Biochemical and biological responses in V79 cells grown in different background radiation environment

Full text: In order to investigate the influence of a low background radiation environment on the biochemical and biological responses of mammalian cells cultured in vitro, a cell culture laboratory has been set up at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS) of the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), located under the Gran Sasso d'Italia mountain, where cosmic rays are reduced by a factor of 106 and neutrons by a factor of 103 respect to the outside environment. Chinese hamster V79 cells were grown in parallel for up to nine months at LNGS and at the Istituto Superiore di Sanita (ISS). At the LNGS the exposure due to radon was reduced by a factor of about 25 with respect to the ISS. The biological end points addressed concerned cells proliferation, the expression of enzymes specific for the reduction of superoxydes, mutation induction by gamma-rays at the hprt locus and apoptotic sensitivity. After 9 months of culture, the cells grown at the LNGS, compared to the cells grown at the ISS, exhibit: i) a significant increase of the cell density at confluence; ii) a significantly higher capacity to scavenge organic and inorganic hydroperoxydes but a reduced scavenging capacity towards superoxide anions; iii) an increase in both the basal hprt mutation frequency and the sensitivity to the mutagenic effect of gamma-rays. The cells grown at the LNGS also show greater apoptotic sensitivity at the third month of culture that is no longer detected after nine months. Overall, these data suggest that cell response to ionizing radiation may be more complex than that predicted by a linear relationship with the dose and are consistent with the occurrence of an adaptive response related to the background radiation. However, other possibilities cannot be excluded such as the selection, in the two cultures, of clones having different characteristics, independently of the different radiation background. Work is in progress to better elucidate this point