title: The effect of X-radiation on cerebellar granule cells grown in culture. Ganglioside GM1 neuroprotective activity.
abstract: In this paper we describe the effects of X-radiation on the viability of cerebellar granule cells grown in culture. Cell cultures were exposed to X-rays 2 h after plating and then grown for 1-7 days. Two days after X-ray exposure with a dose-range of 0.1-2 Gy (acute effect), a significant decrease in neuronal number was observed. The magnitude of the lethal effect was directly correlated to the dose of X-ray applied. When the interval between plating and irradiation was increased, the acute lethal effect of X-rays decreased. 3H-thymidine incorporation was maximal during the first 24 h in vitro and decreased to nearly blank levels, after 72 h. In some experiments, cells present in each culture dish were counted at day 2 and at day 7. We observed that the number of cells present in sham-irradiated cultures decreased from day 2 to day 7, reflecting cell death after several days in vitro. The cell loss observed in X-irradiated cultures was significantly greater as compared with sham-irradiated cultures, confirming the deleterious effect of X-ray on cell survival. This effect was completely prevented by GM1 (6.5, 10 and 30 microM) added 48 h after X-ray exposure, but not 1 h after plating. We conclude that X-rays induce two different effects: an acute effect related to impaired DNA synthesis which is very active during the first 24 h in vitro, and a long-term effect owing to a sublethal damage in the surviving neuronal population.
authors.affiliation: Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: L R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Guelman
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Zieher
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Fiszman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016923:Cell Death / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000528:radiation effects; D005609:Free Radicals; D005677:G(M1) Ganglioside / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000528:radiation effects; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D005609:Free Radicals; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D005677:G(M1) Ganglioside