Clement Kirsten, Nemec-Bakk Ashley S, Jun Se-Ran, Sridharan Vijayalakshmi, Patel Chirayu M, Williams D Keith, Newhauser Wayne D, Willey Jeffrey S, Williams Jacqueline, Boerma Marjan, Chancellor Jeffrey C, Koturbash Igor
Department of Environmental Health Sciences, #820-11, Slot, Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham Str, Little Rock, AR, 72205, USA.
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham Str, Little Rock, AR, 72205, USA.
Radiat Environ Biophys. 2025 Mar;64(1):17-27. doi: 10.1007/s00411-025-01108-4. Epub 2025 Jan 22.
Most studies on the effects of galactic cosmic rays (GCR) have relied on terrestrial irradiation using spatially homogeneous dose distributions of mono-energetic beams comprised of one ion species. Here, we exposed mice to novel beams that more closely mimic GCR, namely, comprising poly-energetic ions of multiple species. Six-month-old male and female C57BL/6J mice were exposed to 0 Gy, 0.5 Gy, or 1.5 Gy simplified simulated 5 ion GCR (GCRsim). Exposure to microgravity was simulated using hindlimb unloading (HLU). At nine months post exposure, the mice were terminated to assess for the presence of exposure-induced epigenetic alterations. DNA hypermethylation in the 5'-untranslated regions of Lx_III, MdFanc_I, and MdMus_II families of the Long Interspersed Nucleotide Element 1 (LINE-1) was observed in the lungs of male mice. These effects were accompanied by increases in the expression of DNA methyltransferases Dnmt1 and Dnmt3a, and methyl-binding protein, MecP2. Trends towards DNA hypomethylation, although insignificant, were observed in the lungs of female mice in the HLU + 1.5 Gy GCRsim group. Altogether, our findings suggest persistent and sex-specific epigenetic reprogramming in the mouse lung and suggests that the DNA methylation status of LINE-1 can serve as a robust and reliable biomarker of previous radiation exposure.
大多数关于银河宇宙射线(GCR)影响的研究都依赖于地面辐照,使用由单一离子种类组成的单能束的空间均匀剂量分布。在这里,我们让小鼠暴露于更接近模拟GCR的新型束流中,即由多种多能离子组成的束流。将6个月大的雄性和雌性C57BL/6J小鼠暴露于0 Gy、0.5 Gy或1.5 Gy简化模拟5离子GCR(GCRsim)。使用后肢卸载(HLU)模拟微重力。在暴露后9个月,处死小鼠以评估暴露诱导的表观遗传改变的存在情况。在雄性小鼠的肺中观察到长散在核元件1(LINE-1)的Lx_III、MdFanc_I和MdMus_II家族的5'非翻译区的DNA高甲基化。这些效应伴随着DNA甲基转移酶Dnmt1和Dnmt3a以及甲基结合蛋白MecP2表达的增加。在HLU + 1.5 Gy GCRsim组的雌性小鼠肺中观察到DNA低甲基化趋势,尽管不显著。总之,我们的研究结果表明小鼠肺中存在持续且性别特异性的表观遗传重编程,并表明LINE-1的DNA甲基化状态可作为先前辐射暴露的强大且可靠的生物标志物。
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