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High-resolution multicolour banding FISH (mBAND) and multiplex FISH (mFISH) were used to analyse the aberrations of chromosome 1 in irradiated-AG01522 human primary fibroblasts. The cells were exposed to 1Gy of a panel of radiation of different qualities, such as X-rays, low-energy protons (28keV/μm), helium-ions (62keV/μm) and carbon-ions (96 and 252keV/μm). mBAND and mFISH analysis in calyculin-A G2-condensed chromosome spreads allowed us to detect intra- and interchromosome aberrations involving chromosome 1, including simple and complex-type exchanges, inversions (both para- and pericentric ones), deletions and rings. The data indicate that the induction of chromosomal exchanges was influenced by both Linear energy transfer (LET) and particle types. Moreover, the complex-to-simple exchanges ratio (C-ratio) and interchromosome to intrachromosome exchanges ratio (F-ratio) were evaluated by mFISH and mBAND techniques, respectively. Our results indicate that the C-ratio is a more reliable marker of radiation quality, with values that increased linearly in an LET-dependent manner. In addition, by means of mBAND analysis, the distribution of radiation-induced breakpoints along chromosome 1 was analyzed and compared with the expected distributions of the breaks. The expected values were calculated assuming a random distribution of the breakpoints. The data indicate that, irrespective of the radiation that was used, the breakpoints were non-randomly distributed along chromosome 1. In particular, breaks in the pericentromeric region were encountered at a higher frequency than expected. A deeper analysis revealed that breaks were not located in the constitutive heterochromatin (G-bands 1p11/1q11 and 1q12), but rather in a region comprised between 1p11.2 and 1p22.1, which includes G-light and G-dark bands. more...

Cancer cells need to acquire telomere maintenance mechanisms in order to counteract progressive telomere shortening due to multiple rounds of replication. Most human tumors maintain their telomeres expressing telomerase whereas the remaining 15%&ndash, 20% utilize the alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) pathway. Previous studies have demonstrated that ionizing radiations (IR) are able to modulate telomere lengths and to transiently induce some of the ALT-pathway hallmarks in normal primary fibroblasts. In the present study, we investigated the telomere length modulation kinetics, telomeric DNA damage induction, and the principal hallmarks of ALT over a period of 13 days in X-ray-exposed primary cells. Our results show that X-ray-treated cells primarily display telomere shortening and telomeric damage caused by persistent IR-induced oxidative stress. After initial telomere erosion, we observed a telomere elongation that was associated to the transient activation of a homologous recombination (HR) based mechanism, sharing several features with the ALT pathway observed in cancer cells. Data indicate that telomeric damage activates telomeric HR-mediated repair in primary cells. The characterization of HR-mediated telomere repair in normal cells may contribute to the understanding of the ALT pathway and to the identification of novel strategies in the treatment of ALT-positive cancers. more...