Gamma-radiation-induced cell death in the fetal rat brain possesses molecular characteristics of apoptosis and is associated with specific messenger RNA elevations.

Low-dose ionizing irradiation of 16-18-day pregnant rats rapidly kills stem cells in the fetal forebrain. We have examined gamma-irradiated 17-day fetal rat brain tissue for molecular characteristics of apoptosis and changes in levels of mRNAs relevant to apoptosis. In many forebrain cells radiation elicits within 5 h nuclear condensation and fragmentation consistent with apoptosis. An electrophoretic DNA ladder indicative of internucleosomal chromatin cleavage was prominent within 3 h after irradiation. Pretreatment of pregnant rats with cycloheximide, or pretreatment of dissociated fetal brain cells in culture with actinomycin D, abolished the radiation-induced internucleosomal DNA fragmentation, demonstrating requirements for protein and RNA synthesis. Irradiation dramatically increased the level of the p53 transcription factor and the abundances of mRNAs coding for the cell-cycle inhibitor p21/Waf-1/Cip-1 and the AP-1-associated transcription factors Fos and JunB. Irradiation moderately increased the level of mRNA for the positive apoptosis regulator Bax. In contrast, irradiation reduced by 50-70% the abundances of most other mRNAs tested, including those for housekeeping proteins, p53, Jun, Myc, interleukin-1-beta-converting enzyme, and the negative apoptosis regulators Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL. These results indicate that radiation-elicited apoptosis of fetal brain cells is associated with activation of the p53 system, probable increases in AP-1 Fos/JunB heterodimers, and an increased ratio of Bax to Bcl-2 + Bcl-xL.