Radiation-induced changes in gene expression involve recruitment of existing messenger RNAs to and away from polysomes.

Although ionizing radiation has been shown to influence gene transcription, little is known about the effects of radiation on gene translational efficiency. To obtain a genome-wide perspective of the effects of radiation on gene translation, microarray analysis was done on polysome-bound RNA isolated from irradiated human brain tumor cells; to allow for a comparison with the effects of radiation on transcription, microarray analysis was also done using total RNA. The number of genes whose translational activity was modified by radiation was approximately 10-fold greater than those whose transcription was affected. The radiation-induced change in a gene's translational activity was shown to involve the recruitment of existing mRNAs to and away from polysomes. Moreover, the change in a gene's translational activity after irradiation correlated with changes in the level of its corresponding protein. These data suggest that radiation modifies gene expression primarily at the level of translation. In contrast to transcriptional changes, there was considerable overlap in the genes affected at the translational level among brain tumor cell lines and normal astrocytes. Thus, the radiation-induced translational control of a subset of mRNAs seems to be a fundamental component of cellular radioresponse.