We reported previously that glial cells cultured from young rats indicated the adaptive response to low dose irradiation and that the adaptive response was decreased with aging. In order to investigate its mechanisms, we searched the variant expressions of proteins caused by low dose irradiation in glial cells by using proteomics.
Glial cells were cultured from variously aged Wistar rats. After low dose irradiation, proteins were extracted and subjected to 2D-PAGE. Alterations in the relative intensity of protein spots appearing on proteome profiles were analyzed using PDQuest software (Bio-Rad) and identifications of protein spots were performed using MALDI-TOF MS analysis.
We detected a protein spot, of which expression was increased 3 hr and decreased 24 hr after low dose irradiation, in young cells. The expression of the protein spot was not changed by low dose irradiation in cells from aged rats. From the fact that the adaptive response was demonstrated in young cells and with 3h-interval between low dose pre-irradiation and the challenging irradiation, it is likely that this protein is involved in radiation adaptive response in rat glial cells.