Fundamental Toxicological Sciences

Paper Details

Fundamental Toxicological Sciences
Vol. 9 No. 2 April 05, 2022 p.47-59
Letter
Relationship between micronucleus formation and oxidative stress in human vascular endothelial cells under low dose rate irradiation
  • Junya Kobayashi (Department of Interdisciplinary Environment, Graduate School of Human and Environmental Sciences, Kyoto University / Department of Radiological Sciences, School of Health Sciences at Narita, International University of Health and Welfare / kobayashij@iuhw.ac.jp)
Qingmei Meng 1) , Ikue Hayashi 2) , Kumiko Anno 3) , Junya Kobayashi 1) 4)
1) Department of Interdisciplinary Environment, Graduate School of Human and Environmental Sciences, Kyoto University , 2) Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Hiroshima University , 3) Faculty of Human Science, Hiroshima Bunkyo University , 4) Department of Radiological Sciences, School of Health Sciences at Narita, International University of Health and Welfare
Keywords: Oxidative stress, Micronuclei, ATM, Low dose rate radiation, Mitochondria
Abstracts

Acute irradiation stimulates oxidative stress and DNA damage responses. However, it is unknown whether chronic irradiation (IR) at a low dose rate causes similar responses, and epidemiological studies of radiation-exposed people with low doses have reported effects on cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, we investigated the cellular effects under low dose rate of IR in human vascular endothelial cells as a model for cardiovascular diseases. We demonstrated that a low dose rate of IR induces phosphorylation of p38MAPK and STAT1, which is related to cGAS, and increases p21, a cellular senescence-regulatory factor. A low dose rate of IR also causes a remarkable formation of micronuclei in human vascular endothelial cells. DIA proteome analysis in human vascular endothelial cells indicated an increase in oxidative stress- and inflammation-related protein levels, and a decrease in protein levels related to the repression of micronuclei formation following exposure to low dose rate of IR. These results suggest that a low dose rate of IR might induce oxidative stress and micronuclei formation, which could activate the cGAS pathway and subsequently lead to cellular senescence.