Surface Alterations of Mammalian Cells upon Ionizing Radiation as Detected by Lectin-binding Technique

Abstract

Early, dose-dependent and transient alterations were observed in the plasma membranes of human blood cells after X-irradiation in vitro as detected by a concanavalin A-binding technique. Platelets, lymphocytes and erythrocytes, separated in a one-step procedure from a single blood sample, showed different radiosensitivities within the dose range of 0.1--5 Gy. The complex evaluation of the surface alterations of blood cells might indicate the range of the absorbed dose.

Effects of mixed neutron-gamma irradiation in vivo on the cell surfaces of murine blood cells

“…Formerly, we have demonstrated, reversible and dose-dependent alterations of plasma membranes of human and animal cells induced by X-irradiation (K6teles et al 1976;K6teles 1979;Kubasova et al 1981aKubasova et al , 1981b. The present observations suggest the same features after neutron -gamma irradiation.…”

“…For each point the blood of 2 x 3 mice were used. The separation of various cells was based on B6yum's method (B6yum 1968a, b) but modified for a onestep procedure to isolate platelets, lymphocytes, and erythrocytes (Kubasova et al 1981a(Kubasova et al , 1981b. Cell suspension was put onto a Ficoll-Uromiro discontinuous density gradient consisting of three layers (spec.…”

“…The role of cellular membranes as sensitive targets in development of radiation injury has been reviewed especially in the light of increasing knowledge on their dynamic structure and function (K6teles 1979, 1982Szumiel 1981). Temporary and dose-dependent functional and micromorphological modifications of cell surfaces have been reported after X-irradiation (K6teles et al 1976;Kubasova et al 1981aKubasova et al , 1981bSomosy et al 1983). Despite of the revival of radiobiological studies on cellular membranes the effects of neutron irradiations are still hardly known.…”

Radiation-induced Alterations in Binding of Concanavalin a to Cells and in Their Susceptibility to Agglutination

“…The decreased capacity of irradiated cells to bind with [ 3 H]Con A gradually recovered during post-irradiation incubation at 37°C, reaching a level comparable to that of unirradiated cells 3 h after irradiation ( figure 6). This result contrasts with the previous finding that X-irradiation resulted in an early and temporary increase in the binding capacity of Con A to mammalian cells during post-irradiation incubation (K6teles et al 1976(K6teles et al , Kubasova et al 1981. What is the explanation for this difference?…”

“…One possibility may be due to the difference in the assay temperature for the binding of Con A to the cell surface. Since cell agglutination by Con A was nearly completely blocked at low temperature (figure 3), we chose 0°C instead of 37°C, used by Kubasova et al (1981 a, b), to exclude the possible interference of cell agglutination in Con A-binding. Low cell density such as the 1 x 105 cells/ml used here also resulted in no agglutination by Con A (figure 2).…”