Study on the kinetic of γH2AX foci in human peripheral blood lymphocyte and fibroblast cells exposed to X-Ray irradiation

Abstract

The technique for quantification of γH2AX foci was used for studying the DNA double-strand break (DSB) of the cells exposed to ionising radiation. Peripheral blood lymphocyte and human fibroblast cells were exposed to X-ray irradiation at a dose of 2 Gy. The number of H2AX foci in cells was scored by immunofluorescence quantification using specific antibodies. An evaluation was conducted at time points after irradiation between 0 and 5 hours to determine the kinetics of H2AX foci in cells. The results showed that lymphocytes reached the highest number of γH2AX foci at 1 hour and fibroblasts at 45 minutes after irradiation. This indicated that radiation damages DNA and the repair ability of these two cell types were different. The in vitro studies of DSB of these cell types using the γH2AX assay should be performed at the above time points to ensure the stability of the γH2AX foci generated at the DSB sites.