The effect of temperature on the bystander effect as examined in human prostate carcinoma cells with alpha particle irradiation

The bystander effect is seen when irradiated cells release a factor that can produce damage or death in neighboring "bystander" cells that are not actually hit by any radiation. One proposed mechanism involves the irradiated cells releasing a soluble factor into the medium that can cause damage to the non-irradiated cells. Previous studies in the Coderre lab showed that the soluble factor released by DU-145 human prostate carcinoma cells was a short-lived, free radical species (Wang and Coderre, Rad. Res., 164, 711-722, 2005). This thesis examined the effect of temperature on the bystander effect. A co-culture system was used to create irradiated and bystander DU-145 cells in the same medium. This thesis showed that a decrease in temperature lessens or prevents the bystander effect. Researching the bystander effect will allow a better understanding of a process that may already be occurring during alpha-particle based therapies such as boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) and tumor radioimmunotherapy and could provide a means to improve these therapies.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Nuclear Science and Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Sheppard, Sarah (Sarah Elizabeth)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Jeffrey Coderre.

• Nuclear Science and Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/41596

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/41596