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Title: Early alterations in extracellular matrix and transforming growth factor [beta] gene expression in mouse lung indicative of late radiation fibrosis

Journal Article · · International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics; (United States)
; ; ;  [1]
  1. Univ. of Rochester School of Medicine, NY (United States)

Fibrosis, characterized by the accumulation of collagen, is a late result of thoracic irradiation. The expression of late radiation injury can be found immediately after irradiation by measuring messenger RNA (mRNA) abundance. To determine if extracellular matrix mRNA and transforming growth factor beta abundance was affected acutely after irradiation, the authors measured mRNA levels of collagen I (CI), collagen III (CIII), collagen IV (CIV), fibronectin (FN), and transforming growth factor [beta] (TGF[beta][sub 1,2 3]) in mouse lungs on day 1 and day 14 after graded doses of radiation. C57BL/6 female mice were irradiated with a single dose to the thorax of 5 or 12.5 Gy. Total lung RNA was prepared and immobilized by Northern and slot blotting and hybridized with radiolabelled cDNA probes for CI, CIII, CIV, FN, TGF[beta][sub 1,2 3] and a control probe encoding for glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH). Autoradiographic data were quantified by video densitometry and results normalized to GAPDH. Changes in the expression of CI, CIII, CIV, FN and TGF[beta][sub 1,2 3] were observed as early as 1 day after exposure. Through 14 days, changes in mRNA up to 5-fold were seen for any one dose. Dose related changes as high as 10-fold were also evident. The CI:CIII ratio increased gradually for the 5 Gy dose at 14 days postirradiation while the CI:CII ratio for the 12.5 Gy dose decreased by approximately 4-fold as compared to the control. These studies suggest that alterations in expression of extracellular matrix and TGF[beta] mRNA occur very early after radiation injury even at low doses and may play a role in the development of chronic fibrosis. 37 refs., 6 figs.

OSTI ID:
6581835
Journal Information:
International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics; (United States), Vol. 28:3; ISSN 0360-3016
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English