Problems of Radiation Medicine and Radiobiology

O. V. Shemetun

State Institution «National Research Center for Radiation Medicine of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine», Melnykov str., 53, Kyiv, 04050, Ukraine

Damage of chromosoms under irradiation of human blood lymphocytes and development of bystander effect

Objective: the research the distribution of radiation-induced damages among chromosomes and their bands in irra- diated in vitro human blood lymphocytes and in unirradiated bystander cells.
Material and methods of research: cultivation of human peripheral blood lymphocytes by semi-micromethod D.A. Hungerford, modeling of radiation-induced bystander effect in mixed cultures consisting of irradiated in vitro and non-irradiated blood lymphocytes from persons of different gender, GTG-staining of metaphase chromosomes and their cytogenetic analysis.
Results. Break points in chromosomes under the formation of aberrations were identified in exposed in vitro human peripheral blood lymphocytes in doses 0.25 Gy (95 breaks in 1248 cells) and 1.0 Gy (227 breaks in 726 cells) and in non-irradiated bystander cells under their joint cultivation with irradiated in vitro human lymphocytes (51 breaks in 1137 cells at irradiation of adjacent populations of lymphocytes in dose 0.25 Gy and 75 breaks in 1321 cells at irradiation of adjacent population of lymphocytes in a dose 1.0 Gy). The distribution of injuries among the chromo- somes and their bands was investigated.
Conclusions: in radiation-exposed in vitro human peripheral blood lymphocytes as well as in bystander cells the fre- quency of damaged bands and number of breaks which localized in them exceeded the control value (p < 0.01). As under direct radiation exposure, as under formation of breaks due to induction of bystander effect, chromosomes were damaged according to their relative length. Location of bands with increasing number of breaks coincided with the «hot spots» of chromosome damage following irradiation and fragile sites. More sensitive to damage were G- negative euchromatin chromosome bands, in which were localized 82-88 % breaks. Damageability of telomeric regions in the irradiated cells had no significant difference from the control, while in bystander cells was lower than control value (p < 0.05).

Problems of radiation medicine and radiobiology. 2016;21:149–158.