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Updated: Jul 3, 2026

Measuring DNA Damage and Repair in Mouse Splenocytes After Chronic In Vivo Exposure to Very Low Doses of Beta- and Gamma-Radiation
Published on: July 3, 2015
In vivo mutagenic effect of very low dose radiation
Pamela J Sykes1, Tanya K Day, Sarah J Swinburne
1Department of Haematology and Genetic Pathology, Flinders University and Medical Centre, Bedford Park, SA 5042, Australia. pam.sykes@flinders.edu.au
Abstract:
Almost all of our knowledge about the mutational effect of radiation has come from high dose studies which are generally not relevant to public exposure. The pKZ1 mouse recombination mutagenesis assay enables study of the mutational effect of very low doses of low LET radiation (microGy to cGy range) in a whole animal model. The mutational end-point studied is chromosomal inversion which is a common mutation in cancer. We have observed 1) a non-linear dose response of induced inversions in pKZ1 mice exposed to a wide dose range of low LET radiation, 2) the ability of low priming doses to cause an adaptive response to subsequent higher test doses and 3) the effect of genetic susceptibility where animals that are heterozygous for the Ataxia Telangiectasia gene (Atm) exhibit different responses to low dose radiation compared to their normal litter-mates.
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