Raber Jacob, Fuentes Anaya Andrea, Torres Eileen Ruth S, Lee Joanne, Boutros Sydney, Grygoryev Dmytro, Hammer Austin, Kasschau Kristin D, Sharpton Thomas J, Turker Mitchell S, Kronenberg Amy
Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States.
Departments of Neurology and Radiation Medicine, Division of Neuroscience ONPRC, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States.
Front Physiol. 2020 Aug 28;11:959. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2020.00959. eCollection 2020.
The radiation environment astronauts are exposed to in deep space includes galactic cosmic radiation (GCR) with different proportions of all naturally occurring ions. To assist NASA with assessment of risk to the brain following exposure to a mixture of ions broadly representative of the GCR, we assessed the behavioral and cognitive performance of female and male C57BL/6J × DBA2/J F1 (B6D2F1) mice two months following rapidly delivered, sequential 6 beam irradiation with protons (1 GeV, LET = 0.24 keV, 50%), He ions (250 MeV/n, LET = 1.6 keV/μm, 20%), O ions (250 MeV/n, LET = 25 keV/μm 7.5%), Si ions (263 MeV/n, LET = 78 keV/μm, 7.5%), Ti ions (1 GeV/n, LET = 107 keV/μm, 7.5%), and Fe ions (1 GeV/n, LET = 151 keV/μm, 7.5%) at 0, 25, 50, or 200 cGy) at 4-6 months of age. When the activity over 3 days of open field habituation was analyzed in female mice, those irradiated with 50 cGy moved less and spent less time in the center than sham-irradiated mice. Sham-irradiated female mice and those irradiated with 25 cGy showed object recognition. However, female mice exposed to 50 or 200 cGy did not show object recognition. When fear memory was assessed in passive avoidance tests, sham-irradiated mice and mice irradiated with 25 cGy showed memory retention while mice exposed to 50 or 200 cGy did not. The effects of radiation passive avoidance memory retention were not sex-dependent. There was no effect of radiation on depressive-like behavior in the forced swim test. There was a trend toward an effect of radiation on BDNF levels in the cortex of males, but not for females, with higher levels in male mice irradiated with 50 cGy than sham-irradiated. Finally, sequential 6-ion irradiation impacted the composition of the gut microbiome in a sex-dependent fashion. Taxa were uncovered whose relative abundance in the gut was associated with the radiation dose received. Thus, exposure to sequential six-beam irradiation significantly affects behavioral and cognitive performance and the gut microbiome.
宇航员在深空所面临的辐射环境包括含有各种天然存在离子不同比例的银河宇宙辐射(GCR)。为协助美国国家航空航天局(NASA)评估暴露于大致代表GCR的离子混合物后对大脑的风险,我们在4至6月龄的雌性和雄性C57BL/6J×DBA2/J F1(B6D2F1)小鼠快速接受连续6束射线照射(质子(1 GeV,线性能量传递(LET)= 0.24 keV,50%)、氦离子(250 MeV/n,LET = 1.6 keV/μm,20%)、氧离子(250 MeV/n,LET = 25 keV/μm,7.5%)、硅离子(263 MeV/n,LET = 78 keV/μm,7.5%)、钛离子(1 GeV/n,LET = 107 keV/μm,7.5%)和铁离子(1 GeV/n,LET = 151 keV/μm,7.5%))两个月后,评估了它们的行为和认知表现。在分析雌性小鼠3天旷场适应活动时,接受50 cGy照射的小鼠移动较少,在中央区域停留的时间也比假照射小鼠少。假照射的雌性小鼠和接受25 cGy照射的小鼠表现出物体识别能力。然而,暴露于50或200 cGy的雌性小鼠未表现出物体识别能力。在被动回避试验中评估恐惧记忆时,假照射小鼠和接受25 cGy照射的小鼠表现出记忆保留,而暴露于50或200 cGy的小鼠则没有。辐射对被动回避记忆保留的影响不具有性别依赖性。在强迫游泳试验中,辐射对抑郁样行为没有影响。辐射对雄性小鼠皮质中脑源性神经营养因子(BDNF)水平有影响的趋势,但对雌性小鼠没有影响,接受50 cGy照射的雄性小鼠BDNF水平高于假照射小鼠。最后,连续6离子照射以性别依赖的方式影响肠道微生物群的组成。发现了一些分类群,其在肠道中的相对丰度与所接受的辐射剂量有关。因此,暴露于连续六束射线照射会显著影响行为和认知表现以及肠道微生物群。