Abstract
Radiation therapy is widely used as a treatment tool for malignancies. However, radiation-related complications are still unavoidable risks for off-target cells. Little is known about radiation therapy's possible effects on mechanical features of the off-target cells such as human red blood cells (RBCs). RBCs are nucleus-free circulating cells that can deform without losing functionality in healthy conditions. Thus, to evaluate in vitro effects of radiation therapy on the healthy plasma membrane of cells, RBCs were selected as a primary test model. RBCs were exposed to clinically prescribed radiotherapy doses of 2 Gy, 12 Gy and, 25 Gy, and each radiotherapy dose group was compared to a non-irradiated group. Cells were characterized by stretching using dual-beam optical tweezers and compared using the resulting deformability index. The group receiving the highest radiation dose was found statistically distinguishable from the control group (DI0Gy = 0.33 ± 0.08), and revealed the highest deformability index (DI25Gy = 0.38 ± 0.11, p = 0.0068), while no significant differences were found for 2 Gy (DI2Gy = 0.33 ± 0.08, p = 0.9) and 12 Gy (DI12Gy = 0.31 ± 0.09, p = 0.2) dose groups. Based on these findings, we conclude that radiotherapy exposure may alter the deformability of red blood cells depending on the dose amount, and measurement of deformability index by dual-beam optical tweezers can serve as a sensitive biomarker to probe responses of cells to the radiotherapy.
Highlights
Radiation therapy is widely used as part of treatment for malignancies since it is capable of killing cancer cells and shrinking tumors using ionizing radiation.1,2 treatment with ionizing radiation typically faces issues because of the action on the target tumor and because of the adverse in uences of radiation exposure on non-target cells or tissues.2–5 In recent years, there has been an increasing amount of research on the use of ionizing radiation due to the high targeting capacity and therapeutic effect
The deformability index analysis of human red blood cells, irradiated at 2 Gy, 12 Gy, and 25 Gy radiation doses, was indicated the signi cant distinction of small changes only in the deformability of RBCs irradiated by 25 Gy dose compared to the control group (p 1⁄4 0.007)
We wanted to evaluate the effect of irradiation only on the cell membrane, and we focused our investigation on the red blood cells only
Summary
Radiation therapy is widely used as part of treatment for malignancies since it is capable of killing cancer cells and shrinking tumors using ionizing radiation. treatment with ionizing radiation typically faces issues because of the action on the target tumor and because of the adverse in uences of radiation exposure on non-target cells or tissues. In recent years, there has been an increasing amount of research on the use of ionizing radiation due to the high targeting capacity and therapeutic effect. Treatment with ionizing radiation typically faces issues because of the action on the target tumor and because of the adverse in uences of radiation exposure on non-target cells or tissues.. The effects of irradiation of RBCs on free hemoglobin level, sodium ions (Na+), potassium ions (K+), and chloride ions (ClÀ) concentrations, a reduction in the production, and alterations in the aggregation state of platelets have been studied.. The effects of irradiation of RBCs on free hemoglobin level, sodium ions (Na+), potassium ions (K+), and chloride ions (ClÀ) concentrations, a reduction in the production, and alterations in the aggregation state of platelets have been studied.13–22 These investigations mostly reveal an association between the irradiation dose and the loss of the red blood cell function The primary adverse effects are attributed to DNA deterioration in target cells that have not been appropriately brought back through metabolic repairment. On the other hand, radiotherapy acts directly on the membrane, con rming that plasma membrane shows an alternate path to DNA in radiation-modulated cell reactions. Previous studies have documented the direct in uences of cellular death caused by human tissue irradiation, chromosome rearrangement and genetic mutation resulting from the radiation-induced deposition of energy. the effects of irradiation of RBCs on free hemoglobin level, sodium ions (Na+), potassium ions (K+), and chloride ions (ClÀ) concentrations, a reduction in the production, and alterations in the aggregation state of platelets have been studied. These investigations mostly reveal an association between the irradiation dose and the loss of the red blood cell function
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