Person:

Held, Kathryn

Background: Radiation-induced bystander responses, where cells respond to their neighbours being irradiated are being extensively studied. Although evidence shows that bystander responses can be induced in many types of cells, it is not known whether there is a radiation-induced bystander effect in breast cancer cells, where the radiosensitivity may be dependent on the role of the cellular estrogen receptor (ER). This study investigated radiation-induced bystander responses in estrogen receptor-positive MCF-7 and estrogen receptor-negative MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Methods: The influence of estrogen and anti-estrogen treatments on the bystander response was determined by individually irradiating a fraction of cells within the population with a precise number of helium-3 using a charged particle microbeam. Damage was scored as chromosomal damage measured as micronucleus formation. Results: A bystander response measured as increased yield of micronucleated cells was triggered in both MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells. The contribution of the bystander response to total cell damage in MCF-7 cells was higher than that in MDA-MB-231 cells although the radiosensitivity of MDA-MB-231 was higher than MCF-7. Treatment of cells with 17β-estradiol (E2) increased the radiosensitivity and the bystander response in MCF-7 cells, and the effect was diminished by anti-estrogen tamoxifen (TAM). E2 also increased the level of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) in MCF-7 cells in the absence of radiation. In contrast, E2 and TAM had no influence on the bystander response and ROS levels in MDA-MB-231 cells. Moreover, the treatment of MCF-7 cells with antioxidants eliminated both the E2-induced ROS increase and E2-enhanced bystander response triggered by the microbeam irradiation, which indicates that ROS are involved in the E2-enhanced bystander micronuclei formation after microbeam irradiation. Conclusion: The observation of bystander responses in breast tumour cells may offer new potential targets for radiation-based therapies in the treatment of breast cancer.

Astronauts in space and cancer patients being treated with ion beam radiotherapy can be exposed to charged particle radiations including energetic protons and heavy ions. These charged particles may be more effective than photons in inducing cancer as well as in causing non-cancer effects. The latter include acute damage from large solar particle events to the blood-forming organs and skin, acute and (from heavier ions) late damage to the central nervous system, and late degenerative damage to the lens of the eye and the cardiovascular, circulatory and respiratory systems. The presentations in this session discussed a number of non-cancer effects of protons and heavier charged particles including acute hematopoietic alterations, potentially detrimental cardiovascular and circulatory effects, and lifespan shortening.

The radiation-induced bystander effect, wherein unirradiated cells near to or sharing medium with irradiated cells express biological responses, most often has been studied in two-dimensional monolayer cultures, although some studies with three-dimensional models and in vivo have also shown bystander signaling. We have shown previously that DNA damage, measured as foci of the DNA repair-related protein 53BP1, occurs in unirradiated bystander cells in a three-dimensional skin epithelium model irradiated with protons or iron ions (Lumpkins et al., submitted). In the current work, we extend the studies to a second epithelial model, colon, with studies in both two-dimensional monolayer and a three-dimensional tissue model using Caco2 human colon epithelial cancer cells and AG01522 human fibroblasts. For the monolayer studies, Caco2 cells in exponential growth were irradiated then co-cultured, sharing medium in an insert system, with unirradiated cells. Cells were irradiated with 250 kVp X-rays at Massachusetts General Hospital or with 1 GeV/amu protons, silicon ions or iron ions at the National Space Radiation Laboratory at Brookhaven National Laboratory. At varying times after irradiation, cell damage was assayed as micronuclei (MN) induction or formation of 53BP1 foci in both irradiated and bystander cells. For the three-dimensional studies, AG01522 fibroblasts were embedded in a collagen gel, then Caco2 cells were grown on the top of the gel. Each three-dimensional construct was cut in half prior to irradiation, with one half irradiated then immediately placed in contact with the other, bystander, half for co-culture. At selected times after irradiation, irradiated and bystander construct halves were fixed and sectioned, and 53BP1 foci were counted. In monolayer culture, irradiated Caco2 cells showed a dose-dependent increased fraction of cells with MN after exposure to X-rays, protons, iron ions or silicon ions. Bystander Caco2 cells sharing medium with the irradiated cells also showed an increased fraction of cells with MN, reaching similar levels of ∼16% cells with MN, about a threefold increase over controls, after 1 Gy of all types of radiation. The fraction of cells with 53BP1 foci depended on radiation type and time of assay after irradiation, with the induction of foci generally greatest 5 h after irradiation and increasing with radiation dose. In bystander Caco2 cells, the appearance of foci generally was delayed, with the maximal fraction of cells showing foci at 12 h. In three-dimensional culture, after X-ray or proton exposure, cells showed similar trends to those seen in two-dimensional growth, i.e. with both the Caco2 and the AG01522 cells, the fraction of irradiated cells having 53BP1 foci reached a maximum at 5 h, but with bystander cells, the maximum occurred at 12 h after irradiation. This delay in the appearance of foci in bystander cells compared with irradiated cells is similar to our findings in the three-dimensional skin model composed of keratinocytes and fibroblasts. In summary, our data now show in two different epithelial tissue models in both two-dimensional and three-dimensional models, radiation-stimulated intercellular signaling results in substantial levels of DNA damage in unirradiated cells. Because Caco2 cells are a carcinoma cell line, the studies are now being extended to a three-dimensional colon model using normal human colonic epithelial cells.

The use of charged particle therapy in cancer treatment is growing rapidly, in large part because the exquisite dose localization of charged particles allows for higher radiation doses to be given to tumor tissue while normal tissues are exposed to lower doses and decreased volumes of normal tissues are irradiated. In addition, charged particles heavier than protons have substantial potential clinical advantages because of their additional biological effects, including greater cell killing effectiveness, decreased radiation resistance of hypoxic cells in tumors, and reduced cell cycle dependence of radiation response. These biological advantages depend on many factors, such as endpoint, cell or tissue type, dose, dose rate or fractionation, charged particle type and energy, and oxygen concentration. This review summarizes the unique biological advantages of charged particle therapy and highlights recent research and areas of particular research needs, such as quantification of relative biological effectiveness (RBE) for various tumor types and radiation qualities, role of genetic background of tumor cells in determining response to charged particles, sensitivity of cancer stem-like cells to charged particles, role of charged particles in tumors with hypoxic fractions, and importance of fractionation, including use of hypofractionation, with charged particles.

Accumulating evidence suggests that exogenous cellular stress induces PD-L1 upregulation in cancer. A DNA double-strand break (DSB) is the most critical type of genotoxic stress, but the involvement of DSB repair in PD-L1 expression has not been investigated. Here we show that PD-L1 expression in cancer cells is upregulated in response to DSBs. This upregulation requires ATM/ATR/Chk1 kinases. Using an siRNA library targeting DSB repair genes, we discover that BRCA2 depletion enhances Chk1-dependent PD-L1 upregulation after X-rays or PARP inhibition. In addition, we show that Ku70/80 depletion substantially enhances PD-L1 upregulation after X-rays. The upregulation by Ku80 depletion requires Chk1 activation following DNA end-resection by Exonuclease 1. DSBs activate STAT1 and STAT3 signalling, and IRF1 is required for DSB-dependent PD-L1 upregulation. Thus, our findings reveal the involvement of DSB repair in PD-L1 expression and provide mechanistic insight into how PD-L1 expression is regulated after DSBs.

DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) induced by ionising radiation are considered the major cause of genotoxic mutations and cell death. While DSBs are dispersed throughout chromatin after X-rays or γ-irradiation, multiple types of DNA damage including DSBs, single-strand breaks and base damage can be generated within 1–2 helical DNA turns, defined as a complex DNA lesion, after high Linear Energy Transfer (LET) particle irradiation. In addition to the formation of complex DNA lesions, recent evidence suggests that multiple DSBs can be closely generated along the tracks of high LET particle irradiation. Herein, by using three dimensional (3D)-structured illumination microscopy, we identified the formation of 3D widespread γH2AX foci after high LET carbon-ion irradiation. The large γH2AX foci in G2-phase cells encompassed multiple foci of replication protein A (RPA), a marker of DSBs undergoing resection during homologous recombination. Furthermore, we demonstrated by 3D analysis that the distance between two individual RPA foci within γH2AX foci was approximately 700 nm. Together, our findings suggest that high LET heavy-ion particles induce clustered DSB formation on a scale of approximately 1 μm3. These closely localised DSBs are considered to be a risk for the formation of chromosomal rearrangement after heavy-ion irradiation.