The role of mitochondrial proteomic analysis in radiological accidents and terrorism

In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the recent Level 7 nuclear event at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, there has been heightened awareness of the possibility of radiological terrorism and accidents and the need for techniques to estimate radiation levels after such events. A number of approaches to monitoring radiation using biological markers have been published, including physical techniques, cytogenetic approaches, and direct, DNA-analysis approaches. Each approach has the potential to provide information that may be applied to the triage of an exposed population, but problems with development and application of devices or lengthy analyses limit their potential for widespread application. We present a post-irradiation observation with the potential for development into a rapid point-of-care device. Using simple mitochondrial proteomic analysis, we investigated irradiated and nonirradiated murine mitochondria and identified a protein mobility shift occurring at 2-3 Gy. We discuss the implications of this finding both in terms of possible mechanisms and potential applications in bio-radiation monitoring.