Presence of Stromal Cells Enhances Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) Induction in Lung Bronchial Epithelium after Protracted Exposure to Oxidative Stress of Gamma Radiation.

The aim of the study was to investigate the role of a microenvironment in the induction of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) as a sign of early stages of carcinogenesis in human lung epithelial cell lines after protracted low-dose rate -radiation exposures. BEAS-2B and HBEC-3KT lung cell lines were irradiated with low-dose rate -rays (Cs, 1.4 or 14 mGy/h) to 0.

Assessment of targeted and non-targeted responses in cells deficient in ATM function following exposure to low and high dose X-rays.

Radiation sensitivity at low and high dose exposure to X-rays was investigated by means of chromosomal aberration (CA) analysis in heterozygous ATM mutation carrier and A-T patient (biallelic ATM mutation) lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs). Targeted and non-targeted responses to acutely delivered irradiation were examined by applying a co-culture system that enables study of both directly irradiated cells and medium-mediated bystander effects in the same experimental setting. No indication of radiation hypersensitivity was observed at doses of 0.

A laboratory inter-comparison of the importance of serum serotonin levels in the measurement of a range of radiation-induced bystander effects: overview of study and results presentation.

Purpose: Recent research has suggested that serotonin may play an important role in the expression of radiation-induced bystander effects. Serotonin levels in serum were reported to range from 6-22 μM and to correlate inversely with the magnitude of cellular colony-forming ability in medium transfer bystander assays. That is, high serotonin concentration correlated with a low cloning efficiency in cultures receiving medium derived from irradiated cells.

Analysis of a Finnish family confirms RHBDF2 mutations as the underlying factor in tylosis with esophageal cancer.

Tylosis with esophageal cancer (TOC) is a rare familial cancer syndrome inherited in an autosomal-dominant manner and characterized by esophageal cancer susceptibility and hyperkeratotic skin lesions. Two heterozygous missense mutations in the RHBDF2 gene were recently reported to be associated with TOC in three families: a p.Ile186Thr mutation was found in families from the UK and the US and a p.

MED12, the mediator complex subunit 12 gene, is mutated at high frequency in uterine leiomyomas.

Uterine leiomyomas, or fibroids, are benign tumors that affect millions of women worldwide and that can cause considerable morbidity. To study the genetic basis of this tumor type, we examined 18 uterine leiomyomas derived from 17 different patients by exome sequencing and identified tumor-specific mutations in the mediator complex subunit 12 (MED12) gene in 10. Through analysis of 207 additional tumors, we determined that MED12 is altered in 70% (159 of 225) of tumors from a total of 80 patients.