TY - JOUR T1 - Pharmacological Enhancement of Autophagy Induced in a Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Line by High-LET Radiation JF - Anticancer Research JO - Anticancer Res SP - 303 LP - 310 VL - 30 IS - 2 AU - ANAÏS ALTMEYER AU - ALAIN C. JUNG AU - MIHAELA IGNAT AU - SAMI BENZINA AU - JEAN-MARC DENIS AU - JOHN GUEULETTE AU - GEORGES NOËL AU - DIDIER MUTTER AU - PIERRE BISCHOFF Y1 - 2010/02/01 UR - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/30/2/303.abstract N2 - The aim of the present study was to determine the cytotoxic consequences of high-linear energy transfer (LET) irradiation in the presence of oxaliplatin on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells in vitro. We attempted to correlate the induction of apoptosis and autophagy with the formation of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). SK-Hep1 cells were irradiated by 65 MeV neutrons in the presence of oxaliplatin and/or the poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor PJ34. DSBs were measured by the formation of γH2AX foci. Results show that in SK-Hep1 cells exposed to fast neutrons in the presence of oxaliplatin, DSBs occurred and persisted with time after irradiation. While apoptosis remained low in co-treated cells, autophagy was considerably increased after irradiation and augmented by the addition of oxaliplatin. Thus, autophagic cell death appears to play a prominent role in the cytotoxicity of the combined treatment and may be linked to the generation of heavy damage to DNA. Copyright© 2010 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved ER -