A model of growth kinetics of irradiated cultured cells.

Abstract

SummaryThe growth of rapidly-growing cultured cells is altered from exponential growth by X-irradiation. The irradiated cell-population is composed of two kinds of cells; surviving and non-surviving cells. Surviving cells which retain their reproductive capacity might proliferate indefinitely after recovery of division delay. Non-surviving cells which fail to retain their reproductive capacity lose the ability to divide gradually with time and die. The effects of radiation affecting growth curves may be due to loss of reproductive capacity, division delay, loss of the ability to divide and cell-death. A model of the growth kinetics of irradiated cells is presented which takes into account these radiation effects, and was used for the analysis of growth curves. Experimentally-obtained growth curves of irradiated cultured mammalian cells are compared with the growth curves calculated and based on the model, and the manifestation of radiation damage is discussed.