First in vitro cell co-culture experiments using laser-induced high-energy electron FLASH irradiation for the development of anti-cancer therapeutic strategies

Autor: Stefana Orobeti, Livia Elena Sima, Ioana Porosnicu, Constantin Diplasu, Georgiana Giubega, Gabriel Cojocaru, Razvan Ungureanu, Cosmin Dobrea, Mihai Serbanescu, Alexandru Mihalcea, Elena Stancu, Cristina Elena Staicu, Florin Jipa, Alexandra Bran, Emanuel Axente, Simion Sandel, Marian Zamfirescu, Ion Tiseanu, Felix Sima
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2024
Předmět:
Zdroj: Scientific Reports, Vol 14, Iss 1, Pp 1-13 (2024)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2045-2322
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-65137-7
Popis: Abstract Radiation delivery at ultrahigh dose rates (UHDRs) has potential for use as a new anticancer therapeutic strategy. The FLASH effect induced by UHDR irradiation has been shown to maintain antitumour efficacy with a reduction in normal tissue toxicity; however, the FLASH effect has been difficult to demonstrate in vitro. The objective to demonstrate the FLASH effect in vitro is challenging, aiming to reveal a differential response between cancer and normal cells to further identify cell molecular mechanisms. New high-intensity petawatt laser-driven accelerators can deliver very high-energy electrons (VHEEs) at dose rates as high as 1013 Gy/s in very short pulses (10–13 s). Here, we present the first in vitro experiments carried out on cancer cells and normal non-transformed cells concurrently exposed to laser-plasma accelerated (LPA) electrons. Specifically, melanoma cancer cells and normal melanocyte co-cultures grown on chamber slides were simultaneously irradiated with LPA electrons. A non-uniform dose distribution on the cell cultures was revealed by Gafchromic films placed behind the chamber slide supporting the cells. In parallel experiments, cell co-cultures were exposed to pulsed X-ray irradiation, which served as positive controls for radiation-induced nuclear DNA double-strand breaks. By measuring the impact on discrete areas of the cell monolayers, the greatest proportion of the damaged DNA-containing nuclei was attained by the LPA electrons at a cumulative dose one order of magnitude lower than the dose obtained by pulsed X-ray irradiation. Interestingly, in certain discrete areas, we observed that LPA electron exposure had a different effect on the DNA damage in healthy normal human epidermal melanocyte (NHEM) cells than in A375 melanoma cells; here, the normal cells were less affected by the LPA exposure than cancer cells. This result is the first in vitro demonstration of a differential response of tumour and normal cells exposed to FLASH irradiation and may contribute to the development of new cell culture strategies to explore fundamental understanding of FLASH-induced cell effect.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
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