Radiation biology research at IUAC

The ongoing radiation biology research at IUAC investigates the effects of accelerated charged particles on the biological systems at the molecular level. There is a dedicated beamline for Heavy Ion Radiation Biology for experiments using the low flux of accelerated ions. The areas of research include modeling of radiation effects, exploration of pathways to radiation induced effects with potential applications in many important areas such as Heavy Ion Cancer therapy and Radiation protection in manned space flights. IUAC has a dedicated radiation biology beamline having ASPIRE (Automated Sample Positioning and Irradiation system for radiation biology Experiments) where cells can be irradiated in air at atmospheric pressure to the preset dose of accelerated heavy ions with a very good dose uniformity. Apart from that, there is a dedicated radiation biology laboratory having basic equipment to facilitate the sample preparation and post irradiation treatments like CO₂ incubators, Image based cell counter, an upright Fluorescence microscope, Multimode Plate Reader, Field Inversion Gel electrophoresis two bio safety cabinets, one small laminar flow bench, refrigerated centrifuges, a microplate washer and deep refrigerators. The facilities allow for conducting analytical procedures involving gene expression studies using PCR, Western Blot, Fluorescence Immunostaining studies etc. by the university users. The talk will discuss some of the studies undertaken utilizing IUAC facilities. Signaling pathways of activation and secretion of Matrix Metalloproteinases from human lung carcinoma cells and Radiosensitization of human cancer cells using G-quadruplex ligands have been studied. Recently, the group has intensively studied the effects of 62 MeV carbon ion beam on mitochondrial fission-fusion homeostasis and electron transport chain (ETC) function in HEK 293T cells. In another study, modulation of autophagy and the related mechanism by 62 MeV C ion beam in human embryonic intestinal cells (INT407 cells) were investigated without and with treatment with autophagy inducers/blockers. There is an indication that LiCl treatment can be used as a radio-protective agent against autophagy. Conversely, pre-treatment with autophagy inducers increased the accumulation of monodansylcadaverine and altered the distribution and size of the autophagic vacuoles in ion irradiated cells. (author)