Dependence of induction of interphase death of Chinese hamster ovary cells exposed to accelerated heavy ions on linear energy transfer

Induction of interphase death was examined in Chinese hamster ovary cells exposed to accelerated heavy ions (carbon, neon, argon and iron) of various linear energy transfers (LETs) (10-2000 keV/mu m). The fraction of cells that underwent interphase death was determined by observing individual cells with time-lapse photography (direct method) as well as by counting cells undergoing interphase death made visible by the addition of caffeine (indirect method). After exposure to X rays, interphase death increased linearly with dose above a threshold of about 10 Gy, whereas it increased at a higher rate without a threshold after exposure to high-LET heavy ions. The relative biological effectiveness (RBE) compared to X rays, as determined at the 50% level of induction, increased with LET, reached a maximum at an LET of approximately 230 keV/mu m and then decreased with further increase in LET. The range of LET values corresponding to the maximum RBE appears to be narrower for interphase death than for reproductive death (120-230 keV/mu m), as assayed using loss of colony-forming ability as a criterion. The inactivation cross section for interphase cell death reached a plateau of 5-10 mu m(2). This means that the probability for the induction of interphase death by traversal of a single heavy-ion track through the nucleus (size: about 130 mu m(2)) is about 0.04-0.08. (C) 1997 by Radiation Research Society.