Background And Purpose: With proton therapy, the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) accounts for increased DNA damage caused by higher linear energy transfer (LET) compared to photons. However, the LET and hence the RBE varies along the proton range, particularly at the Bragg peak, introducing challenges in proton treatment planning for brain tumors. The aim of this paper is to standardize evaluating and reporting LET and RBE in proton therapy for patients with grade 2 and 3 IDH mutant gliomas among the Dutch proton therapy centers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInter-individual variation largely influences disease susceptibility, as well as response to therapy. In a clinical context, the optimal treatment of a disease should consider inter-individual variation and formulate tailored decisions at an individual level. In recent years, emerging organoid technologies promise to capture part of an individual's phenotypic variability and prove helpful in providing clinically relevant molecular insights.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Purpose: Although proton therapy is increasingly being used in the treatment of paediatric and adult brain tumours, there are still uncertainties surrounding the biological effect of protons on the normal brain. Microglia, the brain-resident macrophages, have been shown to play a role in the development of radiation-induced neurotoxicity. However, their molecular and hence functional response to proton irradiation remains unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMitochondrial and lysosomal activities are crucial to maintain cellular homeostasis: optimal coordination is achieved at their membrane contact sites where distinct protein machineries regulate organelle network dynamics, ions and metabolites exchange. Here we describe a genetically encoded SPLICS reporter for short- and long- juxtapositions between mitochondria and lysosomes. We report the existence of narrow and wide lysosome-mitochondria contacts differently modulated by mitophagy, autophagy and genetic manipulation of tethering factors.
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