辐射介导自杀基因和p53及其靶基因靶向治疗

由于临床治疗剂量对正常组织造成严重损伤，使得放疗存在一些不足。刚刚兴起的肿瘤基因治疗同样存在一些弊端，如对肿瘤组织缺乏特异性，治疗基因表达水平有限，有潜在的生物危险性等。在一定程度上，辐射靶向诱导自杀基因和p53基因及p53靶基因靶向基因治疗可弥补以上两种疗法的不足。该治疗方法不仅可以弥补单独放疗或单独基因治疗的不足，而且可在降低各自治疗剂量的基础上提高疗效。目前已有几种符合要求的表达载体进入临床试验。着重介绍了离子辐射介导自杀基因或p53基因及p53靶基因的辐射靶向基因治疗的研究进展。Radiotherapy has some disadvantages due to the severe side-effect on the normal tissues at a curative dose of ionizing radiation （IR）. Similarly, as a new developing approach, gene therapy also has some disadvantages, such as lack of specificity for tumors, limited expression of therapeutic gene, potential biological risk. To certain extent, above problems would be solved by the suicide genes or p53 gene and its target genes the rapies targeted by ionizing radiation. This strategy not only makes up the disadvantages from radiotherapy or gene therapy alone, but also promotes success rate on the base of lower dose. By present, there have been several vectors measuring up to be reaching clinical trials. This review focused on the development of the cancer gene therapy through suicide genes or p53 and its target genes mediated by IR.     

重离子束用于肿瘤放射治疗的基础理论

通过与低传能线密度辐射治疗对比分析建立了重离子束肿瘤放射治疗的基础理论,提出了一些提高重离子束放射治疗疗效和减少对正常组织损伤的技术措施,旨在为已开展的重离子治癌临床研究提供理论依据． The basic theory of tumor radiotherapy with heavy ion beam was introduced in contrast to low LET irradiation therapy. Some useful methods are also suggested to improve the curative effect of heavy ion therapy and to spare the normal tissue around the tumor.     

Pre-irradiation with low-dose ~(12)C~(6+) beam significantly enhances the efficacy of AdCMV-p53 gene therapy in human non-small lung cancer

The combination of ionizing radiation and gene therapy has been investigated. However, there are very few reports about the combination of heavy-ion irradiation and gene therapy. To determine if the pre-exposure to low-dose heavy ion beam enhances the suppression of AdCMV-p53 on non-small lung cancer (NSLC), the cells pre-irradiated or non-irradiated were infected with 20, 40 MOI of AdCMV-p53. Survival fraction and the relative biology effect (RBE) were determined by clonogenic assay. The results showed that the proportions of p53 positive cells in 12C6+ beam induced AdCMV-p53 infected cells were more than 90%, which were signifi-cantly more than those in γ-ray induced AdCMV-p53 infected cells. The pre-exposure to low-dose 12C6+ beam significantly prevented the G0/G1 arrest and activated G2/M checkpoints. The pre-exposure to 12C6+ beam significantly improved cell to apoptosis. RBEs for the 12C6+ + AdCMV-p53 infection groups were 30%-60%, 20%-130% and 30%-70% more than those for the 12C6+-irradiated only, AdCMV-p53 infected only, and γ-irradiation induced AdCMVp53 infected groups, respectively. The data suggested that the pre-exposure to low-dose 12C6+ beam significantly promotes exogenous p53 expression in NSLC, and the suppression of AdCMV-p53 gene therapy on NSLC.     

Pre-irradiation with low-dose <Superscript>12</Superscript>C<Superscript>6+</Superscript> beam significantly enhances the efficacy of <Emphasis Type="Italic">AdCMV-p53</Emphasis> gene therapy in human non-small lung cancer

The combination of ionizing radiation and gene therapy has been investigated. However, there are very few reports about the combination of heavy-ion irradiation and gene therapy. To determine if the pre-exposure to low-dose heavy ion beam enhances the suppression of AdCMV-p53 on non-small lung cancer (NSLC), the cells pre-irradiated or non-irradiated were infected with 20, 40 MOl of AdCMV-p53. Survival fraction and the relative biology effect (RBE) were determined by clonogenic assay. The results showed that the proportions of p53 positive cells in 12C6 beam induced AdCMV-p53 infected cells were more than 90%, which were significantly more than those in γ-ray induced AdCMV-p53 infected cells. The pre-exposure to low-dose 12C6 beam significantly prevented the G0/G1 arrest and activated G2/M checkpoints. The pre-exposure to 12C6 beam significantly improved cell to apoptosis. RBEs for the 12C6 AdCMV-p53 infection groups were 30%-60%, 20% -130% and 30%-70% more than those for the 12C6 -irradiated only, AdCMV-p53 infected only, and γ-irradiation induced AdCMVp53 infected groups, respectively. The data suggested that the pre-exposure to low-dose 12C6 beam significantly promotes exogenous p53 expression in NSLC, and the suppression of AdCMV-p53 gene therapy on NSLC.     

C离子束放射治疗肿瘤的进展

重离子(C离子)用于肿瘤放射治疗具有物理学和生物学两方面的优势, 被誉为面向21世纪最佳放疗用射线。 综合论述了世界各国重离子束治癌的发展历史, 在日本国立放射医学综合研究所(NIRS)提供的临床试验数据基础上分析了C离子束治疗的适应症以及对正常组织的放射损伤。 此外, 通过分析潜在患者人数和治疗相关硬件与软件设备, 对C离子束治癌的运用前景做了初步评估。Heavy ions (carbon ions) were considered currently as the best radiation in radiotherapy for their two superiorities in the physical and biological properties. This paper firstly put the focus on the history of development of heavy ion radiotherapy in the world, then a comprehensive analysis of the indications and radiation damages of normal tissues in clinical trails of heavy ion therapy was made based on the published data by NIRS. Moreover, the prospect of using carbon ions in radiotherapy was estimated by analyzing the potential patients’ number, its related instruments and etc.     

Experimental verification of therapeutic doses for the superficially-placed tumor radiotherapy with heavy ions at HIRFL

Up to now, clinical trials of heavy-ion radiotherapy for superficially placed tumors have been carried out for six times and over 60 selected patients have been treated with 80--100 MeV/u carbon ions supplied by the Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou （HIRFL） at the Institute of Modern Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences since November, 2006. A passive irradiation system and a dose optimization method for radiotherapy with carbon-ion beams have been developed. Experimental verification of longitudinally therapeutic dose distributions was conducted under the condition of simulating patient treatment in the therapy terminal at HIRFL. The measured depth-dose distributions basically coincide with the expected ones. These results indicate that the irradiation system and the dose optimization method are effective in the ongoing carbon-ion radiotherapy for shallow-seated tumors at HIRFL.     

Irradiation effect on strain sensitivity coefficient of strain sensing fiber Bragg gratings

The effect of irradiation on the strain sensitivity coefficient of strain sensing fiber Bragg gratings(FBGs) has been investigated through experiments. FBGs were fabricated in single mode fibers with 3 mol% Ge-concentration in the core and with a H2-loading treatment. In experiments, the FBGs were subjected to γ-radiation exposures using a Co60 source at a dose-rate of 25 Gy/min up to a total dose of 10.5 kGy. The GeO defect in fiber absorbs photons to form a GeE’ defect; the interaction with H2 is a probable reason for the γ-radiation sensitivity of gratings written in hydrogen loaded fibres. The effect mechanism of radiation on the strain sensitivity coefficient is similar to that of radiation on the temperature sensitivity coefficient. Radiation affects the effective index neff, which results in the change of the thermo-optic coefficient and the strain-optic coefficient. Irradiation can change the strain sensitivity coefficient of FBGs by 1.48%–2.71%, as well as changing the Bragg wavelength shift(BWS) by 22 pm–25 pm under a total dose of 10.5 kGy. Our research demonstrates that the effect of irradiation on the strain sensitivity coefficient of FBG is small and that strain sensing FBGs can work well in the radiation environment.     

Effects of Nitric Oxide on Growth and Sensitivity of Human Glioma A172 Cells to ^60Co and X-ray Radiation

Nitric oxide (NO)has been implicated both in regression and progression of tumors due to its production by both tumor cells and infiltrating lymphocytes. Ionizing radiation causes the regression of tumors, and can augment the production of NO by macrophages in vitro. The authors examined the effect of nitric oxide (NO) generating agent sodium nitroprusside (SNP) on the growth and radiosensitivity of cultured glioma A172 cells to ^60Co or X-ray radiation.     

Total dose radiation and annealing responses of the back transistor of Silicon-On-Insulator pMOSFETs

The total dose radiation and annealing responses of the back transistor of Silicon-On-Insulator(SOI)pMOSFETs have been studied by comparing them with those of the back transistor of SOI n MOSFETs fabricated on the same wafer. The transistors were irradiated by60 Co γ-rays with various doses and the front transistors were biased in a Float-State and Off-State, respectively, during irradiation. The total dose radiation responses of the back transistors were characterized by their threshold voltage shifts. The results show that the total dose radiation response of the back transistor of SOI pMOSFETs, similar to that of SOI n MOSFETs, depends greatly on their bias conditions during irradiation. However, with the Float-State bias rather than the Off-State bias, the back transistors of SOI pMOSFETs reveal a much higher sensitivity to total dose radiation, which is contrary to the behavior of SOI n MOSFETs. In addition, it is also found that the total dose radiation effect of the back transistor of SOI pMOSFETs irradiated with Off-State bias, as well as that of the SOI n MOSFETs, increases as the channel length decreases. The annealing response of the back transistors after irradiation at room temperature without bias, as characterized by their threshold voltage shifts, indicates that there is a relatively complex annealing mechanism associated with channel length, type, and bias condition during irradiation. In particular, for all of the transistors irradiated with Off-State bias, their back transistors show an abnormal annealing effect during early annealing. All of these results have been discussed and analyzed in detail by the aid of simulation.     

Radiation-induced changes in phosphorus T1values in human melanoma xenografts studied by P-MRS

³¹P-magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) has been shown to be a promising method for monitoring tumor response to radiation therapy. The purpose of the work reported here was to investigate whether the usefulness of ³¹P-MRS might be enhanced by measurement of spin-lattice relaxation times (T₁s) in addition to resonance ratios. The work was based on the hypothesis that tumors having a high probability of being controlled locally would show shortened T₁s during the treatment course due to reoxygenation and development of necrosis. BEX-t human melanoma xenografts, which show efficient reoxygenation and development of necrosis following single dose irradiation, were used as tumor models. Tumors were treated with single doses of 5.0 or 15.0 Gy and the T₁s of the inorganic phosphate and nucleoside triphosphate β resonances were measured as a function of time after irradiation by using the superfast inversion recovery method. Fractional tumor water content was determined by drying excised tumors at 50°C until a constant weight was reached. The T₁s in irradiated tumors were either longer than or not significantly different from those in unirradiated control tumors. The increase in the T₁s following irradiation coincided in time with a radiation-induced increase in tumor water content, suggesting a causal relationship. The effects of reoxygenation and development of necrosis on T₁s were probably overshadowed by the effects of tumor water content. Consequently, the usefulness of ³¹P-MRS in monitoring tumor response to radiation therapy might not be significantly enhanced by measurement of T₁s.     

What can we learn from the neutron clinical experience for improving ion-beam techniques and high-LET patient selection?

Historically, improvements in radiotherapy have been mainly due to improvements in physical selectivity: beam penetration, collimation, dosimetry, treatment planning; and advances in imaging. Neutrons were the first high-LET (linear energy transfer) radiation to be used clinically and showed improvement in the differential response of radiation resistant tumors and normal tissues. The benefits of fast neutrons (and other forms of high LET radiations) are due to their biological effects: a reduction of the OER, a reduction in the differential cell radiosensitivity related to their position in the mitotic cycle, and a reduction in cellular repair capacity (thus less importance of fractionation). The poor physical selectivity of the early neutron therapy beams introduced a systematic bias in comparison with the photon treatments and created a negative perception for neutron therapy. However, significant improvements in the neutron therapy equipment resulted in a physical selectivity similar to modern MV photon therapy.The tumor types or sites where the best therapeutic results were obtained included inoperable or recurrent salivary gland tumors locally extended prostatic adenocarcinomas, and slowly growing well-differentiated sarcomas. The benefit of neutrons for some other well-defined groups of patients was demonstrated in randomized trials. It was estimated that about 20 % of all radiotherapy patients could benefit from fast neutrons (if neutrons are delivered under satisfactory physical conditions). An important issue for fast neutron therapy is the selection of the types of patients who could most benefit from high-LET radiations. The same issue is raised today with other high-LET radiations (e.g., ¹²C ions). It is reasonable to assume that the same types of patients would benefit from ¹²C irradiation. Of course the better physical selectivity of ion beams enhances the treatment possibilities but this is true for both the high-LET and low-LET radiations (i.e., moving from neutrons to ¹²C ions and from photons to protons, respectively). An important area of research involves developing criteria to identify specific patients suitable for high-LET radiation. One promising technique is to measure the RBE of the cancer cell population in vitro mainly in head and neck tumors. Modern molecular imaging allows the identification of hypoxic or proliferative regions in the tumor. Special MRI examinations are also able to identify hypoxic regions. A promising predictive test recently initiated, is the study of non-repairable double strand breaks but the utility of the technique needs to be confirmed. The extensive experience with fast neutron therapy can greatly assist the transition to high-LET charged-particle therapy.     

A dose comparison of proton radiotherapy and photon radiotherapy for pediatric brain tumor

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of photon radiotherapy and to compare the dose of treatment planning between proton radiotherapy and 3D conformal radiation therapy (3D-CRT) for pediatric brain tumor patients. This study was conducted in five pediatric brain tumor patients who underwent craniospinal irradiation treatment from October 2013 to April 2014 in the hospital. The study compared organs at risk (OARs) by assessing the dose distribution of normal tissue from the proton plan and 3D-CRT. Furthermore, this study assessed the treatment plans by looking at the homogeneity index (HI) and conformity index (CI). As a result, the study revealed OARs due to the small volume proton radiotherapy dose distribution in the normal tissue. Also, by comparing HI and CI between the 3D-CRT and proton radiotherapy plan, the study found that the dose of proton radiotherapy plan was homogenized. When conducting 3D-CRT and proton radiotherapy in a dose–volume histogram comparison, the dose of distribution turned out to be low. Consequently, proton radiotherapy is used for protecting the normal tissue, and is used in tumor tissue as a homogenized dose for effective treatment.     

12C6+ 离子束辐照对大鼠离体主动脉环内皮依赖性舒张功能的影响

利用兰州重离子研究装置(HIRFL) 提供的高能12C6+离子束(能量为300 MeV/u,剂量率为0.5 Gy/min) 辐照大鼠离体胸主动脉环,考察了12C6+离子束辐照对主动脉环内皮依赖性舒张功能的影响,并采用NBT 还原法测定血管环生成超氧阴离子(O2􀀀) 水平,加入外源性超氧化物歧化酶(SOD) 干预探讨了O2􀀀在内皮功能损伤中的作用。研究结果表明,2.0,4.0 和6.0 Gy 的12C6+离子束辐照大鼠胸主动脉环后,可致血管内皮依赖性舒张功能的剂量依赖性明显受损(P <0.01 vs control group),并可致血管环NBT 还原能力剂量依赖性增加(4.0 Gy 时,P <0.05;6.0 Gy 时,P <0.01 vs control group)。辐照前加入外源性SOD 对6.0 Gy 12C6+离子束辐照所致血管环NBT 还原能力升高有明显抑制作用(P <0.01),对血管环内皮依赖性舒张功能也有明显的保护作用(P<0.01),但辐照后10 min 加入外源性SOD,其保护作用明显不及前者。结论显示,12C6+ 离子束辐照大鼠胸主动脉环可致血管内皮功能受损,O2 清除剂SOD 对内皮功能受损有保护作用,说明O2􀀀介导了辐照所致内皮功能损伤。Heavy ion beam has many characteristics,and it is expected to be the most suitable radiation therapy technique for malignant tumor. It is lack of depth-understanding on the potential adverse reactions caused by using this technique, because heavy ion radiotherapy is applied to clinical for a short time. Studies have shown that the vascular injury plays a pivotal role in normal tissue damage induced in the conventional radiation therapy, but there was no research report on heavy ion beam irradiation-induced vascular injury. In the present study, the isolated aortic rings of rats were irradiated by 12C6+ ion beam (300 MeV/u, 0.5 Gy/min) delivered by HIRFL(Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou), the effects of 12C6+ ion beam irradiation on aortic rings with endothelium dependent diastolic function have been investigated.NBT reduction method was used for assaying the vascular ring formation of superoxide anion (O2􀀀) level, and the involvement of superoxide anion in endothelial function injury in rats was investigated through the intervention test of exogenous superoxide dismutase (SOD) on O2. The results showed that, the vascular endothelial dependent vasodilation was impaired significantly (P < 0:01 vs control group) by irradiation with 2.0, 4.0 and 6.0 Gy 12C6+ ion beam in a dosedependent manner, and the NBT reduction of vascular rings increased dose-dependently (P <0.05 at 4.0 Gy, P <0.01 at 6.0 Gy vs control group). Adding exogenous SOD before irradiation could significantly inhibit the increasing of NBT reduction (P<0.01), and also had protective effect on vascular endothelium dependent diastolic function (P<0.01), but 10 min after irradiation with exogenous SOD, its protective function was significantly less than before. Conclusion indicated that 12C6+ ion beam irradiation could cause endothelial function impaired, O2􀀀 scavenger SOD has a protective effect on endothelial dysfunction, suggesting that O2􀀀 mediates endothelial injury induced by heavy ion irradiation.     

Advances in radiation biology: Radiosensitization in DNA and living cells

One fundamental goal of radiation biology is the evolution of concepts and methods for the elaboration of new approaches and protocols for the treatment of cancers. In this context, the use of fast ions as ionizing particles offers the advantage of optimizing cell killing inside the tumor whilst preserving the surrounding healthy tissues. One extremely promising strategy investigated recently is the addition of radiosensitizers in the targeted tissue. The optimization of radiotherapy with fast ions implies a multidisciplinary approach to ionizing radiation effects on complex living systems, ranging from studies on single molecules to investigations of entire organisms.In this article we review recent studies on ion induced damages in simple and complex biological systems, from DNA to living cells. The specific aspect of radiosensitization induced by metallic atoms is described. As a fundamental result, the addition of sensitizing compounds with ion irradiation may improve therapeutic index in cancer therapy. In conclusion, new perspectives are proposed based on the experience and contribution of different communities including Surface Sciences, to improve the development of radiation biology.     

Increase of lifespan for glioma‐bearing rats by using minibeam radiation therapy

This feasibility work assesses the therapeutic effectiveness of minibeam radiation therapy, a new synchrotron radiotherapy technique. In this new approach the irradiation is performed on 9L gliosarcoma‐bearing rats with arrays of parallel beams of width 500–700 µm. Two irradiation configurations were compared: a lateral unidirectional irradiation and two orthogonal arrays interlacing at the target. A dose escalation study was performed. A factor of three gain in the mean survival time obtained for some animals paves the way for further exploration of the different possibilities of this technique and its further optimization.     

辐照诱导人正常肝细胞系HL-7702 细胞远后的微卫星不稳定性

采用高传能线密度(LET) 的12C6+离子束和低LET 的X 射线辐照人正常肝细胞系HL-7702 细胞,利用微卫星不稳定性(MSI) 检测来分析直接受照射细胞和通过转移培养基方式旁细胞传代八代子细胞以MSI 表征的远后效应。实验结果表明,12C6+离子束诱导的远后效应较X射线的低;旁细胞的远后效应较直接受照射细胞的高;辐射引起的MSI 与杂合性丢失(LOH) 的发生率具有位点特异性。结果提示,重离子放射治疗较X 射线放射治疗对正常组织引发的辐射风险要小,可通过对MSI 高发位点的筛选来评估放疗后患者长期生存状况和二次癌症发生风险。Human normal liver cell line HL-7702 cells were irradiated with high linear energy transfer (LET) 12C6+ ions and low-LET X-rays, respectively. Delayed effect in terms of microsatellite instability (MSI) in progenies of the directly irradiated cells and bystander cells, obtained in the way of medium transfer at the 8th passage postirradiation,were examined. The delayed effect induced by the high-LET 12C6+ ions was different from that induced by the low-LET X-rays, and a higher incidence of MSI was observed in the progenies of the cells after exposure to the X-rays than to the 12C6+ ions. We also found that the delayed effect in the progenies of the bystander cells was much more severe than thoseof directly irradiated cells. Furthermore, the events of MSI and loss of heterozygosity (LOH) induced by the ionizing radiations were not randomly distributed throughout the genome and specific loci existed indeed. These results imply that the radiation risk to normal tissues is lower in heavy ion therapy than in conventional X-ray radiotherapy, and the analysis of microsatellite loci with MSI high frequency occurrence can be applied to access long-term survival condition and second cancer risk for the patients after radiotherapy.     

Site-specific dissociation of DNA bases by slow electrons at early stages of irradiation

At the very early time of irradiation, ballistic secondary electrons are produced as the most abundant of the radiolytic species directly within DNA or its environment. Here, we demonstrate the propensity of such low-energy (<3 eV) electrons to damage DNA bases via an effective loss of hydrogen located at the specific nitrogen positions. Since this site is directly implicated in the bonding of nucleobases within DNA and since dehydrogenation of the nucleic acid bases has been observed to be the predominant dissociative channel, the present findings foreshadow significant implications for the initial molecular processes leading to genotoxicity in living cells following unwanted or intended exposure to ionizing radiation (e.g., sunbathing, air travel, radiotherapy, etc.).