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Phosphorylation of histone H2AX in human lymphocytes as a possible marker of effective cellular response to ionizing radiation

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Abstract

DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) that occur in cells after ionizing radiation (IR) or chemical agents are the most dangerous lesions in eukaryotic cells resulting in cell death or chromosomal aberrations and cancer. DSB repair is very important for maintenance of genome stability. One of the earliest cellular responses to DSBs is phosphorylation at 139 serine of core variant histone H2AX in megabase chromatin domains around DSB (γ-H2AX), which amplifies the signal and makes it possible to identify even a very few DSBs in a genome. Here, using immunofluorescent and Western blotting techniques, we studied the dynamics of γ-H2AX formation in human lymphocytes of various individuals irradiated ex vivo. We found that the dynamics of γ-H2AX formation in lymphocytes differ between individuals but had similar kinetics and statistically is independent of people’s age.

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Abbreviations

DNA DSBs:

DNA double strand breaks

XRI:

X-ray irradiation

XR:

chromosome rearrangements

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Cytology Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia

    D. Firsanov, A. Kropotov & N. Tomilin

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  1. D. Firsanov
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  2. A. Kropotov
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  3. N. Tomilin
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Correspondence to D. Firsanov.

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Firsanov, D., Kropotov, A. & Tomilin, N. Phosphorylation of histone H2AX in human lymphocytes as a possible marker of effective cellular response to ionizing radiation. Cell Tiss. Biol. 5, 531–535 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1990519X1106006X

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1990519X1106006X

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