Toward the development of transcriptional biodosimetry for the identification of irradiated individuals and assessment of absorbed radiation dose

• Published in: Radiation and environmental biophysics Vol. 54; no. 3; pp. 353 - 363
• Main Authors: Brzóska, Kamil, Kruszewski, Marcin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.08.2015; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Biological and Medical Physics; Biomarkers; Biophysics; Blood - radiation effects; Chromosomes; Cluster Analysis; Dose-Response Relationship, Radiation; Dosimetry; Ecosystems; Effects of Radiation/Radiation Protection; Environmental Physics; Female; Gene expression; Gene Expression - radiation effects; Genetic Markers - radiation effects; Humans; In Vitro Techniques; Ionizing radiation; Irradiation; Male; Monitoring/Environmental Analysis; Original Paper; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Radiation; Radiation Dosage; Radiometry - methods; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; RNA, Messenger - genetics; RNA, Messenger - metabolism; qPCR; Biological dosimetry; Gene expression; Transcriptional biomarkers
• ISSN: 0301-634X; 1432-2099; 1432-2099
• DOI: 10.1007/s00411-015-0603-8

The most frequently used and the best established method of biological dosimetry at present is the dicentric chromosome assay, which is poorly suitable for a mass casualties scenario. This gives rise to the need for the development of new, high-throughput assays for rapid identification of the subjects exposed to ionizing radiation. In the present study, we tested the usefulness of gene expression analysis in blood cells for biological dosimetry. Human peripheral blood from three healthy donors was X-irradiated with doses of 0 (control), 0.6, and 2 Gy. The mRNA level of 16 genes ( ATF3 , BAX , BBC3 , BCL2 , CDKN1A , DDB2 , FDXR , GADD45A , GDF15 , MDM2 , PLK3 , SERPINE1 , SESN2 , TNFRSF10B , TNFSF4 , and VWCE ) was assessed by reverse transcription quantitative PCR 6, 12, 24, and 48 h after exposure with ITFG1 and DPM1 used as a reference genes. The panel of radiation-responsive genes was selected comprising GADD45A , CDKN1A , BAX , BBC3 , DDB2 , TNFSF4 , GDF15 , and FDXR . Cluster analysis showed that Δ C t values of the selected genes contained sufficient information to allow discrimination between irradiated and non-irradiated blood samples. The samples were clearly grouped according to the absorbed doses of radiation and not to the time interval after irradiation or to the blood donor.