Radio-induced inactivation and transformation of rat epithelial cell by alpha particles

Following alpha- and gamma-irradiations, radio-induced cell inactivation and cellular transformation were measured in primary cultures of tracheal epithelial cells from two rat strains, Sprague Dawley (SD) and Wistar Furth/Fisher F344 (WF/Fi) rats. The survival ratio for each of the two rat strain cells appeared to be statistically different after alpha irradiation. WF/Fi rat cells were 1.7 times more radiosensitive than SD rat cells, whereas no difference is observed following low LET irradiation. Comparison of survival of the cells yielded an RBE of 2.8 and 4.5 for SD and WF/Fi rat cells respectively. The relative transformation frequency (RTF) for WF/Fi primary cells was very close to the level of the spontaneous incidence and independent on the two irradiation types used. On the contrary, the RTF for the SD primary cells, exposed to α-particles of γ-rays, is significantly enhanced when the survival of cells at risk decreases under 40%. For a SD cell survival of about 10%, RTF after low-LET irradiation was approximately 3-fold higher than after exposure to high-LET radiation. In order to determine if the radiosensitivity and the radio-induced cellular transformation of the cells collected from the two rat strains, could be related to their respective antioxidant defenses, activities of the main antioxidant enzymes (superoxide dismutase, catalase and Glutathione peroxidase) have been measured in the primary cell in culture. In our cellular model, the basal level of antoxidant enzymes is not associated with the radiosensitivity induced by high LET radiation. (author)