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Purpose: The objective of this study was to demonstrate the radiation-induced bystander effect (RIBE) in human F11 fibroblasts using micronucleus (MN) formation as an end-point and to investigate transcriptional responses towards low doses of α-particle radiation in irradiated and bystander fibroblasts employing genome-wide microarray analysis., Materials and Methods: The MN frequency was investigated in unirradiated bystander cells recipient of growth medium from α-particle irradiated (0, 0.1, 0.5 and 2 Gy) immortalized human F11 fibroblasts. The irradiated conditioned medium (ICM) was transferred from irradiated to bystander fibroblasts 2 h after irradiation. Microarray analysis was performed in 0.1 Gy α-particle irradiated cells, unirradiated bystander cells and appropriate controls at different time points after ICM transfer. Microarray data analysis was performed at the single-gene level and gene-set level., Results: MN were induced in unirradiated fibroblasts recipient of ICM harvested from 0.1 Gy α-particle irradiated cultures, but not from cultures irradiated with 0.5 or 2 Gy. Fibroblasts irradiated with 0.1 Gy showed repression of 26 genes 4 h after being irradiated. However, no significantly altered genes were found in bystander fibroblasts at any of the time points used in this study. Gene-set enrichment analysis showed that pathways such as ribosome, protein export, proteasome and protein 53 (p53) signaling were enriched in irradiated cells. However, bystander cells were enriched only in the lysosome pathway 24 h after receiving ICM, indicating persistence of the signals received from the irradiated cells., Conclusion: MN formation was induced in bystander fibroblast receiving medium from 0.1 Gy α-particle irradiated fibroblasts, but this was accompanied with only minor transcriptional responses.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the role of serotonin and protein 53 (p53) status of the cells in the radiation-induced bystander effects (RIBE)., Materials and Methods: The radiation-induced bystander response was investigated in human MCF-7 breast cancer cells and human HCT116 colorectal cancer cells employing medium-transfer experiments and micronuclei (MN) induction as an end-point. Irradiated cell conditioned medium (ICCM) from cells exposed to α-particle or γ-radiation was filtered and transferred to unirradiated cells 2 h following irradiation. MCF-7 cells were irradiated with 0.5 Gy α-particles, while HCT116 p53(+/+) and HCT116 p53(-/-) cells were irradiated with 0.5 Gy γ-radiation., Results: Bystander MCF-7 cells, recipient of ICCM from 0.5 Gy α-particle irradiated MCF-7 cells grown in high serotonin conditions showed a modest but significant increase in MN, while MCF-7 cells receiving ICCM with low serotonin levels did not show any bystander effect. Added serotonin (100 ng/ml) led to a bystander effectin HCT116 p53(-/-) cells recipient of ICCM from 0.5 Gy γ-irradiated HCT116 p53(+/+) cells, but had no effect when the ICCM was from γ-irradiated HCT116 P53(-/-) cells., Conclusion: The results indicate that serotonin levels in the medium play a role in the RIBE and that there may be an interaction between the role of serotonin and the p53 status of the irradiated cells.

Radiation-induced bystander effects have been studied extensively due to their potential implications for cancer therapy and radiation protection; however, a complete understanding of the molecular mechanisms remains to be elucidated. In this study, we monitored transcriptional responses to γ radiation in irradiated and bystander fibroblasts simultaneously employing a genome-wide microarray approach to determine factors that may be modulated in the generation or propagation of the bystander effect. For the microarray data we employed analysis at both the single-gene and gene-set level to place the findings in a biological context. Unirradiated bystander fibroblasts that were recipients of growth medium harvested from irradiated cultures 2 h after exposure to 2 Gy displayed transient enrichment in gene sets belonging to ribosome, oxidative phosphorylation and neurodegenerative disease pathways associated with mitochondrial dysfunctions. The response to direct irradiation was characterized by induction of signaling and apoptosis genes and the gradual formation of a cellular immune response. A set of 14 genes, many of which were regulated by p53, were found to be induced early after irradiation (prior to medium transfer) and may be important in the generation or propagation of the bystander effect.

A better understanding of the non-targeted (bystander) effects of radiation may have important implications with regards to radiation risk assessment, radiation protection, and targeted cancer therapy. In the present study, the direct and bystander effects of α-particle irradiation in immortalized human fibroblasts (F11hTERT) and breast cancer cells (MCF-7) was investigated. To ensure a more accurate dose delivery to these different cell lines, an existing 238Pu α-particle irradiator was improved by the addition of a collimator and the development of an analytical equation for calculation of the radiation dose to cells. The mean dose rate and α-particle fluence were calculated for each cell line by taking into consideration the size of their nuclei. Bystander effect experiments were performed by transferring medium from irradiated to unirradiated cells and by measuring micronucleus formation in the cells. Both the immortalized human fibroblasts and the breast cancer cells displayed a bystander effect. In conclusion, the broad-beam α-particle irradiator improved in this study represents a useful tool in the investigation of direct and non-targeted effects of α-particle radiation.