Development of a human peripheral blood ex vivo model for rapid protein biomarker detection and applications to radiation biodosimetry.

In the event of a widespread radiological incident, thousands of people may be exposed to a wide range of ionizing radiation. In this unfortunate scenario, there will be a need to quickly screen a large number of people to assess the amount of radiation exposure and triage for medical treatment. In...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Leah Nemzow, Thomas Boehringer, Bezalel Bacon, Helen C Turner
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2023-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0289634
_version_ 1797394483779731456
author Leah Nemzow
Thomas Boehringer
Bezalel Bacon
Helen C Turner
author_facet Leah Nemzow
Thomas Boehringer
Bezalel Bacon
Helen C Turner
author_sort Leah Nemzow
collection DOAJ
description In the event of a widespread radiological incident, thousands of people may be exposed to a wide range of ionizing radiation. In this unfortunate scenario, there will be a need to quickly screen a large number of people to assess the amount of radiation exposure and triage for medical treatment. In our earlier work, we previously identified and validated a panel of radiosensitive protein biomarkers in blood leukocytes, using the humanized-mouse and non-human primate (NHP) models. The objective of this work was to develop a high-throughput imaging flow-cytometry (IFC) based assay for the rapid measurement of protein biomarker expression in human peripheral blood samples irradiated ex vivo. In this assay design, peripheral human blood samples from healthy adult donors were exposed to 0-5 Gy X-irradiation ex vivo and cultured for up to 2 days. Samples were stained with a cocktail of surface antigens (CD66b, CD20, and CD3), fixed and permeabilized, and intracellularly stained for BAX (Bcl-2-associated X) protein, used here as a representative biomarker. Samples were interrogated by IFC, and a uniform analysis template was created to measure biomarker expression in heterogeneous and specific leukocyte subtype populations at each time point. In this human blood ex vivo model, we show that within gated populations of leukocyte subtypes, B-cells are highly radiosensitive with the smallest surviving fraction, followed by T-cells and granulocytes. Dose-dependent biomarker responses were measured in the lymphocytes, B-, and T-cell populations, but not in the granulocytes, with dose-response curves showing increasing fold changes in BAX protein expression up to Day 2 in lymphocyte populations. We present here the successful use of this ex vivo model for the development of radiation dose-response curves of a candidate protein biomarker towards future applications of dose reconstruction and biodosimetry.
first_indexed 2024-03-09T00:20:27Z
format Article
id doaj.art-75d4d716686546cc8c11fc667856a114
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1932-6203
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-09T00:20:27Z
publishDate 2023-01-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS ONE
spelling doaj.art-75d4d716686546cc8c11fc667856a1142023-12-12T05:35:03ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032023-01-01188e028963410.1371/journal.pone.0289634Development of a human peripheral blood ex vivo model for rapid protein biomarker detection and applications to radiation biodosimetry.Leah NemzowThomas BoehringerBezalel BaconHelen C TurnerIn the event of a widespread radiological incident, thousands of people may be exposed to a wide range of ionizing radiation. In this unfortunate scenario, there will be a need to quickly screen a large number of people to assess the amount of radiation exposure and triage for medical treatment. In our earlier work, we previously identified and validated a panel of radiosensitive protein biomarkers in blood leukocytes, using the humanized-mouse and non-human primate (NHP) models. The objective of this work was to develop a high-throughput imaging flow-cytometry (IFC) based assay for the rapid measurement of protein biomarker expression in human peripheral blood samples irradiated ex vivo. In this assay design, peripheral human blood samples from healthy adult donors were exposed to 0-5 Gy X-irradiation ex vivo and cultured for up to 2 days. Samples were stained with a cocktail of surface antigens (CD66b, CD20, and CD3), fixed and permeabilized, and intracellularly stained for BAX (Bcl-2-associated X) protein, used here as a representative biomarker. Samples were interrogated by IFC, and a uniform analysis template was created to measure biomarker expression in heterogeneous and specific leukocyte subtype populations at each time point. In this human blood ex vivo model, we show that within gated populations of leukocyte subtypes, B-cells are highly radiosensitive with the smallest surviving fraction, followed by T-cells and granulocytes. Dose-dependent biomarker responses were measured in the lymphocytes, B-, and T-cell populations, but not in the granulocytes, with dose-response curves showing increasing fold changes in BAX protein expression up to Day 2 in lymphocyte populations. We present here the successful use of this ex vivo model for the development of radiation dose-response curves of a candidate protein biomarker towards future applications of dose reconstruction and biodosimetry.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0289634
spellingShingle Leah Nemzow
Thomas Boehringer
Bezalel Bacon
Helen C Turner
Development of a human peripheral blood ex vivo model for rapid protein biomarker detection and applications to radiation biodosimetry.
PLoS ONE
title Development of a human peripheral blood ex vivo model for rapid protein biomarker detection and applications to radiation biodosimetry.
title_full Development of a human peripheral blood ex vivo model for rapid protein biomarker detection and applications to radiation biodosimetry.
title_fullStr Development of a human peripheral blood ex vivo model for rapid protein biomarker detection and applications to radiation biodosimetry.
title_full_unstemmed Development of a human peripheral blood ex vivo model for rapid protein biomarker detection and applications to radiation biodosimetry.
title_short Development of a human peripheral blood ex vivo model for rapid protein biomarker detection and applications to radiation biodosimetry.
title_sort development of a human peripheral blood ex vivo model for rapid protein biomarker detection and applications to radiation biodosimetry
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0289634
work_keys_str_mv AT leahnemzow developmentofahumanperipheralbloodexvivomodelforrapidproteinbiomarkerdetectionandapplicationstoradiationbiodosimetry
AT thomasboehringer developmentofahumanperipheralbloodexvivomodelforrapidproteinbiomarkerdetectionandapplicationstoradiationbiodosimetry
AT bezalelbacon developmentofahumanperipheralbloodexvivomodelforrapidproteinbiomarkerdetectionandapplicationstoradiationbiodosimetry
AT helencturner developmentofahumanperipheralbloodexvivomodelforrapidproteinbiomarkerdetectionandapplicationstoradiationbiodosimetry