Colony-Forming Ability and Residual Foci of DNA Repair Proteins in Human Lung Fibroblasts Irradiated with Subpicosecond Beams of Accelerated Electrons

We performed a comparative study of the colony-forming ability and the number of residual foci of DNA repair proteins in cultured human lung fibroblasts (MRC-5 cell line) after exposure to subpicosecond beams of accelerated electrons with an energy of 3.6 MeV and quasi-continuous radiation (accelerated electrons with an energy of 4 MeV and X-rays). The yield of damages causing reproductive cell death after pulsed subpicosecond radiation exposure was higher by ~1.8 times than after quasi-continuous radiation exposure. The quantitative yield of residual γH2AX foci (phosphorylated H2AX histone, a protein marker of DNA double breaks) in cells irradiated with subpicosecond beams of accelerated electrons was shown to be ~2.0- 2.5-fold higher than in cells irradiated with quasi-continuous beams of accelerated electrons.