An ensemble of new techniques to study soft-X-ray-induced variations in cellular metabolism

Abstract

An ensemble of new techniques has been developed to study cell metabolism. These include: CO 2 production monitoring, cell irradiation with soft X rays produced with a laser-plasma source, and study of oscillations in cell metabolic activity via spectral analysis of experimental records. Soft X-rays at about 0.9 keV, with a very low penetration in biological material, were chosen to produce damages at the metabolic level, without great interference with DNA activity. The use of a laser-plasma source allowed a fast deposition of high doses. Monitoring of CO 2 production allowed us to measure cell metabolic response immediately after irradiation in a continuous and noninvasive way. Also a simple model was developed to calculate X-ray doses delivered to the different cell compartments following a LambertBouguet-Beer law. Results obtained on Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast cells in experiments performed at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory are presented.

Development of a compact laser-produced plasma soft X-ray source for radiobiology experiments

“…In the study they used the source developed at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) that was described in the Annual Reports of RAL (1999/2000) [14] and in the book by Turcu [15]. The source was also presented in the article by Turcu et al [16]. Similarly, Shinohara et al also studied the cytotoxic effects on cultured mouse L5178Y cells and its radiosensitive, XRCC4-deficient mutant M10 cells irradiated with single pulses of X-ray at energies ranging from a few tens of keV to 1 MeV [17].…”

Generation of soft X-rays and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) using a laser-irradiated gas puff target

“…radiation~Attwood, 1999!. Laser plasma X-ray and EUV sources are considered to be used in many applications in science and technology which are discussed in current literature~Gizzi et al, Faenov et al, 2004;Turcu et al, 2004;Desai et al, 2003;Pikuz et al, 2001;Marzi et al, 2000;Turcu & Dane, 1998;Attwood, 1999!. In laser plasma X-ray and EUV sources the laser radiation interacts with solid, liquid, or gas targets. During the lasertarget interaction hot and dense plasma is created which emits strong radiation in the soft X-ray and EUV range.…”