Cell death induced by high-linear-energy transfer carbon beams in human glioblastoma cell lines

The cytotoxic effect of high-linear-energy transfer (LET) carbon beams on two human glioblastoma cell lines (A172 and TK1) was analyzed, especially concerning cell death, including apoptosis. Gamma-ray radiation was used for comparison. The results of standard colony formation assay showed that the survival fraction of each cell line decreased in an LET-dependent manner. The results of other direct cytotoxic assays, dye exclusion test, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release assay, also displayed a similar relationship between the cytotoxic effect of carbon beams and LET. The maximum values of the cell death index (CDI) were 50.2% in A172 and 37.5% in TK1, both obtained on day 7 after exposure to carbon beams of 80 keV/microm. Apoptosis was observed only on days 4 and 7 after carbon beam irradiation, with maximum values of 7% in A172 and 4.5% in TK1, and the induction of apoptosis after high-LET radiation could be p53-independent. This indicated that a combination of multiple assays to detect cell death was important in evaluating the radiosensitivity of tumor cells, because this approach could more precisely reflect the clinical effectiveness of radiotherapy.