Monday March 16 2009
CEA
Direct and bystander effects of ionising radiation
CEA
Researchers at the Institute of Cellular and Molecular Radiobiology - iRCM (CEA/Fontenay-aux-Roses) have characterised some of the mechanisms involved in late cell death after irradiation.
Most cells from solid tumours, and in particular breast cancer cells, are relatively resistant to rapid death from treatment by ionising radiation or chemotherapy agents. However, these treatments suppress the proliferation capacity of these cells and lead to late death by mechanisms that are still largely unknown. Researchers have shown that the late death of human mammary cell lines induced by gamma radiation is linked to the activation of three signalling pathways, called ‘death receptor’ pathways. These pathways involve FasL, TRAIL and TNF-alpha molecules. The researchers have also found that the irradiated cells secrete soluble forms of these substances and that these can remotely induce the death of neighbouring cells (bystander effect). These results are helping to characterise the molecular basis of late death induced by direct and bystander effects of ionising radiation.
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Reference:
Death receptor pathways mediate targeted and non-targeted effects of ionizing radiations in breast cancer cells
Audrey Luce, Aurélie Courtin, Céline Levalois, Sandrine Altmeyer-Morel, Paul-Henri Romeo, Sylvie Chevillard and Jérôme Lebeau
Carcinogenesis 2009 30(3):432-439