X-ray induced bio-acoustic emissions from cultured cells

We characterised for the first time the emission of bio-acoustic waves from cultured cells irradiated at doses of X-ray photon radiation relevant to medical and accidental exposure. Methods and materials: Human cancer cell lines (MCF-7, HL-60) and control cell-free media were exposed to 1 Gy X-ray photons while recording the sound generated before, during and after irradiation. Cellular cytotoxicity following photon irradiation was determined by extracellular LDH levels, and irradiated cell conditioned media were tested for their ability to elicit a bystander effect in reporter cells. We reported the first recorded acoustic signals captured from a collective pressure wave response to ionising irradiation. The signature of the collective acoustic peaks was : We show that at doses of X-ray irradiation capable of producing the release of bystander effect-inducing activity, both cell types emit a characteristic acoustic signal for the duration of the radiation pulse. The rapid signal decay is consistent with a passive rather than an active acoustic signal generation. Data in this dataset comprise: Raw Picoscope outputs (CSV) for each experiment, Lactate dehydrogenase assay for each experiment as an excel file with plate arrangement, and relative mitochondrial membrane potentials for irradiated and control cells.