Abstract
The employment of ionizing radiation is a powerful tool in cancer therapy, but beyond targeted effects, many studies have highlighted the relevance of its off-target consequences. An exhaustive understanding of the mechanisms underlying these effects is still missing, and no real-time data about signals released by cells during irradiation are presently available. We employed a synchrotron X-ray nanobeam to perform the first real-time simultaneous measurement of both X-ray irradiation and in vitro neurotransmitter release from individual adrenal phaeochromocytoma (PC12) cells plated over a diamond-based multielectrode array. We have demonstrated that, in specific conditions, X-rays can alter cell activity by promoting dopamine exocytosis, and such an effect is potentially very attractive for a more effective treatment of tumors.
Highlights
The employment of ionizing radiation is a powerful tool in cancer therapy, but beyond targeted effects, many studies have highlighted the relevance of its off-target consequences
Dopamine (DA) is an important monoamine neurotransmitter involved both in central nervous system regulation of cognition, behavior, mood, addiction, reward,[1−5] and in multiple functional modulations of peripheral tissues and organs
The possible role of DA and its receptors in affecting the growth of some malignant tumors was hypothesized for the first time about 20 years after observing its large decrease in cancer tissues compared to normal ones.[6−8] Nowadays, it has been proved that DA inhibits angiogenesis by affecting vascular permeability factor (VPF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-induced endothelial cell proliferation[9] and that it reduces mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) and endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) migration.[10]
Summary
The employment of ionizing radiation is a powerful tool in cancer therapy, but beyond targeted effects, many studies have highlighted the relevance of its off-target consequences. Nano Letters pubs.acs.org/NanoLett studies.[21] the graphitic microelectrodes are arranged in a 4 × 4 matrix over a surface of 0.4 mm[2], and each of them is characterized by a 70 μm[2] active region exposed to the surface of the substrate.
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