Abstract
The number of people that receive exposure to ionizing radiation (IR) via occupational, diagnostic, or treatment-related modalities is progressively rising. It is now accepted that the negative consequences of radiation exposure are not isolated to exposed cells or individuals. Exposure to IR can induce genome instability in the germline, and is further associated with transgenerational genomic instability in the offspring of exposed males. The exact molecular mechanisms of transgenerational genome instability have yet to be elucidated, although there is support for it being an epigenetically induced phenomenon. This review is centered on the long-term biological effects associated with IR exposure, mainly focusing on the epigenetic mechanisms (DNA methylation and small RNAs) involved in the molecular etiology of IR-induced genome instability, bystander and transgenerational effects. Here, we present evidence that IR-mediated effects are maintained by epigenetic mechanisms, and demonstrate how a novel, male germline-specific, small RNA pathway is posited to play a major role in the epigenetic inheritance of genome instability.
Highlights
The number of people that receive exposure to ionizing radiation (IR) via occupational, diagnostic, or treatment-related modalities is progressively rising
Ionizing radiation is universally accepted as a severe DNA damaging agent, which can lead to serious consequences, including cancer (Little, 1999)
Some of the largest accidentally exposed cohorts of people are currently available in the territory of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), which include groups from major industrial accidents, such as the approximately 30,000 people who live near the Mayak nuclear facility in the southern Ural Mountains in Russia, the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe, as well as from nuclear weapons testing in Kazakhstan (Dubrova, 2003a,b)
Summary
The number of people that receive exposure to ionizing radiation (IR) via occupational, diagnostic, or treatment-related modalities is progressively rising. Radiation-induced genomic instability is observed generations after the initial exposure, and a number of studies have shown that this occurs at a high frequency (Limoli et al, 1999).
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