Transmission of Signals from Rats Receiving High Doses of Microbeam Radiation to Cage Mates: An Inter-Mammal Bystander Effect

Abstract

Inter-animal signaling from irradiated to non-irradiated organisms has been demonstrated for whole body irradiated mice and also for fish. The aim of the current study was to look at radiotherapy style limited exposure to part of the body using doses relevant in preclinical therapy. High dose homogenous field irradiation and the use of irradiation in the microbeam radiation therapy mode at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) at Grenoble was tested by giving high doses to the right brain hemisphere of the rat. The right and left cerebral hemispheres and the urinary bladder were later removed to determine whether abscopal effects could be produced in the animals and also whether effects occurred in cage mates housed with them. The results show strong bystander signal production in the contra-lateral brain hemisphere and weaker effects in the distant bladder of the irradiated rats. Signal strength was similar or greater in each tissue in the cage mates housed for 48hrs with the irradiated rats. Our results support the hypothesis that proximity to an irradiated animal induces signalling changes in an unirradiated partner. If similar signaling occurs between humans, the results could have implications for caregivers and hospital staff treating radiotherapy patients.

An evaluation of novel real-time technology as a tool for measurement of radiobiological and radiation-induced bystander effects

“…In the present work, we undertook a study to evaluate the potential of xCELLigence assays as a tool to measure radiobiological effects and the radiation-induced bystander effects (RIBE). We used a cell culture medium transfer method (referred to as conditioned media, CM), from irradiated donor cells to unirradiated recipient cells and compared results with those obtained using the clonogenic assay, an assay that is widely used to study RIBE (C. Mothersill et al 2014).…”

“…Some studies have reported that a RIBE occurs predominantly at lower doses of radiation (less than 1 Gy) but equally, other studies show RIBE in doses ranging from 5 -15 Gy (Gow et al 2010;Veldwijk et al 2014). Mothersill et al (2014) reported using high dose homogenous field radiation (35 Gy and 350 Gy) to investigate bystander effects in cage mates as compared to high dose microbeam radiotherapy. Mothersill et al noted that high radiation doses may cause immediate cell death, evoke an inflammatory response and may lead to abscopal effects in the same animal.…”

“…Various RIBE studies have shown opposite or conflicting outcomes. For example, one study showed T98G and HT29 cells did not exhibit a bystander effect as measured using the clonogenic survival assay (C. Mothersill andSeymour 1997) (C. Mothersill et al 2002) but another study by Shao et al (Shao et al 2006) with the T98G cell line showed an increased calcium flux and micronucleus formation. It is possible to hypothesize that the RIBE outcomes depend on the end point assay chosen for the study (Morgan 2003a(Morgan , 2003b.…”

The contribution of women to radiobiology: Marie Curie and beyond

“…76 Recently, Carmel Mothersill's research has moved from in vitro to in vivo studies using fish species and mammals and provides results for the general discussion on radiation protection. 77 In the times of Marie Sklodowska-Curie, she was virtually the only woman recognized as a great scientist among many men. The ladies presented in the article also functioned among numerous male scientists involved in radiobiology.…”

Speculations about Bystander and Biophotons

“…An intriguing and fascinating series of publications has appeared in Dose-Response published by Dr. Carmel Mothersill and colleagues at McMasters University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada (Woenckhaus 1930;Daev 2007;Ahmad et al 2013;Mothersill et al 2013). She has found in vitro and in vivo evidence for bystander 'information' transmission from irradiated to unirradiated cells/tissues/ animals.…”