Low Dose Gamma Irradiation Potentiates Secondary Exposure to Gamma Rays or Protons in Thyroid Tissue Analogs

We have utilized our unique bioreactor model to produce three-dimensional thyroid tissue analogs that we believe better represent the effects of radiation in vivo than two-dimensional cultures. Our thyroid model has been characterized at multiple levels, including: cell-cell exchanges (bystander), signal transduction, functional changes and modulation of gene expression. We have significant preliminary data on structural, functional, signal transduction and gene expression responses from acute exposures at high doses (50-1000 rads) of gamma, protons and iron (Green et al., 2001a; 2001b; 2002a; 2002b; 2005). More recently, we used our DOE funding (ending Feb 06) to characterize the pattern of radiation modulated gene expression in rat thyroid tissue analogs using low-dose/low-dose rate radiation, plus/minus acute challenge exposures. Findings from these studies show that the low-dose/low-dose rate “priming” exposures to radiation invoked changes in gene expression profiles that varied with dose and time. The thyrocytes transitioned to a “primed” state, so that when the tissue analogs were challenged with an acute exposure to radiation they had a muted response (or an increased resistance) to cytopathological changes relative to “un-primed” cells. We measured dramatic differences in the primed tissue analogs, showing that our original hypothesis was correct: that low dose gamma irradiation will potentiate the repair/adaptation response to a secondary exposure. Implications from these findings are that risk assessments based on classical in vitro tissue culture assays will overestimate risk, and that low dose rate priming results in a reduced response in gene expression to a secondary challenge exposure, which implies that a priming dose provides enhanced protection to thyroid cells grown as tissue analogs. If we can determine that the effects of radiation on our tissue analogs more closely resemble the effects of radiation in vivo, then we can better estimate the risks and modify assign limits to radiation worker and astronauts. Additionally, confirmation that tissue analogs represent a realistic in vivo response to radiation will allow scientists to perform tissue relevant experiments without the expense of using animals. Confirmation of the in vivo approximation of our model will strengthen our findings from the recent completion of our DOE funding which is the subject of the current proposal