T cells are the cellular target of the proliferation-augmenting effect of chronic low-dose ionizing radiation in mice.

The proliferative response to mitogenic stimulation by splenocytes can be augmented by exposing mice to whole-body, chronic, intermittent low doses of ionizing radiation, referred to here as low-dose irradiation. The purpose of this study was to identify the cell(s) in the spleen which is responsive to the proliferation-augmenting effect of low-dose irradiation, i.e., the cellular target. C57BL/6 mice were subjected to low-dose irradiation (0.04 Gy/exposure/day, 5 consecutive days/week, 2 weeks) or to sham irradiation. Three days after the last exposure, spleens were removed, separated into cell fractions which were nonadherent and adherent to plastic surfaces and reconstituted in various combinations, and their proliferative responses to various mitogens were determined. Highly purified T cells were also used in place of the nonadherent cell fraction in the reconstitution studies. The target cells were shown to be T cells. The target T cells of low-dose-irradiated mice possessed elevated constitutive levels of HSP-70 mRNA and HSP-72, and they responded to T-cell receptor-specific anti-CD3 stimulation by producing more HSP-70 mRNA and HSP-72 and by proliferating more extensively than T cells of sham-irradiated mice.