Bystander cell-killing effect mediated by nitric oxide in normal human fibroblasts depends on irradiation dose but not on radiation quality

Yokota, Yuichiro; Funayama, Tomoo; Ikeda, Hiroko; Muto, Yasuko*; Suzuki, Michiyo; Sakashita, Tetsuya; Kobayashi, Yasuhiko

We investigated the influence of irradiated dose and radiation quality on bystander effect. Human normal fibroblasts were irradiated with carbon-ion beam and -rays, and then co-cultured with non-irradiated cells. Following co-culture for 24 h with or without c-PTIO, a scavenger of nitric oxide (NO), the survival rates of non-irradiated cells and the concentrations of nitrite, an oxide of NO, in the co-culture medium were measured. Survival of the non-irradiated cells decreased with increasing dose and reached around 80% at 0.5 Gy. The dose-response curves were similar between carbon-ion beam and -rays, indicating the bystander effect depended on dose but not on radiation quality. c-PTIO suppressed reduction of survival rates of the non-irradiated cells. Furthermore, there were negative relationships between survival rates of the non-irradiated cells and nitrite concentrations. In summary, the amounts of produced NO might be a determinant of the bystander effect.