The mechanism of bystander effect induced by different irradiation in human neuroblastoma cells

Abstract Cells exposed with irradiation can induce different biological effects in non-irradiated cells due to the cell-cell interactions. Herein, we investigated the bystander effect of different types of irradiation including gamma irradiation (GR) and lithium heavy ion irradiation (LR) on the model human neuroblastoma cell line (SH-SY5Y). The gamma and lithium ion irradiation induced different bystander effects on the SH-SY5Y cell line. The bystander effect induced by gamma irradiation promoted the cell proliferation through activating the ERK and AKT signaling pathways, but it could slightly influence the cell cycle of non-irradiated SH-SY5Y cells. Whereas, the bystander effect induced by lithium heavy ion irradiation inhibited the cell proliferation, arrested the cell cycle and activated the process of pro-apoptosis. The findings of this study confirm the diversified bystander effects of various irradiation on the non-irradiated cells, therefore it highlights the importance of revised strategy for clinical radiotherapy and radioprotection to reduce the damages caused by bystander effects. Further, the in-depth mechanism research on the cell proliferation influenced by the bystander effect of radiation will also be useful to understand the biological effects of radiation.