Nathalie Donis, Zheshen Jiang, Céline D’Emal, Alexia Hulin, Margaux Debuisson, Raluca Dulgheru, Mai-Linh Nguyen, Adriana Postolache, François Lallemand, Philippe Coucke, Philippe Martinive, Marielle Herzog, Dorian Pamart, Jason Terrell, Joel Pincemail, Pierre Drion, Philippe Delvenne, Alain Nchimi, Patrizio Lancellotti, Cécile Oury

Differential Biological Effects of Dietary Lipids and Irradiation on the Aorta, Aortic Valve, and the Mitral Valve

Dietary cholesterol and palmitic acid are risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) affecting the arteries and the heart valves. The ionizing radiation that is frequently used as an anticancer treatment promotes CVD and the specific pathophysiology of these distinct disease manifestations is poorly understood. Using rabbit models and a SmART+ irradiator, researchers study the biological effects of these dietary lipids and their cardiac irradiation on the arteries and the heart valves to help understand the relationship and improve life expectancy.

L Maigne, A Delsol, G Fois, E Debiton, F Degoul, H Payno

CPOP: An Open Source C++ Cell POPulation Modeler for Radiation Biology Applications

Continuing the fight against cancer, researchers @Université.Clermont.Auvergne in France, used a CPOP method and a Precision X-Rad320 irradiator, to successfully model cell populations and combine them with Geant14 simulations. This is a big step in studying the effects of anticancer drugs and evaluating the resistance of cancer cells under specific conditions.

Yuxuan Liu, Zhimin Gu, Hui Cao, Pranita Kaphle, Junhua Lyu, Yuannyu Zhang, Wenhuo Hu, Stephen S Chung, Kathryn E Dickerson, Jian Xu 

Convergence of Oncogenic Cooperation at Single-Cell and Single-Gene Levels Drives Leukemic Transformation.

Together, researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, worked together to evaluate functional cooperation between oncogenic drivers at single-cell and single-gene levels; identifying regulators of leukemia-initiating cells. It is studies like these that bring us another step closer in the fight against cancer.

Ivo P Torres Filho , Luciana N Torres , David Barraza , Charnae E Williams , Kim Hildreth 

Cellular and Biochemical Effects of Combined X-Ray Radiation and Storage on Whole Blood

Blood donation is used all over the world, from remedying surgical complications to treating blood diseases and cancer. Global shortages continue to climb, making these and many other conditions difficult to address. Blood donations are only viable for 35-42 days. Evaluating the impact of ionizing radiation on stored blood is relevant since blood banks are major assets in emergency conditions.

Lupeng Ye, Jonathan J. Park, Lei Peng, Quanjun Yan, Ryan D. Chow, Matthew B. Dong, Stanley Z. Lam, Jianjian Guo, Erting Tang, Yueqi Zhang, Guangchuan Wang, Xiaoyun Dai, Yaying Du, Hyunu R. Kim, Hanbing Cao, Youssef Errami, Paul Clark, Alexey Bersenev, Ruth R. Montgomery, Sidi Chen

A Genome-Scale Gain-of-Function CRISPR Screen in CD8 T Cells Identifies Proline Metabolism as a Means to Enhance CAR-T Therapy

Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell-based immunotherapy for cancer and immunological diseases has made great strides, but it still faces multiple hurdles. Finding the right molecular targets to engineer T cells toward a desired function has broad implications for the armamentarium of T cell-centered therapies. Published March 10, 2022

Georgios Lappas, Nick Staut, Natasja G. Lieuwes, Rianne Biemans, Cecile J.A. Wolfs, Stefan J. van Hoof, Ludwig J. Dubois, Frank Verhaegen

Inter-observer Variability of Organ Contouring for Preclinical Studies with Cone Beam Computed Tomography Imaging

In preclinical radiation studies, there is great interest in quantifying the radiation response of healthy tissues. Manual contouring has significant impact on the treatment-planning because of variation introduced by human interpretation. This results in inconsistencies when assessing normal tissue volumes. Published 2022

Joyce Wei, Welby Montalvo-Ortiz, Lola Yu, Amanda Krasco, Sarah Ebstein, Czrina Cortez, Israel Lowy, Andrew J Murphy, Matthew A Sleeman, Dimitris Skokos

Sequence of αPD-1 relative to local tumor irradiation determines the induction of abscopal antitumor immune responses

Although radiotherapy has been used for over a century to locally control tumor growth, alone it rarely induces an abscopal response or systemic antitumor immunity capable of inhibiting distal tumors outside of the irradiation field. Results from recent studies suggest that combining immune checkpoint blockades to radiotherapy may enhance abscopal activity. Published 2021

Mohammad Saki, Kruttika Bhat, Fei Cheng, Ling He, Le Zhang, Angeliki Ioannidis, David Nathanson, Jonathan Tsang, Phioanh Leia Nghiemphu,Timothy F. Cloughesy, Linda M. Liau, Harley I. Kornblum and Frank Pajonk

Combined Treatment with Dopamine Receptor Antagonists and Radiation Creates a Metabolic Vulnerability in Mouse Models of Glioblastoma

Glioblastoma is the deadliest brain tumor in adults and the standard-of-care consists of surgery followed by radiation and treatment with temozolomide. Overall survival times for patients suffering from glioblastoma are unacceptably low indicating an unmet need for novel treatment options. Published 2020

Ahmad Sharanek1, Audrey Burban1, Matthew Laaper, Emilie Heckel, Jean-Sebastien Joyal,
Vahab D. Soleimani1, & Arezu Jahani-Asl

OSMR controls glioma stem cell respiration and confers resistance of glioblastoma to ionizing radiation

Glioblastoma contains a rare population of self-renewing brain tumor stem cells (BTSCs) which are endowed with properties to proliferate, spur the growth of new tumors, and at the same time, evade ionizing radiation (IR) and chemotherapy. Published: 17 August 2020

Carolyn MacKenzie, Keisuke S Iwamoto, Kenneth Smith
University of CA

Replacement of Cesium Irradiators with Alternative Technologies.

The University of California possesses a large number of Cs irradiators that are used in a wide variety of medical and research applications. A Radioactive Source Replacement Working Group of involved faculty was formed to study the topic and to make recommendations as to when alternative technologies could offer equivalency. Health Phys 2020 Feb