Xu An

Effects of 13 T Static Magnetic Fields (SMF) in the Cell Cycle Distribution and Cell Viability in Immortalized Hamster Cells and Human Primary Fibroblasts Cells

Magnetic resonance image (MRI) systems with a much higher magnetic flux density were developed and applied for potential use in medical diagnostic. Recently, much attention has been paid to the biological effects of static, strong magnetic fields (SMF). With the 13 T SMF facility in the Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the present study focused on the cellular effects of the SMF with 13 T on the cell viability and the cell cycle distribution in immortalized hamster cells, such as human-hamster hybrid (AL) cells, Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, DNA double-strand break repair deficient mutant (XRS-5) cells, and human primary skin fibroblasts (AG1522) cells. It was found that the exposure of 13 T SMF had less effect on the colony formation in either nonsynchronized or synchronized AL cells. Moreover, as compared to non-exposed groups, there were slight differences in the cell cycle distribution no matter in either synchronized or nonsynchronized immortalized hamster cells after exposure to 13 T SMF. However, it should be noted that the percentage of exposed AG1522 cells at G0/G1 phase was decreased by 10% as compared to the controls. Our data indicated that although 13 T SMF had minimal effects in immortalized hamster cells, the cell cycle distribution was slightly modified by SMF in human primary fibroblasts.

Comparison of base substitutions in response to nitrogen ion implantation and 60Co-gamma ray irradiation in Escherichia coli

To identify the specificity of base substitutions, a novel experimental system was established based on rifampicin-resistant (Rifr) mutant screening and sequencing of the defined region of the rpoB gene in E. coli. We focused on comparing mutational spectra of base substitutions induced by either low energy nitrogen ion beam implantation or 60Co-gamma rays. The most significant difference in the frequency of specific kinds of mutations induced by low energy nitrogen ion beam was that CG ®TA transitions were significantly increased from 32 to 46, AT ®TA transversions were doubled from 7 to 15 in 50 mutants, respectively. The preferential base substitutions induced by nitrogen ion beam implantation were CG ®TA transitions, AT ®GC transitions, AT ®TA transversions, which account for 92.13% (82/89) of the total. The mutations induced by 60Co-gamma rays were preferentially GC ®AT and AT ®GC transitions, which totaled 84.31% (43/51).

Accumulation of 2-Keto-L-Gulonate at 33°C by a Thermotolerant Gluconobacter Oxydans Mutant Obtained by Ion Beam Implantation

To obtain thermotolerant mutants of G. oxydans, which can enhance the transformation rate of L-sorbose to 2-Keto-L-gulonate (2-KLG) at 33oC in a two-step process of vitamin C manufacture, ion beam was used as a mutation source. Gluconobacter oxydans G0 and Bacillus megaterium B0 were used in this study. The original strain Gluconobacter oxydans G0 was mutated by the heavy ion implantation facility at the Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Several mutants including Gluconobacter oxydans GI13 were isolated and cocultured with Bacillus megaterium B0 at 33oC in shaking flasks. The average transformation rate of the new mixed strain GI13-B0 in per gram-molecule reached 94.4% after seven passages in shaking flasks, which was increased by 7% when compared with the original mixed strain G0-B0 (Gluconobacter oxydans G0 and Bacillus megaterium B0). Moreover, the transformation rate of I13B0 was stable at 94% at temperatures ranging from 25oC to 33oC, which would be of much value in reducing energy consumption in the manufacture of L-ascorbic acid, especially in the season of summer. To clarify some mechanism of the mutation, the specific activities of L-sorbose dehydrogenase in both G0 and GI13 were estimated.

An optimization control program for the ASIPP microbeam

The initial purpose for developing a microbeam facility was to study the biological effects induced by irradiation with ultimately low doses. The most important factor determining the throughput of a microbeam system is the ability of the microscope video analysis system to recognize the targets and locate them to their positions. In order to improve the throughput, a new scheme was designed to optimize the path to inspect individual cells and the swiftest tactic to position the cells. The results strongly suggested that these strategies could improve the throughput dramatically.

Surface Etching and DNA Damage Induced by Low-Energy Ion Irradiation in Yeast

Bio-effects of survival and etching damage on cell surface and DNA strand breaks were investigated in the yeast saccharomyces cerevisiae after exposure by nitrogen ion with an energy below 40 keV. The result showed that 16% of trehalose provided definite protection for cells against vacuum stress compared with glycerol. In contrast to vacuum control, significant morphological damage and DNA strand breaks were observed, in yeast cells bombarded with low-energy nitrogen, by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) immunofluorescence assays. Moreover, PI (propidium iodide) fluorescent staining indicated that cell integrity could be destroyed by ion irradiation. Cell damage eventually affected cell viability and free radicals were involved in cell damage as shown by DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide) rescue experiment. Our primary experiments demonstrated that yeast cells can be used as an optional experimental model to study the biological effects of low energy ions and be applied to further investigate the mechanism(s) underlying the bio-effects of eukaryotic cells.