Communicating the non-targeted effects of radiation from irradiated to non-irradiated cells

For many years, the central dogma in radiobiology has been that energy deposited in the cell nucleus is responsible for the biological effects associated with radiation exposure. However, non-targeted and delayed effects of radiation have shifted this belief. The studies of radiation-induced genomic instability, the bystander and abscopal effects, clastogenic factors, and the Death Inducing Effect have dominated the interest of the radiobiology field of late. The passing of signals from irradiated to non-irradiated cells can be accomplished through cell-to-cell gap junction communication or secretion of molecules, which in turn can elicit a response through activation of signal transduction pathways. Proposed mediators of this phenotype include proteins involved with inflammation. Given their size and connection with oxidative stress, cytokines are an attractive candidate as mediators of the induction of the non-targeted effects of radiation. Here we review the evidence for a possible connection between these delayed non-targeted effects of radiation and the cytokine cascades associated with inflammation. (author)