Assessment of ER Stress and Autophagy Induced by Ionizing Radiation in Both Radiotherapy Patients and Ex Vivo Irradiated Samples

ABSTRACT Acute radiation leads to several toxic clinical states and triggers some molecular pathways. To shed light on molecular mechanisms triggered by ionizing radiation (IR), we examined the expression profiles of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and autophagy‐related genes in individuals who were exposed to IR. Blood samples were collected from 50 cancer patients before radiotherapy and on the 5th, 15th, and 25th days of the treatment. Peripheral blood samples from 10 healthy volunteers were also obtained for ex vivo irradiation, divided into five and irradiated at a rate of 373 kGy/h to 0, 0.1, 0.5, 1, and 3Gy γ‐rays using a constant gamma source. GRP78, ATG5, LC3, ATF4, XBP1, and GADD153 genes were analyzed by quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction (QRT‐PCR) using beta 2 microglobulin (B2M) and glyceraldehyde 3‐phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) as references. In both groups, expressions of the selected genes have increased. It can be concluded that IR induces ER stress and related authophagy pathway in the peripheral lymphocyte cells proportionally by dose.