MITOCHONDRIA IN BIODOSIMETRY: FLOW CYTOMETRY ASSESMENT IN VITRO.

The JC-1 dye is widely used in apoptosis studies to monitor mitochondrial health. The probe was tested in vitro on two established cell lines and peripheral porcine blood lymphocytes after gamma irradiation (IR) to assess its potential in biodosimetric evaluation. In brief, we stained irradiated and non-irradiated cells with the JC-1 dye to determine the existing changes in mitochondrial membrane potential and monitor cell health through flow cytometry. The stage of injury in these cells was evaluated through an irradiated versus non-irradiated ratio (IVNIR), comparing the relative proportion of polarised cells containing red JC-1 aggregates. We observed a decreasing IVNIR as the radiation dose increased (i.e. 0.5; 1; 2; 4; 6; 8 and 10 Gy), performing the analysis at 4, 8 and 24 h after IR in all the tested cells. The results from the JC1-dye test showed that CD4 T lymphocytes were more sensitive to irradiation than other subpopulations.

Impact of Hormone Receptor Status on the Behaviour of HER2+ Breast Cancer.

BACKGROUND/AIM: The study aimed to evaluate differences in the overall survival of HER2+ breast cancer patients treated with regard to their hormone receptors negativity or positivity. We evaluated a cohort of patients treated with trastuzumab in the Czech Republic. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The present study is a retrospective analysis of patients whose data were recorded in a nationwide non-interventional, post-authorisation database BREAST. After propensity score matching of data, the cohort included 4,532 patients. RESULTS: A significant difference in overall survival (OS) of the entire cohort was found between patients with and without hormone dependence. The OS was significantly higher in the group of patients with hormone receptor-positive (HR+) tumours in the following cohorts: patients treated with neoadjuvant therapy, patients with advanced disease, G2 tumours, stage III and IV and in patients with stage II and III of G2 tumours. CONCLUSION: Increased OS rates were found in several subgroups of patients with HR+/HER2+ tumours compared to those with HR-/HER2+ tumours. Better outcomes of HR+/HER2+ patients were only observed in the first four/five years of follow-up, and the differences disappeared over time.

Gamma-radiation-induced ATM-dependent signalling in human T-lymphocyte leukemic cells, MOLT-4.

ATM kinase (ATM) is essential for activation of cell cycle check points and DNA repair in response to ionizing radiation (IR). In this work we studied the molecular mechanisms regulating DNA repair and cell death in human T-lymphocyte leukemic cells, MOLT-4. Apoptosis was evaluated by flow-cytometric detection of annexin V. Early apoptotic cells were determined as sub-G1 cells and late apoptotic cells were determined as APO2.7-positive ones. Proteins involved in ATM signalling pathway were analysed by Western-blotting. We observed a rapid (0.5 h) phosphorylation of ATM declining after 6 h after irradiation by all the doses studied (1.5, 3.0, and 7.5 Gy). Checkpoint kinase-2 (Chk-2) was also phosphorylated after 0.5 h but its phosphorylated form persisted 4, 2, and 1 h after the doses of 1.5, 3.0, and 7.5 Gy, respectively. The amount of p53 protein and its form phosphorylated on Ser-392 increased 1 h after irradiation (1-10 Gy). The lethal dose of 7.5 Gy caused an immediate induction and phosphorylation of p53 after 0.5 h post-irradiation. At the time of phosphorylation of p53, we found simultaneous phosphorylation of the oncoprotein Mdm2 on Ser-166. Neither ATM nor its downstream targets showed a dose-dependent response after 1 h when irradiated by the doses of 1-10 Gy. MOLT-4 cells were very sensitive to the effect of IR. Even low doses, such as 1.5 Gy, induced apoptosis 16 h after irradiation (evaluated according to the cleavage of nuclear lamin B to a 48-kDa fragment). IR-induced molecular signalling after exposure to all the tested doses was triggered by rapid phosphorylation of ATM and Chk-2. Subsequent induction of p53 protein and its phosphorylation was accompanied by concomitant phosphorylation of its negative regulator, oncoprotein Mdm2, and followed by induction of apoptosis.

Role of type II pneumocytes in pathogenesis of radiation pneumonitis: dose response of radiation-induced lung changes in the transient high vascular permeability period.

We studied the dose response of pulmonary changes at 3 weeks after 1-25 Gy irradiation and we investigated the effects of an anti-inflammatory drug. Wistar rats were given a single dose of 1-25Gy irradiation to the thorax. Group one was treated with saline only, while group two was administered subcutaneously a combination of pentoxifylline (35 mg/kg) and dexamethasone (1 mg/kg) twice per week. Lungs were examined histochemically and number of neutrophile granulocytes, alveolar septal thickness, air/tissue ratio, number of alveoli per field, number of type II pneumocytes per alveolus, and occludin 1 expression were measured. A significant dose-dependent depletion of type II pneumocytes was found after irradiation with a dose of 1 Gy and higher. Alveolar neutrophils increased after 1 Gy with a dose dependency noted after 10-25Gy and alveolar septa thickening followed 5-25 Gy. A lower occludin 1 expression was observed in animals irradiated with the doses of 5 20 Gy, indicating an effect on vascular permeability. Anti-inflammatory therapy partially inhibited the increase of neutrophils at all radiation doses and the depletion of type II pneumocytes after doses of 1, 10, and 15 Gy. Occludin 1 did not decrease in the lungs of rats treated with the anti-inflammatory drugs as it did in most rats treated only with saline. Our results suggest that pneumocytes depletion is a major factor responsible for radiation pneumonitis development and that these changes may be compensated for provided radiation doses are below the threshold.