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Updated: Jul 5, 2026

Quantification of γH2AX Foci in Response to Ionising Radiation
Published on: April 6, 2010
Accumulation of DSBs in gamma-H2AX domains fuel chromosomal aberrations
H Scherthan1, L Hieber, H Braselmann
1Bundeswehr Institute of Radiobiology, Neuherbergstrasse, 11, D-80937 Munich, Germany. scherth@web.de
Abstract:
DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) pose a severe hazard to the genome as erroneous rejoining of DSBs can lead to mutation and cancer. Here, we have investigated the correlation between X irradiation-induced gamma-H2AX foci, theoretically induced DSBs, and the minimal number of mis-rejoined DNA breaks (MNB) in irradiated lymphocytes obtained from two healthy humans by painting of the whole chromosome complement by spectral karyotyping. There were less gamma-H2AX foci/dose than theoretically expected, while misrepair, as expressed by MNB/gamma-H2AX focus, was similar at 0.5 and 1Gy but 3.6-fold up at 3Gy. Hence, our results suggest that X-ray-induced gamma-H2AX foci in G0 lymphocyte nuclei contain more than one DSB and that the increasing number of DSBs per gamma-H2AX repair factory lead to an increased rate of misrepair.
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