Proton Beams Inhibit Proliferation of Breast Cancer Cells by Altering DNA Methylation Status.

Proton beam therapy has been gaining popularity in the management of a wide spectrum of cancers. However, little is known about the effect of proton beams on epigenetic alterations. In this study, the effects of proton beams on DNA methylation were evaluated in the breast cell lines MCF-10A and MCF-7.

Optimized enzymatic dual functions of PaPrx protein by proton irradiation.

We investigated the effects of proton irradiation on the function and structure of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa peroxiredoxin (PaPrx). Polyacrylamide gel demonstrated that PaPrx proteins exposed to proton irradiation at several doses exhibited simultaneous formation of high molecular weight (HMW) complexes and fragmentation. Size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) analysis revealed that the number of fragments and very low molecular weight (LMW) structures increased as the proton irradiation dose increased.

Enhanced proton treatment in mouse tumors through proton irradiated nanoradiator effects on metallic nanoparticles.

The impact of protons on metallic nanoparticles (MNPs) produces the potent release of MNP-induced secondary electrons and characteristic x-rays. To determine the ability of secondary radiations to enhance proton treatment, the therapeutic irradiation of tumors was investigated in mice receiving 100-300 mg MNPs/kg intravenously prior to single dose, 10-41 Gy, proton irradiation. A proton beam was utilized to irradiate nanoparticles with a single Bragg peak set to occur inside a tumor volume (fully absorbed) or to occur after the beam had traversed the entire body.

Therapeutic application of metallic nanoparticles combined with particle-induced x-ray emission effect.

Metallic nanoparticles (MNP) are able to release localized x-rays when activated with a high energy proton beam by the particle-induced x-ray emission (PIXE) effect. The exploitation of this phenomenon in the therapeutic irradiation of tumors has been investigated. PIXE-based x-ray emission directed at CT26 tumor cells in vitro, when administered with either gold (average diameter 2 and 13 nm) or iron (average diameter 14 nm) nanoparticles (GNP or SNP), increased with MNP solution concentration over the range of 0.

Field-induced cathodic oxidation of low-energy Ar-ion-bombarded silicon by AFM.

Local oxidation by atomic force microscopy (AFM) was studied on a 3keV Argon (Ar)-ion-bombarded silicon (Si) (100) substrate. Giant oxide features higher than 100nm were patterned by applying positive voltages to the tip with respect to the substrate. To analyze the growth rate of oxide features, we used the power-of-time law model.

Proton induces apoptosis of hypoxic tumor cells by the p53-dependent and p38/JNK MAPK signaling pathways.

Tumor hypoxia is a main obstacle for radiation therapy. To investigate whether exposure to a proton beam can overcome radioresistance in hypoxic tumor cells, three kinds of cancer cells, Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) cells, hepatoma HepG2 and Molt-4 leukemia cells, were treated with a proton beam (35 MeV, 1, 2, 5, 10 Gy) in the presence or absence of hypoxia. Cell death rates were determined 72 h after irradiation.

Design of a proton microbeam of the PEFP.

The PEFP has been developing a 100 MeV proton linear accelerator and user facilities for 20 and 100 MeV proton beams. At one end of the five 20 MeV proton beam lines, a proton microbeam construction was considered for an application in the fields of material, biological, and medical sciences. To develop the proton microbeam, realization of a few MeV proton beam with a few tens of microamperes in diameter of a beam spot was essentially required.