Radiation-Induced Bystander Effects in A549 Cells Exposed to 6 MV X-rays.

The aim of the study is to explore the bystander effects in A549 cells that have been exposed to 6MV X-ray. Control group, irradiated group, irradiated conditioned medium (ICM)-received group, and fresh medium group were designed in this study. A549 cells in the logarithmic growth phase were irradiated with 6MV X-ray at 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2. In ICM-received group, post-irradiation A549 cells were cultured for 3 h and were transferred into non-irradiated A549 cells for further cultivation. Clone forming test was applied to detect the survival fraction of cells. Annexin V-FITC/PI double-staining assay was used to detect the apoptosis of A549 cells 24, 48, 72, and 96 h after 2-Gy 6MV X-ray irradiation, and the curves of apoptosis were drawn. The changes in the cell cycles 4, 48, 72, and 96 h after 2-Gy 6MV X-ray irradiation were detected using PI staining flow cytometry. With the increase of irradiation dose, the survival fraction of A549 cells after the application of 0.5 Gy irradiation was decreasing continuously. In comparison to the control group, the apoptosis rate of the ICM-received group was increased in a time-dependent pattern, with the highest apoptosis rate observed at 72 h (p < 0.05). Cell count in G2/M stages was obviously increased compared with that of the control group (p < 0.05), with the highest count observed at 72 h, after which G2/M stage arrest was diminished. ICM can cause apparent A549 cell damage, indicating that 6MV X-ray irradiation can induce bystander effect on A549 cells, which reaches a peak at 72 h.