Quiescent keratinocytes and fibroblasts: radiation dose response

Skin is usually exposed during human exposures to ionizing radiation, however there are few experiments that evaluate the radiation responsiveness of the cells of the epidermis (keratinocytes) and those of the dermis (fibroblasts) in the same studies. We evaluated the transcriptional responses of quiesent primary keratinocytes and fibroblasts from the same individual and compared them with quiescent keratinocytes and fibroblasts that were immortalized by human telomerase (hTert). The primary transcriptional responses to 10-500 cGy ionizing radiation were p53-mediated responses; however, we did identify distinct responses between the keratinocytes and the fibroblasts. Keywords: keratinocytes and fibroblasts - dose response to ionizing radiation Four cell types (primary keratinocytes, hTert immortalized keratinocytes, primary fibroblasts, hTert immortalized fibroblasts) grown to quiescence, treated with 0, 10, 100 or 500 cGy gamma irradiation, RNA collected at 4 hrs.