The elimination of low-dose hyper-radiosensitivity by transfer of irradiated-cell conditioned medium depends on dose rate.

Irradiation of T-47D cells with 0.3 Gy delivered by a (60)Co source at a low dose rate of 0.3 Gy/h abolished low-dose hyper-radiosensitivity (HRS) for at least 14 months (with continuous cell culturing), while the same dose administered acutely (40 Gy/h) eliminated HRS for less than 24 h. Medium transferred from the low-dose-rate primed cells (low-dose-rate ICCM) to unirradiated cells eliminated HRS in recipient cells even if the donor cells had been cultivated for 14 months after the priming dose. Thus low-dose-rate priming activates mechanisms that involve modification or induction of a factor in the medium. This factor affects unirradiated cells in such a way that HRS is eliminated in cells exposed to medium from the primed cells. However, only cells directly exposed to low-dose-rate radiation induce or modify the putative factor, since unirradiated cells that were exposed to low-dose-rate ICCM regained HRS within 2 weeks of cultivation in fresh medium. The ability of ICCM to eliminate HRS in recipient cells is dependent on dose rate. However, an increase in clonogenic survival was observed in cells receiving only medium transfer without subsequent irradiation that was independent of dose rate.