Nuclear Factor κB (NF-κB) dependent responses and signals elicited by heavy ions exposure

Introduction: As a prerequisite for developing appropriate countermeasures to mitigate acute effects and late radiation risks for the astronaut and thereby enabling long-term human space flight, the cellular radiation response to densely ionizing radiation needs to be better understood. The biological effectiveness of accelerated heavy ions (which constitute the biologically most important radiation type in space) with high linear energy transfer (LET) for effecting DNA damage response pathways as a gateway to cell death or survival is of major concern not only for space missions but also for new regimes of tumor radiotherapy.