Abstract
The effect of lower doses (0.5-3.0 Gy) of gamma radiation on radiosensitivity of CD3-/CD8+ NK cells subpopulation isolated from the peripheral blood of healthy volunteers was studied 48 h after the irradiation. Only a subtle increase in terms of induction of apoptosis (A+cells), was observed in Annexin positive CD3-/CD8+ NK cells.
The assessment of the relative presence of CD3-/CD8+ NK cells in Annexin negative populations of lymphocytes considerably contributes to the elimination of individual variability and could be useful in biodosimetry. Living CD3-/CD8+; Annexin negative NK cells were analyzed using five-color flow cytometry 16 hours after irradiation by the doses of 1-10 Gy.
The study was carried out on NK cells subsets CD3-/CD8 - CD16+, CD56(dim) and CD56(bright). NK cells characterized with their low-density expression of CD56(dim) are more cytotoxic and express CD16.