Repair of sublethal and potentially lethal damage in lung cells using anin vitrocolony method

Abstract

The repair of radiation damage was measured in mouse lung using an in vitro colony assay. Following a single dose of 10.5 Gy [gray] delivered to the lung in vivo, 6 h after irradiation, an increase of the fraction of surviving cells was observed, which did not change further between 6 and 24 h (repair of potentially lethal damage). A similar observation was made using a split-dose method (repair of sublethal damage). The extent of radiation repair is comparable with that of other rodent cells [mouse and rat cell lines] irradiated in vivo. The significance of these results is discussed in relation to the late effects observed following irradiation of lung tissue.