Telomere loss, not average telomere length, confers radiosensitivity to TK6-irradiated cells

Many and varied are the proposed mechanisms that lead to resistance to ionizing radiation treatment. Among them, an inverse relationship between telomere length and radioresistance has been recently advanced. Investigating such a relationship in TK6 lymphoblasts, we found that clones originating from cells survived to 4 Gy of X-rays showed a significantly higher telomere length when compared with clones grown from untreated cells. The lengthening observed was not attributable to a radiation-induced increase in telomerase activity, as demonstrated by TRAP assay performed in the dose range of 1–10 Gy. Given the evidence that TK6 whole population was characterized by heterogeneity in cellular mean telomere length and telomere loss, we tested the hypothesis that a process of selection may favour cells with longer telomeres (more radioresistant cells) following exposure to irradiation. In order to do this 15 independent TK6 clones were selected and characterized for telomere length and loss on the basis of q-FISH and flow-FISH analysis. Among the screened clones four characterized by long telomeres and four characterized by short telomeres were tested for their radiosensitivity by means of clonogenic assay. The results obtained showed that, in our experimental conditions (cellular model, radiation doses) no significant correlation was observed between radiosensitivity and mean telomere lengths, whereas a positive correlation was observed with respect to telomere loss. Overall, these results indicate that telomere loss and not mean telomere length plays a critical role in the phenomenon of radiosensitivity/radioresistance.

► Ionizing radiation induced telomere lengthening in TK6 clones from a single cell.
► Telomerase is not involved in the telomere lengthening observed.
► TK6 cells display very heterogeneous values in telomere length and telomere loss.
► A selective process account for telomere lengthening in irradiated cells.
► Telomere loss, not mean telomere length, is predictive of radiosensitivity.