Part 5: Direct & Indirect Effects at the Cellular level

Radiation can cause 5 DIRECT effects of the cell

Which of the 5 direct effects is the most important effect? Why?

Reproductive Death

FYI: Cancer cells divide more often, reproductive death slows them down or kills their bloodline until there is none left

Which of the 5 direct effects is the most rare? Why?

Immediate cell death. It takes a HUGE dose. Rare

True or False: Impairment of Function is TEMPORARY the cell can repair itself

False: It can be Temporary or Permanent

Give an example of what can happen during impairment of fuction

sweat cell stops producing sweat

mucous cell stops producing mucous

How does Mitotic Delay work?

e.g.

1. Radiation damages the cell

2. the cell has to STOP & repair the damage before dividing, throwing off the cell cycle

3. Next time the cell divides it might take longer and longer with each subsequent “hit”

What is interphase death

If irradiating the cell during the :G1, S, or G2 phase results in death

term. Interphase Death

def. the death of irradiated cells before the cells reach mitosis

What is the mechanism of interphase death

Trick question. it is not known

Theories on the mechanism of interphase death

1. May involve damage to 1 or more biochemical pathways involved in cell metabolism

2. The result of DNA breakdown resulting in destruction of Nucleus

By what mechanism do slow reproducing cells die?

Interphase Death

types of slow-reproducing cells?

1. nerve

2. muscle

List the indirect effects RTT has on cells:

1. Loss of blood supply causes local cell death

2. Damaged cells fall victim to antibodies

Effects on cancer cells vs normal cells

Cancer cells can’t fix damage as easily as normal cells BUT the damage we cause on cancer cells and regular cells is the same.