Journal Article

GSI-2025-00017

http://join2-wiki.gsi.de/foswiki/pub/Main/Artwork/join2_logo100x88.png Radiation-induced DNA double-strand breaks in cortisol exposed fibroblasts as quantified with the novel foci-integrated damage complexity score (FIDCS)

Radstake, W. E. ; Parisi, A. ; Miranda, S. ; Gautam, K. ; Vermeesen, R. ; Rehnberg, E. ; Tabury, K. ; Coppes, R. ; van Goethem, M.-J. ; Brandenburg, S. ; Weber, U.GSI* ; Fournier, C.GSI* ; Durante, M.GSI* ; Baselet, B. (Corresponding author) ; Baatout, S.

2024
Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature [London]

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Please use a persistent id in citations: doi:10.1038/s41598-024-60912-y  doi:10.15120/GSI-2025-00017

Abstract: Without the protective shielding of Earth's atmosphere, astronauts face higher doses of ionizing radiation in space, causing serious health concerns. Highly charged and high energy (HZE) particles are particularly effective in causing complex and difficult-to-repair DNA double-strand breaks compared to low linear energy transfer. Additionally, chronic cortisol exposure during spaceflight raises further concerns, although its specific impact on DNA damage and repair remains unknown. This study explorers the effect of different radiation qualities (photons, protons, carbon, and iron ions) on the DNA damage and repair of cortisol-conditioned primary human dermal fibroblasts. Besides, we introduce a new measure, the Foci-Integrated Damage Complexity Score (FIDCS), to assess DNA damage complexity by analyzing focus area and fluorescent intensity. Our results show that the FIDCS captured the DNA damage induced by different radiation qualities better than counting the number of foci, as traditionally done. Besides, using this measure, we were able to identify differences in DNA damage between cortisol-exposed cells and controls. This suggests that, besides measuring the total number of foci, considering the complexity of the DNA damage by means of the FIDCS can provide additional and, in our case, improved information when comparing different radiation qualities.

Keyword(s): Humans (MeSH) ; Fibroblasts: radiation effects (MeSH) ; Fibroblasts: metabolism (MeSH) ; DNA Breaks, Double-Stranded: radiation effects (MeSH) ; Hydrocortisone: pharmacology (MeSH) ; DNA Repair (MeSH) ; Radiation, Ionizing (MeSH) ; Cells, Cultured (MeSH) ; DNA Damage (MeSH) ; Carbon ions ; Cortisol ; DNA damage ; DNA repair ; Fibroblast ; Ionizing radiation ; Iron ions ; Protons ; Hydrocortisone

Note: Grant: SA-IBER (AO-2019-IBER) " This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/."

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Contributing Institute(s):

1. Biophysik (BIO)
2. Collaboration FAIR: BIO (BIO@FAIR)

Research Program(s):

1. 633 - Life Sciences – Building Blocks of Life: Structure and Function (POF4-633) (POF4-633)
2. FAIR Phase-0 - FAIR Phase-0 Research Program (GSI-FAIR-Phase-0) (GSI-FAIR-Phase-0)
3. SUC-GSI-Darmstadt - Strategic university cooperation GSI-TU Darmstadt (SUC-GSI-DA) (SUC-GSI-DA)

Experiment(s):

1. SESA: ESA Experiments at SIS (POF4-633; HTA)

Appears in the scientific report 2024

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