Cells irradiation to investigate markers of ionizing radiation-induced DNA damage

Introduction: The detailed knowledge of mechanisms of DNA lesion repair is crucial in many areas, from cancer cell killing by radiotherapy to proper immune system development to cell aging, just to quote a few examples. The purpose of this work was to study both qualitatively and quantitatively some novel DNA damage markers. Results: Our data show that at high DNA damage load cells with different sensitivity respond in an indistinguishable way. At lower DNA damage load, instead, it is possible to differentiate between cells with different damage sensitivity. Conclusions: These new immunofluorescence-based markers could be useful for studying by means of ionizing radiations the different sensitivity of cells to DNA damage.