Chromosome aberration frequency and radiation dose to lymphocytes by alpha-particles from internal deposit of Thorotrast
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 6, 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
M S Sasaki1, T Takatsuji, Y Ejima
1Radiation Biology Center, Kyoto University, Japan.
Abstract:
Frequencies of chromosome aberrations in peripheral blood lymphocytes from 63 Thorotrast patients were analysed basing on the age distribution of lymphocytes. The frequency and distribution of chromosome aberrations among lymphocytes are best explained if we assume that the lymphocytes are renewed as an exponential function of time and spend most of their lifetime in the distributive pool where, while exchange of lymphocytes is taking place, the lymphocytes are hit by alpha-particles from Thorotrast aggregates resulting in the formation of chromosome aberrations and killing at specific rates per hit. The model predicts that the aberration frequency is rather insensitive to the fluence rate because of modulation by cell killing by hit. Fitting the observed data to the model showed that approximately 0.8 dicentrics and rings were produced by a single path of alpha-particle and average fluence rate to lymphocytes in a group of patients with the highest aberration frequency was estimated to be about 1.5 hits or 87 rad/lymphocyte/year.
More Related Videos
10:14Detection of Inter-chromosomal Stable Aberrations by Multiple Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (mFISH) and Spectral Karyotyping (SKY) in Irradiated Mice
Published on: January 11, 2017
06:20Irradiator Commissioning and Dosimetry for Assessment of LQ α and β Parameters, Radiation Dosing Schema, and in vivo Dose Deposition
Published on: March 11, 2021
Related Concept Videos
Types of Radioactivity
Alpha (α) decay is the emission of an α particle from the nucleus. For example, polonium-210 undergoes α decay:
Biological Effects of Radiation
Mutations
Chromosomal Alterations Are Large-Scale Mutations
While point mutations are changes in a single nucleotide in...
Nucleotide Excision Repair
Cells are regularly exposed to mutagens—factors in the environment that can damage DNA and generate mutations. UV radiation is one of the most common mutagens and is estimated to introduce a significant number of changes in DNA. These include bends or kinks in the structure, which can block DNA replication or transcription. If these errors are not fixed, the damage can cause mutations, which in turn can result in cancer or disease depending on which sequences are...
X-ray Imaging
Other Unique Bacteria