Project description:This study was designed to identify molecular changes induced by radiation in mouse lung. Mouse left lung was irradiated with a single dose of radiation. Total RNA from the irradiated lung tissue was subject to single channnel microarray.
Project description:Normal lung tissue tolerance constitutes a limiting factor in delivering the required dose of radiotherapy to cure thoracic and chest wall malignancies. Patient genetic predisposition, the volume of irradiated lung and combination regimens consisting of concurrent chemotherapy are correlated with increased risk of radiation induced toxicity in lung. The main purpose of this study is to investigate dose-response regulations of fractionated (5-fractions) of mouse lung irradiation based on a comprehensive dose-escalation program, for a better understanding of molecular mechanism governing radiation induced lung fibrosis.
Project description:Radiotherapy, a treatment modality received by more than half of all cancer patients, remains one of the most effective approaches to achieve local tumour control. Despite increased accuracy driven by technological advances, healthy tissue injury due to off-target radiation exposure can still occur. In this study, we sought to understand the biological effect of radiation-mediated injury to the lung in the context of cancer metastasis, since we had previously reported that tissue regeneration is a feature of the metastatic microenvironment of this organ. We have exposed healthy mouse lung tissue to radiation prior to the induction of metastasis and observed a strong enhancement of cancer cell growth. Lung tissue was preconditioned into a profoundly tumour-supportive microenvironment governed by enhanced regenerative Notch signalling. Most importantly, we found that locally activated neutrophils were key drivers of these tissue perturbations, significantly increasing the metastatic proficiency of irradiated lung tissue and endowing arriving cancer cells with an augmented stemness phenotype. We show that by preventing neutrophil-dependent Notch activation in the irradiated tissue, we were able to significantly offset the radiation-enhanced metastases. Mechanistically, we identified the release of neutrophil granules as the effectors of the pro-tumorigenic preconditioning of the irradiated lung tissue. These findings not only reveal a novel tumour-supportive function of neutrophils in the context of tissue-injury, but also have important clinical implications by suggesting targeting their activity could maximise the success of radiotherapy for the treatment of cancer.
Project description:Thoracic radiation therapy is limited by the development of acute (i.e. pneumonitis) and late (i.e. pulmonary fibrosis) side-effects. The goal of this study is to analyze, at the single cell level, the molecular impact of two radiation treatments : a conventional/clinical (CONV) modality vs. FLASH, a new radiation method that spares healthy tissue from late radiation-induced toxicities (Science Translational Medicine 6: 245ra293, 2014). We analyzed by single cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) dissociated lung cells from a non-irradiated control mouse (NI), a mouse 4 days after CONV thoracic irradiation (CONV) and a mouse 4 days after FLASH irradiation (FLASH). We identify transcriptional alterations induced in the distinct lung cell types after irradiation and show that FLASH irradiated lung cells present a reduced pro-inflammatory phenotype as well as a diminished activation of epithelial lung progenitor cells. In line with previous report (Radiother Oncol 124: 365-9, 2017), this study indicates that FLASH radiation therapy limits inflammation and preserves the regenerative capcity of the lung.
Project description:Gene expression analysis of peripheral blood leukocytes (PB MNCs) to develop expression profiles that accurately reflect prior radiation exposure. Keywords: Comparative, exposure dosage, C57BI6 Murine Irradiation Studies We have made use of gene expression analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PB MNCs) to develop expression profiles that accurately reflect prior radiation exposure. Importantly, we demonstrate that expression profiles can be developed that not only predict radiation exposure in mice but also distinguish the level of radiation exposure, ranging from 50 cGy to 1000 cGy. Likewise, a molecular signature of radiation response developed solely from irradiated human patient samples can predict and distinguish irradiated human PB samples from non-irradiated samples with an accuracy of 90%, sensitivity of 85% and specificity of 94%. We further demonstrate that a radiation profile developed in the mouse can correctly distinguish PB samples from irradiated and non-irradiated human patients with an accuracy of 77%, sensitivity of 82% and specificity of 75%. Taken together, these data demonstrate that molecular profiles can be generated which are highly predictive of different levels of radiation exposure in mice and humans. Mouse Dataset only
Project description:Acute exposure to high-dose gamma radiation often results in radiation-induced lung injury (RILI), characterized by acute pneumonitis and subsequent lung fibrosis. A microfluidic organ-on-a-chip device consisting of human lung alveolar epithelium and pulmonary endothelium (Lung Alveolus Chip) is used to recapitulate acute, early stage RILI in vitro. This RNA-seq data captures that both the lung epithelium and endothelium in this model capture key hallmarks of this disease particularly, DNA damage, cellular hypertrophy, upregulation of inflammatory cytokines, and loss of barrier function within 6h of radiation exposure. The data also suggests that radiation affects the alveolar endothelium more significantly than the epithelium. The alveolus chips are exposed to radiation injury at 16 Gy and shows effects that resemble the human lung greater than animal preclinical models. These data demonstrate that the Lung Alveolus Chip provides a human relevant alternative approach for studying the molecular basis of acute RILI towards screening radiation countermeasure therapeutics.
Project description:Acute exposure to high-dose gamma radiation can result in radiation-induced lung injury (RILI), characterized by acute pneumonitis and subsequent lung fibrosis. A microfluidic organ-on-a-chip lined by human lung alveolar epithelium interfaced with pulmonary endothelium (Lung Alveolus Chip) is used to model acute, early stage RILI in vitro. Both lung epithelium and endothelium exhibit DNA damage, cellular hypertrophy, upregulation of inflammatory cytokines, and loss of barrier function within 6h of radiation exposure, and greater damage is observed in the endothelium. The alveolus chips are exposed to radiation injury at 16 Gy and shows effects that resemble the human lung greater than animal preclinical models. The Alveolus Chip is also used to evaluate the potential ability of two drugs to suppress the effects of acute RILI. These data demonstrate that the Lung Alveolus Chip provides a human relevant alternative approach for studying the molecular basis of acute RILI towards screening radiation countermeasure therapeutics.
Project description:Radiation-induced lung injury is a common late side-effect of thoracic radiotherapy. The inflammatory microenvironment plays a key role in this process. Endothelial cells are the goalkeeper of inflammation. Endothelial dysfunction following leukocytes infiltrated is a prominent feature in the pathogenesis of radiation-induced lung injury. Tyrosine phosphatase Shp2 is a key regulator of endothelial functions and inflammation. Here, we established a clinical-mimicking mouse model of radiation-induced lung injury and found that Shp2 activity was elevated in endothelium after injury. Mice with endothelium-specific Shp2 deletion showed relieved collagen deposition along with disrupted radiation-induced Jag1 expression in the endothelium. Furthermore, endothelium-derived Jag1 activated the alternative activation of macrophages in vitro and in vivo by paracrine Notch signaling. Consistently, Notch pathway was significant activated by chest irradiation in the peripheral blood leukocytes of cancer patients. Collectively, this is the first demonstration of radiation-induced lung injury regulation by endothelial Shp2. Shp2 participates in the radiation-induced endothelial dysfunction and subsequently inflammatory microenvironment producing.
Project description:Gene expression profiling was used to identify genes that display radiation-induced transcriptional change over mouse strain and tissue differences. Keywords: mouse strain comparison, irradiation, time course, lung, skin