Long-term biological effects of low-dose radiation are little known nowadays and its carcinogenic risk is estimated on the assumption that the risk remains linearly proportional to the radiation dose down to low-dose levels. However in the last 20 years this hypothesis has gradually begun to seem in contrast with a huge collection of experimental evidences, which has shown the presence of a plethora of non-linear phenomena (including hypersensitivity and induced radioresistance, adaptive response, and non-targeted phenomena like bystander effect and genomic instability) occurring after low-dose irradiation. These phenomena might imply a non-linear behaviour of cancer risk curves in the low-dose region and question the validity of the Linear No-Threshold (LNT) model currently used for cancer risk assessment through extrapolation from existing high-dose data. Moreover only few information is available regarding the effects induced on cryopreserved cells by multi-year background radiation exposure, which might induce a radiation-damage accumulation, due to the inhibition of cellular repair mechanisms. In this framework, the multi-year EXCALIBUR (EXposure effeCts At Low doses of Ionizing radiation in Biological CultURes) experiment, funded by INFN-CNS5, has undertaken a multiscale approach investigation on the biological effects induced in in vitro and in vivo biological systems, in culture and cryopreserved conditions, as a function of radiation quality (X/γ-rays, protons, He-4 ions of various energies) and dose, with particular emphasis on the low-dose region and non-linear phenomena, in terms of different biological endpoints. PACS 87.53.-j-Effects of ionizing radiation on biological systems. PACS 87.53.Ay-Biophysical mechanisms of interaction. PACS 87.53.Bn-Dosimetry/exposure assessment. PACS 87.18.Gh-Cell-cell communication; collective behavior of motile cells. © Società Italiana di Fisica.
Low-dose effects of ionizing radiations in in vitro and in vivo biological systems: A multi-scale approach study / Antoccia, A.; Argazzi, E.; Balata, M.; Bedogni, R.; Berardinelli, F.; Bisogni, G.; Bono, M.; Bottigli, U.; Brunetti, A.; Buttafava, A.; Castellani, G.; Centi, F.; Cesarini, W.; Cherubini, R.; Cossu, A.; Cugia, G.; Dattena, M.; De Nadal, V.; Dondi, D.; Esposito, A.; Faucitano, A.; Fiori, P. L.; Fusco, E.; Gerardi, S.; Laubenstein, M.; Lucarini, A.; Marengo, M.; Masala, G. L.; Nieri, D.; Nisi, S.; Picardi, F.; Pintus, G.; Posadino, A.; Randacci, P.; Remondini, D.; Sgura, A.; Stramigioli, S.; Tanzarella, C.; Valentini, M.; Zamai, L.; Zini, G.; Zironi, I. - In: NUOVO CIMENTO DELLA SOCIETÀ ITALIANA DI FISICA. C, GEOPHYSICS AND SPACE PHYSICS. - ISSN 1826-9885. - 34:1(2011), pp. 49-63. [10.1393/ncc/i2011-10806-1]
Low-dose effects of ionizing radiations in in vitro and in vivo biological systems: A multi-scale approach study
Brunetti, A.;Fiori, P. L.;Posadino, A.;
2011-01-01
Abstract
Long-term biological effects of low-dose radiation are little known nowadays and its carcinogenic risk is estimated on the assumption that the risk remains linearly proportional to the radiation dose down to low-dose levels. However in the last 20 years this hypothesis has gradually begun to seem in contrast with a huge collection of experimental evidences, which has shown the presence of a plethora of non-linear phenomena (including hypersensitivity and induced radioresistance, adaptive response, and non-targeted phenomena like bystander effect and genomic instability) occurring after low-dose irradiation. These phenomena might imply a non-linear behaviour of cancer risk curves in the low-dose region and question the validity of the Linear No-Threshold (LNT) model currently used for cancer risk assessment through extrapolation from existing high-dose data. Moreover only few information is available regarding the effects induced on cryopreserved cells by multi-year background radiation exposure, which might induce a radiation-damage accumulation, due to the inhibition of cellular repair mechanisms. In this framework, the multi-year EXCALIBUR (EXposure effeCts At Low doses of Ionizing radiation in Biological CultURes) experiment, funded by INFN-CNS5, has undertaken a multiscale approach investigation on the biological effects induced in in vitro and in vivo biological systems, in culture and cryopreserved conditions, as a function of radiation quality (X/γ-rays, protons, He-4 ions of various energies) and dose, with particular emphasis on the low-dose region and non-linear phenomena, in terms of different biological endpoints. PACS 87.53.-j-Effects of ionizing radiation on biological systems. PACS 87.53.Ay-Biophysical mechanisms of interaction. PACS 87.53.Bn-Dosimetry/exposure assessment. PACS 87.18.Gh-Cell-cell communication; collective behavior of motile cells. © Società Italiana di Fisica.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
