Pre-exposure to Low Doses: Modulation of X-Ray-Induced DNA Damage and Repair?

Abstract Cramers, P., Atanasova, P., Vrolijk, H., Darroudi, F., van Zeeland, A. A., Huiskamp, R., Mullenders, L. H. F. and Kleinjans, J. C. S. Pre-exposure to Low Doses: Modulation of X-Ray-Induced DNA Damage and Repair? Radiat. Res. 164, 383–390 (2005). The adaptive response to ionizing radiation may be mediated by the induction of antioxidant defense mechanisms, accelerated repair or altered cell cycle progression after the conditioning dose. To gain new insight into the mechanism of the adaptive response, nondividing lymphocytes and fibroblasts were used to eliminate possible contributions of cell cycle effects. The effect of conditioning doses of 0.05 or 0.1 Gy followed by challenging doses up to 8 Gy (with a 4-h interval between exposures) on induction and repair of DNA damage was determined by single-cell gel electrophoresis (comet assay), premature chromosome condensation, and immunofluorescence labeling for γ-H2AX. The conditioning dose reduced the induction of DNA strand breaks, but the kinetics ...