC has recently been developed, based on newly derived electron inelastic-scattering cross-sections in liquid water. In the present work, two modules of PARTRAC describing the production, diffusion and interaction of chemical species were developed with the specific purpose of quantifying the role of the uncertainties in the parameters controlling the early stages of liquid water radiolysis. A set of values for such parameters was identified, and time-dependent yields and frequency distributions of chemical species produced by electrons of different energies were calculated. The calculated yields were in good agreement with available data and simulations, thus confirming the reliability of the code. As the primary-electron energy decreases down to 1 keV, the *OH decay kinetics were found to get faster, reflecting variations in the spatial distribution of the initial energy depositions. In agreement with analogous works, an opposite trend was found for energies of a few hundred eV, due to the very small number of species involved. The spreading effects shown at long times by *OH frequency distributions following 1 keV irradiation were found to be essentially due to stochastic aspects of the chemical stage, whereas for 1 MeV tracks the physical and pre-chemical stages also were found to play a significant role. Relevant differences in the calculated e(aq) -yields were found by coupling the physics of PARTRAC with descriptions of the pre-chemical and chemical stages adopted in different models. This indicates a strict interrelation of the various stages, and thus a strong dependence of the parameter values on the assumptions made for the preceding and subsequent stages of the process. Although equally acceptable results can be obtained starting from different assumptions, it is necessary to keep control of such uncertainties, since they can significantly influence the modeling of radical attack on DNA and, more generally, radiobiological damage estimation. This study confirms the need for new, independently derived data on specific steps of water radiolysis, to be included in comprehensive biophysical simulation codes.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Ballarini
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Milano, Italy
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41
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Ottolenghi A, Ballarini F, Merzagora M. Modelling radiation-induced biological lesions: from initial energy depositions to chromosome aberrations. Radiat Environ Biophys 1999; 38:1-13. [PMID: 10384950 DOI: 10.1007/s004110050132] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
The development of biophysical models of chromosome aberration induction has undergone considerable improvements in the past few years. This is mainly due to the development of new experimental techniques, such as fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and premature chromosome condensation (PCC), and to a better knowledge of track structure characteristics (both in the physical and chemical stages). In particular, track structure simulations, providing a detailed description of the spatial distribution of energy depositions and relevant DNA lesions, represent a useful starting point for the development of 'ab initio' models. Various aspects of the processes determining the induction and the formation kinetics of chromosome aberrations are still under debate, concerning in particular the target description (interphase chromosome organization), the characterization of relevant DNA lesions, the possibility of inducing exchanges starting from single radiation-induced lesions, the rejoining mechanisms (proximity effects and possible induction of incomplete exchanges, i.e. one-way exchanges) and the influence of specific scoring criteria adopted both in experiments and models. Starting from Lea's breakage-and-reunion theory and Revell's exchange theory, an overview is given of various models recently reported in the literature. The assumptions adopted by the authors concerning the various processes involved in aberration formation are analysed in detail, in order to clarify the different approaches adopted in treating the open questions outlined above.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Ottolenghi
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Milano and INFN-sezione di Milano, Milan, Italy.
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42
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Ballarini F, Merzagora M, Monforti F, Durante M, Gialanella G, Grossi GF, Pugliese M, Ottolenghi A. Chromosome aberrations induced by light ions: Monte Carlo simulations based on a mechanistic model. Int J Radiat Biol 1999; 75:35-46. [PMID: 9972789 DOI: 10.1080/095530099140780] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/16/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE To investigate the mechanisms underlying the induction of chromosome aberrations by ionizing radiation, focusing attention on DNA damage severity, interphase chromosome geometry and the distribution of DNA strand breaks. METHODS An ab initio biophysical model of aberration induction in human lymphocytes specific for light ions was developed, based on the assumption that 'complex lesions' (clustered DNA breaks) produce aberrations, whereas less severe breaks are repaired. It was assumed that interphase chromosomes are spatially localized and that chromosome break free-ends rejoin pairwise randomly; the unrejoining of a certain fraction of free-ends was assumed to be possible, and small fragments were neglected in order to reproduce experimental conditions. The yield of different aberrations was calculated and compared with some data obtained using Giemsa or FISH techniques. RESULTS Dose-response curves for dicentrics and centric rings (Giemsa) and for reciprocal, complex and incomplete exchanges (FISH) were simulated; the ratio between complex and reciprocal exchanges was also calculated as a function of particle type and LET. The results showed agreement with data from lymphocyte irradiation with light ions. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that clustered DNA breaks are a critical damage type for aberration induction and that interphase chromosome localization plays an important role. Moreover, the effect of a given particle type is related both to the number of induced complex lesions and to their spatial distribution.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Ballarini
- Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Milano, INFN, sezione di Milano, Italy
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Abstract
Prostaglandin (PG) F2alpha, a well known agonist of smooth muscle, is produced in the male gonad. We have investigated whether PG F2alpha stimulates seminiferous tubule contractility through direct action on peritubular myoid cells. Myoid cells from prepubertal rats were highly purified through Percoll density gradient and cultured in vitro. Stimulation with PG F2alpha was observed to induce: (i) rapid and dose-dependent production of inositol phosphates; (ii) mobilization of Ca2+ from intracellular stores and (iii) cell contraction. Moreover, at a concentration of 10 microM the agonist was found to induce immediate contractile response of peritubular tissue in freshly explanted tubular fragments from both young and adult rats; the explants were examined in whole-mount preparations and the peritubular myoid cell layer was identified by selective staining for alkaline phosphatase activity. Our observations demonstrate that myoid cells are a direct target for PG F2alpha and suggest a role of the eicosanoid in the intragonadal control of seminiferous tubule contractility.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Tripiciano
- Department of Histology and Medical Embryology, La Sapienza University, Rome, Italy
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