Radiotherapy Side Effects: Comprehensive Proteomic Study Unraveled Neural Stem Cell Degenerative Differentiation upon Ionizing Radiation

Abstract

Cranial radiation therapy is one of the most effective treatments for childhood brain cancers. Despite the ameliorated survival rate of juvenile patients, radiation exposure-induced brain neurogenic region injury could markedly impair patients’ cognitive functions and even their quality of life. Determining the mechanism underlying neural stem cells (NSCs) response to irradiation stress is a crucial therapeutic strategy for cognitive impairment. The present study demonstrated that X-ray irradiation arrested NSCs’ cell cycle and impacted cell differentiation. To further characterize irradiation-induced molecular alterations in NSCs, two-dimensional high-resolution mass spectrometry-based quantitative proteomics analyses were conducted to explore the mechanism underlying ionizing radiation’s influence on stem cell differentiation. We observed that ionizing radiation suppressed intracellular protein transport, neuron projection development, etc., particularly in differentiated cells. Redox proteomics was performed for the quantification of cysteine thiol modifications in order to profile the oxidation-reduction status of proteins in stem cells that underwent ionizing radiation treatment. Via conjoint screening of protein expression abundance and redox status datasets, several significantly expressed and oxidized proteins were identified in differentiating NSCs subjected to X-ray irradiation. Among these proteins, succinate dehydrogenase [ubiquinone] flavoprotein subunit, mitochondrial (sdha) and the acyl carrier protein, mitochondrial (Ndufab1) were highly related to neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and Huntington’s disease, illustrating the dual-character of NSCs in cell differentiation: following exposure to ionizing radiation, the normal differentiation of NSCs was compromised, and the upregulated oxidized proteins implied a degenerative differentiation trajectory. These findings could be integrated into research on neurodegenerative diseases and future preventive strategies.

Increased Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease in Patients with Head and Neck Cancer

“…Temporal lobe necrosis is a late-stage complication that occurs after radiation therapy and, if aggravated, is accompanied by headaches, dizziness, and cognitive impairment, which can be a precursor to dementia [24]. In addition, an in vitro experimental study to investigate the effect of radiation on the regeneration of neural cells reported that radiation arrested the cell cycle of neural stem cells and impacted cellular differentiation [27]. Based on these previous studies, it can be considered that radiation therapy may cause damage to the temporal lobe and interfere with neural regeneration, thereby affecting cognitive function.…”