Cell-line dependent effects of hypoxia prior to irradiation in squamous cell carcinoma lines

We herein report a key role of ATM in the cellular fitness of cells exposed to prolonged moderate hypoxia prior to irradiation. While DNA damage response post-irradiation seem to be mainly driven by non-homologous end joining repair pathway in these conditions, our data suggest an important role for ATM kinase in hypoxia-driven modification of radiation response.