An immunological study of radiation-induced damage in mouse brain

Experimental studies on the response of the brain to clinically relevant radiation doses and fractionation schemes have been limited by the available systems for assaying damage. Mainly survival and histological assessment have been used. To explore responses further the authors developed new methods which utilize the specificity of antigen-antibody reactions in the study of radiation-induced brain injury. In the initial phase of the study they chose to measure the kinetics of changes within the brain of cell-type specific proteins characteristic of astroglial (S-100) and neuronal (NSE) elements and their release into body fluids following brain irradiation. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) for these proteins were developed for this purpose. Immunohistological techniques have also been developed so that we can relate changes to in situ cellular brain damage. Results are presented on the effect of single doses of 250 kVp X rays upon these systems