Role In Bystander Effect Research Articles

Dose-Dependent Growth Delay of Breast Cancer Xenografts in the Bone Marrow of Mice Treated with 223Ra: The Role of Bystander Effects and Their Potential for Therapy.

The role of radiation-induced bystander effects in radiation therapy remains unclear. With renewed interest in therapy with α-particle emitters, and their potential for sterilizing disseminated tumor cells (DTCs), it is critical to determine the contribution of bystander effects to the overall response so they can be leveraged for maximum clinical benefit. Methods: Female Foxn1nu athymic nude mice were administered 0, 50, or 600 kBq/kg 223RaCl2 to create bystander conditions. At 24 hours after administration, MDA-MB-231 or MCF-7 human breast cancer cells expressing luciferase were injected into the tibial marrow compartment. Tumor burden was tracked weekly via bioluminescence. Results: The MDA-MB-231 xenografts were observed to have a 10-day growth delay in the 600 kBq/kg treatment group only. In contrast, MCF-7 cells had 7- and 65-day growth delays in the 50 and 600 kBq/kg groups, respectively. Histologic imaging of the tibial marrow compartment, α-camera imaging, and Monte Carlo dosimetry modeling revealed DTCs both within and beyond the range of the α-particles emitted from 223Ra in bone for both MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells. Conclusion: Taken together, these results support the participation of 223Ra-induced antiproliferative/cytotoxic bystander effects in delayed growth of DTC xenografts. They indicate that the delay depends on the injected activity and therefore is dose-dependent. They suggest using 223RaCl2 as an adjuvant treatment for select patients at early stages of breast cancer.

Role of ATM in bystander signaling between human monocytes and lung adenocarcinoma cells

The response of a cell or tissue to ionizing radiation is mediated by direct damage to cellular components and indirect damage mediated by radiolysis of water. Radiation affects both irradiated cells and the surrounding cells and tissues. The radiation-induced bystander effect is defined by the presence of biological effects in cells that were not themselves in the field of irradiation. To establish the contribution of the bystander effect in the survival of the neighboring cells, lung carcinoma A549 cells were exposed to gamma-irradiation, 2Gy. The medium from the irradiated cells was transferred to non-irradiated A549 cells. Irradiated A549 cells as well as non-irradiated A549 cells cultured in the presence of medium from irradiated cells showed decrease in survival and increase in γ-H2AX and p-ATM foci, indicating a bystander effect. Bystander signaling was also observed between different cell types. Phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA)-stimulated and gamma-irradiated U937 (human monocyte) cells induced a bystander response in non-irradiated A549 (lung carcinoma) cells as shown by decreased survival and increased γ-H2AX and p-ATM foci. Non-stimulated and/or irradiated U937 cells did not induce such effects in non-irradiated A549 cells.Since ATM protein was activated in irradiated cells as well as bystander cells, it was of interest to understand its role in bystander effect. Suppression of ATM with siRNA in A549 cells completely inhibited bystander effect in bystander A549 cells. On the other hand suppression of ATM with siRNA in PMA stimulated U937 cells caused only a partial inhibition of bystander effect in bystander A549 cells. These results indicate that apart from ATM, some additional factor may be involved in bystander effect between different cell types.

Secondary Malignant Neoplasms Following Radiotherapy for Primary Cancer in Children and Young Adults

A study was conducted to investigate secondary malignant neoplasm (SMN) occurrence following radiotherapy (RT) for cancer in children and young adults, to examine the spatial distribution of SMNs in relation to the irradiated field, and to evaluate a possible role of bystander effects in SMN distribution. Forty-two SMNs were identified among 7257 subjects diagnosed with cancer while living in Yorkshire, UK. Thirty-two of these occurred in patients receiving RT. Distances between SMN locations and RT field edge were estimated along with dose at SMN site. Expected radiation-induced SMN frequency in remote tissues receiving less than 0.1 Gy was predicted using risk estimates based on atomic bombing data. After a median follow-up period of 7.58 years, patients treated with RT were at a nearly five-fold increased risk of developing a subsequent primary neoplasm than the general population in the 0–29 years age range. The most common type of secondary malignancy associated with RT was of the central nervous system (28%), followed by sarcoma (25%) and leukemia (19%). Considering only solid SMNs developing 5 years or more from treatment, the spatial distribution showed a strong pattern of proximity to the irradiated field, with 68% occurring in-field or within 8 cm of the field edge. The SMN frequency in distant tissues receiving doses of less than 0.1 Gy was low but compatible with local absorbed dose.

The Role of Bystander Effects in the Antitumor Activity of the Hypoxia-Activated Prodrug PR-104

Activation of prodrugs in tumors (e.g., by bioreduction in hypoxic zones) has the potential to generate active metabolites that can diffuse within the tumor microenvironment. Such “bystander effects” may offset spatial heterogeneity in prodrug activation but the relative importance of this effect is not understood. Here, we quantify the contribution of bystander effects to antitumor activity for the first time, by developing a spatially resolved pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (SR-PK/PD) model for PR-104, a phosphate ester pre-prodrug that is converted systemically to the hypoxia-activated prodrug PR-104A. Using Green’s function methods we calculated concentrations of oxygen, PR-104A and its active metabolites, and resultant cell killing, at each point of a mapped three-dimensional tumor microregion. Model parameters were determined in vitro, using single cell suspensions to determine relationships between PR-104A metabolism and clonogenic cell killing, and multicellular layer (MCL) cultures to measure tissue diffusion coefficients. LC-MS/MS detection of active metabolites in the extracellular medium following exposure of anoxic single cell suspensions and MCLs to PR-104A confirmed that metabolites can diffuse out of cells and through a tissue-like environment. The SR-PK/PD model estimated that bystander effects contribute 30 and 50% of PR-104 activity in SiHa and HCT116 tumors, respectively. Testing the model by modulating PR-104A-activating reductases and hypoxia in tumor xenografts showed overall clonogenic killing broadly consistent with model predictions. Overall, our data suggest that bystander effects are important in PR-104 antitumor activity, although their reach may be limited by macroregional heterogeneity in hypoxia and reductase expression in tumors. The reported computational and experimental techniques are broadly applicable to all targeted anticancer prodrugs and could be used to identify strategies for rational prodrug optimization.

The involvement of serum serotonin levels producing radiation-induced bystander effects for an in vivo assay with fractionated high dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy

Purpose: The primary goal of this investigation was to observe whether measurable levels of bystander factor(s) can be detected in esophageal carcinoma patients’ urine samples taken after undergoing high dose rate (HDR) intraluminal brachytherapy (ILBT). However, a small pilot study was developed to evaluate whether serotonin [5-Hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)] serum levels play an active role in the mechanisms of radiation-induced bystander effects (RIBE) at high doses.Materials and methods: In the present study, a colony-forming in vivo assay was developed and used for the detection of non-targeted effects. Samples of urine were collected from five esophageal carcinoma patients undergoing fractionated HDR-ILBT. To observe whether 5-HT modulates the bystander effect at higher doses, different batches of foetal bovine serum (FBS) and 5-HT were tested on the same urine samples before and after brachytherapy.Results: Some of our data suggests statistically significant evidence for serotonin playing an active role as a signalling molecule at higher doses when patients underwent HDR-ILBT.Conclusion: However, a more thorough investigation, with a larger sample size, is warranted before serotonin can be known to play a role in bystander effects at this particular dose range and treatment regime.

983 The Role of Bystander Effects in the Anti-tumour Activity of the Hypoxia-activated Prodrug PR-104a

983 The Role of Bystander Effects in the Anti-tumour Activity of the Hypoxia-activated Prodrug PR-104a

Mitochondria-dependent signalling pathway are involved in the early process of radiation-induced bystander effects

Bystander effects induced by cytoplasmic irradiation have been reported recently. However, the mechanism(s) underlying, such as the functional role of mitochondria, is not clear. In the present study, we used either mtDNA-depleted (ρ0) AL or normal (ρ+) AL cells as irradiated donor cells and normal human skin fibroblasts as receptor cells in a series of medium transfer experiments to investigate the mitochondria-related signal process. Our results indicated that mtDNA-depleted cells or normal AL cells treated with mitochondrial respiratory chain function inhibitors had an attenuated γ-H2AX induction, which indicates that mitochondria play a functional role in bystander effects. Moreover, it was found that treatment of normal AL donor cells with specific inhibitors of NOS, or inhibitor of mitochondrial calcium uptake (ruthenium red) significantly decreased γ-H2AX induction and that radiation could stimulate cellular NO and O2•− production in irradiated ρ+ AL cells, but not in ρ0 AL cells. These observations, together with the findings that ruthenium red treatment significantly reduced the NO and O2•− levels in irradiated ρ+ AL cells, suggest that radiation-induced NO derived from mitochondria might be an intracellular bystander factor and calcium-dependent mitochondrial NOS might play an essential role in the process.

DNA Methyltransferases Modulate the Bystander Effect in Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells.

Cells exposed to radiation or other genotoxic agents can induce DNA damage and other stress responses in non-irradiated cells that are either cultured with the irradiated cells or have been exposed to culture medium from irradiated cells. This is called the bystander effect. In a previous study we found that the descendents of bystander cells exposed to Mitomycin C (MMC) are themselves capable of inducing homologous recombination in un-exposed cells. This suggests that MMC induces persistent and transmissible changes in expression in bystander cells. Bystander effects are likely caused by epigenetic mechanisms rather than “classic” mutations, i.e. changes in DNA sequence. One of the epigenetic mechanisms cells employ for changing expression is DNA methylation in which DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) add a methyl group to the 5 carbon of cytosine. In this study we asked if ionizing radiation can induce transmissible DNA damage in bystander cells by examining if bystander cells exposed to irradiated cells were themselves able to induce damage in naive cells. Furthermore, we asked if this was dependent on DNMT activity in the irradiated cells. We irradiated wild-type (WT) and DNMT triple knockout (DNMT TKO) mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and after two weeks of continuous culture, we collected conditioned medium (CM). CM was then added to cultures of naive WT ESCs (primary bystanders). Three weeks later, CM was collected from the primary bystanders and added to naïve WT cells (secondary bystanders). We assessed DNA damage by evaluating strand breaks using the alkaline Comet assay and sister chromatid exchange (SCE) analysis. As expected, we found that medium from cells irradiated with 5 Gy induced modest damage in bystander cells. The median Olive tail moment was 2.8 in bystander cells exposed to conditioned medium from irradiated cells compared to 1.0 in control bystander cells (p < 0.0001). Homologous recombination was 0.15 chromatid exchanges per chromosome compared to 0.092 in control bystanders (p < 0.0001). We also observed an increase in strand breaks in secondary bystanders of a similar magnitude to that found in primary bystanders, indicating that radiation-induced bystanders are themselves able to induce damage. In contrast to WT cells, the irradiated DNMT TKO cells did not induce strand breaks in bystander cells, as measured by the Comet assay, but did induce HR. Surprisingly, we also observed that un-irradiated DNMT TKO cells induce DNA damage in bystanders, and furthermore that the magnitude of the effect is similar to that induced by irradiated WT cells. These data suggest that methyltransferases have a complex role in bystander effects. Bystander effects may be mediated by free radicals. To see if the DNMT TKO cells had changes in antioxidant levels, glutathione (GSH) and glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activity were determined. There was no significant change in GSH levels between WT and DNMT TKO cells. However, DNMT TKO cells had significantly higher levels of GPX activity (275.4 + 19.8 mU/mg protein) compared to control cells (122.0 + 16.4 mU/mg, p= 0.0001). Taken together, these results show that radiation-induced bystander cells can themselves induce damage in un-irradiated cells and suggest that cells lacking DNA methylation activity can induce bystander effects.

Neoplastic TransformationIn Vitroafter Exposure to Low Doses of Mammographic-Energy X Rays: Quantitative and Mechanistic Aspects

The induction of neoplastic transformation in vitro after exposure of HeLa x skin fibroblast hybrid cells to low doses of mammography-energy (28 kVp) X rays has been studied. The data indicate no evidence of an increase in transformation frequency over the range 0.05 to 22 cGy, and doses in the range 0.05 to 1.1 cGy may result in suppression of transformation frequencies to levels below that seen spontaneously. This finding is not consistent with a linear, no-threshold dose- response curve. The dose range at which possible suppression is evident includes doses typically experienced in mammographic examination of the human breast. Experiments are described that attempt to elucidate any possible role of bystander effects in modulating this low-dose radiation response. Not unexpectedly, inhibition of gap junction intercellular communication (GJIC) with the inhibitor lindane did not result in any significant alteration of transformation frequencies seen at doses of 0.27 or 5.4 cGy in these subconfluent cultures. Furthermore, no evidence of a bystander effect associated with factors secreted into the extracellular medium was seen in medium transfer experiments. Thus, in this system and under the experimental conditions used, bystander effects would not appear to be playing a major role in modulating the shape of the dose-response curve.

Flow cytometry as a strategy to study radiation-induced bystander effects in co-culture systems.

There is growing interest in the role of bystander effects in the biological response of mammalian cells to ionizing radiation. Qualitative and quantitative assessment of bystander effects requires quick and reliable methodologies. The present work uses a flow cytometric approach to study proliferation of bystander cells co-cultured with irradiated cells. Confluent monolayers of rat liver epithelial cells (WB-F344) were irradiated with 137Cs gamma-rays at dose ranges 0.5, 1, 5, 10, and 20 Gy. Irradiated cells were mixed with unirradiated cells (i.e., bystander cells) at a ratio of 1:1 and cultured together for 24 h followed by a flow cytometry (FCM) study of their proliferation. In order to discriminate the two populations of co-cultured cells, one of the cell populations (unirradiated cells) was stained with the lipophilic fluorescent dye DiI. Unirradiated cells, in the presence of cells irradiated at doses above 0.5 Gy, showed an enhanced cell growth by approximately 14-17%. Cells irradiated with gamma rays can induce increased proliferation in neighboring unirradiated bystander cells. FCM provides an excellent basis for characterization of these and other bystander effects in co-culture systems.