Publisher Summary The classification of cell death can be based on morphological or biochemical criteria or on the circumstances of its occurrence. Currently, irreversible structural alteration provides the only unequivocal evidence of death; biochemical indicators of cell death that are universally applicable have to be precisely defined and studies of cell function or of reproductive capacity do not necessarily differentiate between death and dormant states from which recovery may be possible. It has also proved feasible to categorize most if not all dying cells into one or the other of two discrete and distinctive patterns of morphological change, which have, generally, been found to occur under disparate but individually characteristic circumstances. One of these patterns is the swelling proceeding to rupture of plasma and organelle membranes and dissolution of organized structure—termed “coagulative necrosis.” It results from injury by agents, such as toxins and ischemia, affects cells in groups rather than singly, and evokes exudative inflammation when it develops in vivo. The other morphological pattern is characterized by condensation of the cell with maintenance of organelle integrity and the formation of surface protuberances that separate as membrane-bounded globules; in tissues, these are phagocytosed and digested by resident cells, there being no associated inflammation.

Cell death : the significance of apoptosis

Radiation survival curves were generated for V79 Chinese hamster and two human lung cancer cell lines (NCI-H460 and NCI-H249) with doubling times of 10, 20, and 85 h, respectively, using a standard clonogenic assay, a dye exclusion assay, and a semiautomated colorimetric assay utilizing a tetrazolium salt, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenylformazan bromide. Comparable results for D0 and extrapolation number (n) were observed for all assays in the lines with doubling times of 10 and 20 h. In these instances the tumor cell lines had undergone seven or more doublings after radiation. For the tumor line (H249) with an 80-h doubling time the D0S were comparable between the assays while the extrapolation number was increased in the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenylformazan bromide assay, a result probably related to the lower number of doublings (less than 4) after radiation. We then tested the ability of the assays to detect radiation protection and sensitization using known agents. We found that cysteamine treatment resulted in radioprotection (by a factor of 8 at 8 Gy) while 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine incorporation caused enhancement of radiation sensitivity in all three assays. We conclude that, while optimal conditions for each cell line (cell number plated and doubling time) must be established, using characterized tumor cell lines, the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenylformazan bromide assay could be automated and thus be of great value in screening large numbers of potential radiosensitizers or protectors.

https://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/canres/47/4/943.full.pdf

Evaluation of a Tetrazolium-based Semiautomated Colorimetric Assay: Assessment of Radiosensitivity

Acid Sphingomyelinase–Deficient Human Lymphoblasts and Mice Are Defective in Radiation-Induced Apoptosis

Apoptosis (programmed cell death) serves as a common mechanism of interphase cell death after radiation exposure in thymic, lymphoid, and hematopoietic cells but has infrequently been documented in other adult mammalian cell types. The present study demonstrates that apoptotic interphase cell death occurs in endothelial cells after exposure to clinically relevant radiation doses and that basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) protects endothelial cells against this mode of the lethal effects of radiation. Radiation exposure produced heterologous double-stranded DNA breaks in endothelial cells, but the cells exhibited a similar competence for repair of this damage in the presence or absence of bFGF. However, subsequent to the completion of this repair process, a second process of DNA fragmentation became apparent, which was detected only in the absence of bFGF and was associated with a DNA ladder of oligonucleosomal fragments characteristic of apoptosis. The apoptotic DNA degradation occurred mainly in G0-G1 phase cells and was inhibited by bFGF stimulation. C3H/HeJ mice exposed to lethal doses of whole lung irradiation exhibited similar apoptotic changes in the endothelial cell lining of the pulmonary microvasculature within 6-8 h after radiation exposure. bFGF given i.v. immediately before and after irradiation inhibited the development of apoptosis in these cells and protected mice against the development of lethal radiation pneumonitis. These findings suggest that interphase apoptosis may represent a biologically relevant mechanism of radiation-induced cell kill in nonlymphoid mammalian cells both in vitro and in vivo and that natural protection mechanisms against this effect may be associated with the level of radiation resistance in normal and malignant tissues in vivo.

https://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/canres/54/10/2582.full.pdf

L.J. Tolmach

Papers

TIME-LAPSE CINEMICROGRAPHIC STUDIES OF X-IRRADIATED HeLa S3 CELLS. I. CELL PROGRESSION AND CELL DISINTEGRATION.

Time-Lapse Cinemicrographic Studies of X-Irradiated HeLa S3 Cells: II. Cell Fusion