Novel Microarray-Based Method for Estimating Exposure to Ionizing Radiation

Abstract Gruel, G., Lucchesi, C., Pawlik, A., Frouin, V., Alibert, O., Kortulewski, T., Zarour, A., Jacquelin, B., Gidrol, X. and Tronik-Le Roux, D. Novel Microarray-Based Method for Estimating Exposure to Ionizing Radiation. Radiat. Res. 166, 746–756 (2006). Accurate estimation of the dose of ionizing radiation to which individuals have been exposed is critical for therapeutic treatment. We investigated whether gene expression profiles could be used to evaluate the dose received, thereby serving as a biological dosimeter. We used cDNA microarrays to monitor changes in gene expression profiles induced by ionizing radiation in mouse total blood. The subsets of genes best characterizing each dose were identified by resampling the original data set and calculating the intersection of the dose signatures. This analytical strategy minimizes the impact of potential genetic/epigenetic variation between mice and overcomes the bias in gene selection inherent to microarray technology. The significance of the identi...