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Study of the human microbiota has been a centuries-long endeavor, but since the inception of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Human Microbiome Project in 2007, research has greatly expanded, including the space involving radiation injury. As acute radiation syndrome (ARS) is multisystemic, the microbiome niches across all areas of the body may be affected. This review highlights advances in radiation research examining the effect of irradiation on the microbiome and its potential use as a target for medical countermeasures or biodosimetry approaches, or as a medical countermeasure itself. The authors also address animal model considerations for designing studies, and the potential to use the microbiome as a biomarker to assess radiation exposure and predict outcome. Recent research has shown that the microbiome holds enormous potential for mitigation of radiation injury, in the context of both radiotherapy and radiological/nuclear public health emergencies. Gaps still exist, but the field is moving forward with much promise.

Triage and medical intervention strategies for unanticipated exposure during a radiation incident benefit from the early, rapid and accurate assessment of dose level. Radiation exposure results in complex and persistent molecular and cellular responses that ultimately alter the levels of many biological markers, including the metabolomic phenotype. Metabolomics is an emerging field that promises the determination of radiation exposure by the qualitative and quantitative measurements of small molecules in a biological sample. This review highlights the current role of metabolomics in assessing radiation injury, as well as considerations for the diverse range of bioanalytical and sampling technologies that are being used to detect these changes. The authors also address the influence of the physiological status of an individual, the animal models studied, the technology and analysis employed in interrogating response to the radiation insult, and variables that factor into discovery and development of robust biomarker signatures. Furthermore, available databases for these studies have been reviewed, and existing regulatory guidance for metabolomics are discussed, with the ultimate goal of providing both context for this area of radiation research and the consideration of pathways for continued development.

Cells exposed to densely ionizing radiation (high-LET) experience more severe biological damage than do cells exposed to sparsely ionizing radiation (low-LET). The prevailing hypothesis is that high-LET radiations induce DNA double strand-breaks (DSB) that are more complex and clustered, and are thereby more challenging to repair. Here, we present experimental data obtained by atomic force microscopy imaging, DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PK) activity determination, DNA ligation assays, and genomic studies to suggest that short DNA fragments are important products of radiation-induced DNA lesions, and that the lengths of DNA fragments may be significant in the cellular responses to ionizing radiation. We propose the presence of a subset of short DNA fragments that may affect cell survival and genetic stability following exposure to ionizing radiation, and that the enhanced biological effects of high-LET radiation may be explained, in part, by the production of increased quantities of short DNA fragments. [INTRODUCTION] Ionizing radiation induces a large variety of damage in cellular DNA; the majority of the damage can be effectively repaired by cellular repair mechanisms.

Radiation-induced DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are critical cytotoxic lesions that are typically repaired by nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ) in human cells. Our previous work indicated that the highly cytotoxic DSBs formed by 125I decay possess base damage clustered within 8 to 10 bases of the break and 3′-phosphate (P) and 3′-OH ends. This study examined the effect of such structures on NHEJ in in vitro assays employing either 125I decay-induced DSB linearized plasmid DNA or structurally defined duplex oligonucleotides. Duplex oligonucleotides that possess either a 3′-P or 3′-phosphoglycolate (PG) or a ligatable 3′-OH end with either an AP site or an 8-oxo-dG 1 nucleotide upstream (−1n) from the 3′-terminus have been examined for reparability. Moderate to severe end-joining inhibition was observed for modified DSB ends or 8-oxo-dG upstream from a 3′-OH end. In contrast, abolition of end joining was observed with duplexes possessing an AP site upstream from a ligatable 3′-OH end or for a lesion combination involving 3′-P plus an upstream 8-oxo-dG. In addition, base mismatches at the −1n position were also strong inhibitors of NHEJ in this system, suggesting that destabilization of the DSB terminus as a result of base loss or improper base pairing may play a role in the inhibitory effects of these structures. Furthermore, we provide data indicating that DSB end joining is likely to occur prior to removal or repair of base lesions proximal to the DSB terminus. Our results show that base damage or base loss near a DSB end may be a severe block to NHEJ and that complex combinations of lesions presented in the context of a DSB may be more inhibitory than the individual lesions alone. In contrast, blocked DSB 3′-ends alone are only modestly inhibitory to NHEJ. Finally, DNA ligase activity is implicated as being responsible for these effects.

Pastwa, E., Neumann, R. D., Mezhevaya, K. and Winters, T. A. Repair of Radiation-Induced DNA Double-Strand Breaks is Dependent upon Radiation Quality and the Structural Complexity of Double-Strand Breaks. Radiat. Res. 159, 251–261 (2003). Mammalian cells primarily repair DSBs by nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ). To assess the ability of human cells to mediate end joining of complex DSBs such as those produced by chemicals, oxidative events, or high- and low-LET radiation, we employed an in vitro double-strand break repair assay using plasmid DNA linearized by these various agents. We found that human HeLa cell extracts support end joining of complex DSBs and form multimeric plasmid products from substrates produced by the radiomimetic drug bleomycin, 60Co γ rays, and the effects of 125I decay in DNA. End joining was found to be dependent on the type of DSB-damaging agent, and it decreased as the cytotoxicity of the DSB-inducing agent increased. In addition to the inhibitory effects of DSB end-group structures on repair, NHEJ was found to be strongly inhibited by lesions proximal to DSB ends. The initial repair rate for complex non-ligatable bleomycin-induced DSBs was sixfold less than that of similarly configured (blunt-ended) but less complex (ligatable) restriction enzyme-induced DSBs. Repair of DSBs produced by γ rays was 15-fold less efficient than repair of restriction enzyme-induced DSBs. Repair of the DSBs produced by 125I was near the lower limit of detection in our assay and was at least twofold lower than that of γ-ray-induced DSBs. In addition, DSB ends produced by 125I were shown to be blocked by 3′-nucleotide fragments: the removal of these by E. coli endonuclease IV permitted ligation.

Radiation lethality is largely attributed to radiation-induced DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). A range of structural complexity is predicted for radiation-induced DSBs. However, this lesion has never been analyzed in isolation at the molecular level. To address this problem, we have created authentic site-specific radiation-induced DSBs in plasmid DNA by triplex-forming oligonucleotide-targeted125I decay. No significant difference in DSB yield was observed after irradiation in the presence or absence of the radical scavenger DMSO, suggesting that DSB formation is a result of the direct effect of the radiation. A restriction fragment terminated by the DSB was isolated and probed with the Escherichia coli DNA repair enzyme endonuclease IV (endo IV), which recognizes apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) sites. Enzymatic probing demonstrated clustering of AP sites within 10 bases of the125I-targeted base in the DNA duplex. Our results suggest scavengeable radicals may not play a large role in the generation of AP sites associated with DSB formation, because at least 30% of all fragments have endo IV-sensitive sites, regardless of irradiation conditions. An internal control fragment recovered from the125I linearized plasmid did not exhibit endo IV sensitivity in excess of that observed for a similar fragment recovered from an undamaged plasmid. Thus, AP site clustering proximal to the DSB resulted from the125I decays responsible for DSB formation and was not due to untargeted background irradiation.

Datta, K., Jaruga, P., Dizdaroglu, M., Neumann, R. D. and Winters, T. A. Molecular Analysis of Base Damage Clustering Associated with a Site-Specific Radiation-Induced DNA Double-Strand Break. Radiat. Res. 166, 767–781 (2006). Base damage flanking a radiation-induced DNA double-strand break (DSB) may contribute to DSB complexity and affect break repair. However, to date, an isolated radiation-induced DSB has not been assessed for such structures at the molecular level. In this study, an authentic site-specific radiation-induced DSB was produced in plasmid DNA by triplex forming oligonucleotide-targeted 125I decay. A restriction fragment terminated by the DSB was isolated and probed for base damage with the E. coli DNA repair enzymes endonuclease III and formamidopyrimidine-DNA glycosylase. Our results demonstrate base damage clustering within 8 bases of the 125I-targeted base in the DNA duplex. An increased yield of base damage (purine > pyrimidine) was observed for DSBs formed by irradiation in the absence of DMSO. An internal control fragment 1354 bp upstream from the targeted base was insensitive to enzymatic probing, indicating that the damage detected proximal to the DSB was produced by the 125I decay that formed the DSB. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry identified three types of damaged bases in the ∼32-bp region proximal to the DSB. These base lesions were 8-hydroxyguanine, 8-hydroxyadenine and 5-hydroxycytosine. Finally, evidence is presented for base damage >24 bp upstream from the 125I-decay site that may form via a charge migration mechanism.

Datta, K., Weinfeld, M., Neumann, R. D. and Winters, T.A. Determination and Analysis of Site-Specific 125I Decay-Induced DNA Double-Strand Break End-Group Structures. Radiat. Res. 167, 152–166 (2007). End groups contribute to the structural complexity of radiation-induced DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). As such, end-group structures may affect a cell's ability to repair DSBs. The 3′-end groups of strand breaks caused by γ radiation, or oxidative processes, under oxygenated aqueous conditions have been shown to be distributed primarily between 3′-phosphoglycolate and 3′-phosphate, with 5′-phosphate ends in both cases. In this study, end groups of the high-LET-like DSBs caused by 125I decay were investigated. Site-specific DNA double-strand breaks were produced in plasmid pTC27 in the presence or absence of 2 M DMSO by 125I-labeled triplex-forming oligonucleotide targeting. End-group structure was assessed enzymatically as a function of the DSB end to serve as a substrate for ligation and various forms of end labeling. Using this approach, we have demonstrated 3′-hydroxyl (3′-OH) and 3′-phosphate (3′-P) end groups and 5′-ends (≥42%) terminated by phosphate. A 32P postlabeling assay failed to detect 3′-phosphoglycolate in a restriction fragment terminated by the 125I-induced DNA double-strand break, and this is likely due to restricted oxygen diffusion during irradiation as a frozen aqueous solution. Even so, end-group structure and relative distribution varied as a function of the free radical scavenging capacity of the irradiation buffer.

End groups contribute to the structural complexity of radiation-induced DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). As such, end-group structures may affect a cell's ability to repair DSBs. The 3'-end groups of strand breaks caused by$\\gamma radiation$, or oxidative processes, under oxygenated aqueous conditions have been shown to be distributed primarily between 3'-phosphoglycolate and 3'-phosphate, with 5'-phosphate ends in both cases. In this study, end groups of the high-LET-like DSBs caused by$^{125}I decay$were investigated. Site-specific DNA double-strand breaks were produced in plasmid pTC27 in the presence or absence of 2 M DMSO by125I-labeled triplex-forming oligonucleotide targeting. End-group structure was assessed enzymatically as a function of the DSB end to serve as a substrate for ligation and various forms of end labeling. Using this approach, we have demonstrated 3'-hydroxyl (3'-OH) and 3'-phosphate (3'-P) end groups and 5'-ends ($\\geq 42\\%$) terminated by phosphate. A32P postlabeling assay failed to detect 3'-phosphoglycolate in a restriction fragment terminated by the$^{125}I-induced DNA$double-strand break, and this is likely due to restricted oxygen diffusion during irradiation as a frozen aqueous solution. Even so, end-group structure and relative distribution varied as a function of the free radical scavenging capacity of the irradiation buffer.