Effects of ⁶⁰Co gamma rays on mitochondrial COXI and ATPase6 expression in human peripheral blood

This paper is to explore the effect of ⁶⁰Co gamma rays on mitochondrial gene and protein expression in human Peripheral blood. Human peripheral blood samples were exposed to ⁶⁰Co gamma rays at different doses: 0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0 Gy, after 6 hours irradiation in human peripheral blood, Changes of mRNA level of COXI and ATPase 6 genes were detected by RT-PCR and Real-Time PCR. And COXI and ATPase6 protein expression change was observed by using flow cytometer. The relationship between mitochondrial gene and protein expression with dose was analyzed by origin 7.5 software. The expression of two genes at mRNA level was up-regulated, A good dose-effect relationship was showed at dose range of 0-3 Gy for COXI (Y = 0.629 + 0.256D, r² = 0.9169, p < 0.01). At the protein level, A good dose-effect relationship was showed for COXI (Y = 1.054 + 0.595D, r² = 0.919, p < 0.01) at dose range of 0-5 Gy. The expression of COXI at mRNA and protein level were not noticeable, dose-effect relationship between protein expression of ATPase6 with dose was not significan. The expression of COXI at mRNA and protein level were up-regulated and accorded, COXI could be promising radiation biological dosimeter. (authors)