Rapid biodosimetry tools are required to assist with triage in the case of a large-scale radiation incident. Here, we aimed to determine the dose-assessment accuracy of the well-established dicentric chromosome assay (DCA) and cytokinesis-block micronucleus assay (CBMN) in comparison to the emerging γ-H2AX foci and gene expression assays for triage mode biodosimetry and radiation injury assessment. Coded blood samples exposed to 10 X-ray doses (240 kVp, 1 Gy/min) of up to 6.4 Gy were sent to participants for dose estimation. Report times were documented for each laboratory and assay. The mean absolute difference (MAD) of estimated doses relative to the true doses was calculated. We also merged doses into binary dose categories of clinical relevance and examined accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of the assays. Dose estimates were reported by the first laboratories within 0.3–0.4 days of receipt of samples for the γ-H2AX and gene expression assays compared to 2.4 and 4 days for the DCA and CBMN assays, respectively. Irrespective of the assay we found a 2.5–4-fold variation of interlaboratory accuracy per assay and lowest MAD values for the DCA assay (0.16 Gy) followed by CBMN (0.34 Gy), gene expression (0.34 Gy) and γ-H2AX (0.45 Gy) foci assay. Binary categories of dose estimates could be discriminated with equal efficiency for all assays, but at doses ≥1.5 Gy a 10% decrease in efficiency was observed for the foci assay, which was still comparable to the CBMN assay. In conclusion, the DCA has been confirmed as the gold standard biodosimetry method, but in situations where speed and throughput are more important than ultimate accuracy, the emerging rapid molecular assays have the potential to become useful triage tools.

The risk of a large-scale event leading to acute radiation exposure necessitates the development of high-throughput methods for providing rapid individual dose estimates. Our work addresses three goals, which align with the directive of the European Union's Realizing the European Network of Biodosimetry project (EU-RENB): 1. To examine the suitability of different gene expression platforms for biodosimetry purposes; 2. To perform this examination using blood samples collected from prostate cancer patients (in vivo) and from healthy donors (in vitro); and 3. To compare radiation-induced gene expression changes of the in vivo with in vitro blood samples. For the in vitro part of this study, EDTA-treated whole blood was irradiated immediately after venipuncture using single X-ray doses (1 Gy/min−1 dose rate, 100 keV). Blood samples used to generate calibration curves as well as 10 coded (blinded) samples (0–4 Gy dose range) were incubated for 24 h in vitro, lysed and shipped on wet ice. For the in vivo part ...

We compared microRNA expression patterns in three cisplatin resistant sublines derived from paternal cisplatin sensitive germ cell tumor cell lines in order to improve our understanding of the mechanisms of cisplatin resistance.

The possibility of a large-scale acute radiation exposure necessitates the development of new methods that could provide rapid individual dose estimates with high sample throughput. The focus of the study was an intercomparison of laboratories' dose-assessment performances using gene expression assays. Lithium-heparinized whole blood from one healthy donor was irradiated (240 kVp, 1 Gy/min) immediately after venipuncture at approximately 37°C using single X-ray doses. Blood samples to establish calibration curves (0.25–4 Gy) as well as 10 blinded test samples (0.1–6.4 Gy) were incubated for 24 h at 37°C supplemented with an equal volume of medium and 10% fetal calf serum. For quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), samples were lysed, stored at −20°C and shipped on ice. For the Chemical Ligation Dependent Probe Amplification methodology (CLPA), aliquots were incubated in 2 ml CLPA reaction buffer (DxTerity), mixed and shipped at room temperature. Assays were run in each laboratory according to locally established protocols. The mean absolute difference (MAD) of estimated doses relative to the true doses (in Gy) was calculated. We also merged doses into binary categories reflecting aspects of clinical/diagnostic relevance and examined accuracy, sensitivity and specificity. The earliest reported time on dose estimates was <8 h. The standard deviation of technical replicate measurements in 75% of all measurements was below 11%. MAD values of 0.3–0.5 Gy and 0.8–1.3 Gy divided the laboratories contributions into two groups. These fourfold differences in accuracy could be primarily explained by unexpected variances of the housekeeping gene (P = 0.0008) and performance differences in processing of calibration and blinded test samples by half of the contributing laboratories. Reported gene expression dose estimates aggregated into binary categories in general showed an accuracies and sensitivities of 93–100% and 76–100% for the groups, with low MAD and high MAD, respectively. In conclusion, gene expression-based dose estimates were reported quickly, and for laboratories with MAD between 0.3–0.5 Gy binary dose categories of clinical significance could be discriminated with an accuracy and sensitivity comparable to established cytogenetic assays.

In recent years, the significance of apoptosis as a process in cell loss from normal tissue and tumours has been critically reviewed. In addition, the general lack of a correlation between radiation or drug-induced apoptosis and cell survival responses (using the clonogenic assay) in tumour cells has been demonstrated. Several different reasons have been discussed by other authors. It is the purpose of this review to argue that there are many different forms of cell death (terminal differentiation, micronucleation, mitotic catastrophe or multinucleation) that, like apoptosis, are regulated by the cell. In this context, apoptosis was the first cell death mechanism associated with active involvement of the cell (signal transduction). Furthermore, a large variety of different in vitro and a few in vivo models published so far show that the form of cell death can shift from, for example, mitotic catastrophe to apoptosis. The shift appears to be a general principle and depends on the cell model examined, the stressor type and the stressor intensity. These considerations help to explain the absence of a simple link between apoptosis and clonogenicity and suggest how to overcome that limitation, which has implications for the significance of apoptosis where the diagnosis and prognosis of cancer are concerned.

We implemented a two-stage study to predict late occurring hematologic acute radiation syndrome (HARS) in a baboon model based on gene expression changes measured in peripheral blood within the first two days after irradiation. Eighteen baboons were irradiated to simulate different patterns of partial-body and total-body exposure, which corresponded to an equivalent dose of 2.5 or 5 Gy. According to changes in blood cell counts the surviving baboons (n = 17) exhibited mild (H1–2, n = 4) or more severe (H2–3, n = 13) HARS. Blood samples taken before irradiation served as unexposed control (H0, n = 17). For stage I of this study, a whole genome screen (mRNA microarrays) was performed using a portion of the samples (H0, n = 5; H1–2, n = 4; H2–3, n = 5). For stage II, using the remaining samples and the more sensitive methodology, qRT-PCR, validation was performed on candidate genes that were differentially up- or down-regulated during the first two days after irradiation. Differential gene expression was def...