title: Transmission of chromosomal instability after plutonium alpha-particle irradiation.
abstract: When investigating the biological effects of ionizing radiation on the haemopoietic system, a confounding problem lies in possible differences between the biological effects of sparsely ionizing, low linear energy transfer radiation such as X-, beta- or gamma-rays, and densely ionizing, high linear energy transfer radiation such as alpha-particles. To address this problem we have developed novel techniques for studying haemopoietic cells irradiated with environmentally relevant doses of alpha-particles from a plutonium-238 source. Using a clonogenic culture system, cytogenetic aberrations in individual colonies of haemopoietic cells derived from irradiated stem cells have been studied. Exposure to alpha-particles (but not X-rays) produced a high frequency of non-clonal aberrations in the clonal descendants, compatible with alpha-emitters inducing lesions in stem cells that result in the transmission of chromosomal instability to their progeny. Such unexpected instability may have important implications for radiation leukaemogenesis.
authors.affiliation: MRC Radiobiology Unit, Chilton, Didcot, Oxfordshire, UK.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Kadhim
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Macdonald
authors.forename: D T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Goodhead
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Lorimore
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Marsden
authors.forename: E G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Wright
mesh_terms: D000512:Alpha Particles; D000818:Animals; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D002875:Chromosomes / Q000528:radiation effects*; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000528:radiation effects* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D007621:Karyotyping; D007953:Leukemia, Radiation-Induced; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008808:Mice, Inbred CBA; D011005:Plutonium
chemical_list: D011005:Plutonium