New publication: "Radiation-induced changes of reactive astrocyte distribution in mice as a late response to partial-brain proton irradiation"

In our latest article in cooperation with OncoRay Dresden, we investigated the influence of different proton doses as a single fraction on the distribution of reactive astrocytes. The so-called astrocytes are part of the brain immune system and are responsible, among other things, for the formation and maintenance of the blood-brain barrier. It is suspected that the blood-brain barrier may be involved in the development of late-onset side effects that have been observed in patients. Therefore, the activation status of astrocytes was investigated by histological staining of mouse brain tissue and the spatial distribution of reactive astrocytes in relation to dose distribution. A strong correlation was found between the applied proton dose and the increase in astrocyte activity in the target volume. These results contribute to a better understanding of the biological effect of proton radiation and the corresponding cellular response.

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