Progenitor Cells as a Bridging Therapy for Radiation Casualties (Review Paper)

Vijay K. Singh; Darren S. Brown; Pankaj Kumar Singh; Thomas M. Seed

doi:10.14429/dsj.61.831

Vijay K. Singh Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda
Darren S. Brown Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute, Bethesda
Pankaj Kumar Singh Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute, Bethesda
Thomas M. Seed Tech Micro Services, Bethesda, MD

DOI: https://doi.org/10.14429/dsj.61.831

Keywords: Gamma-radiation, granulocyte-colony stimulating factor, hematopoietic progenitors, mice, myeloid progenitors, transfusion

Abstract

Hematopoiesis is the process by which daughter cells of multipotential, self-renewing stem cells progress along differentiation pathways to become progressively more committed to specific lineages while losing their self-renewal capacity. Leucopenia and thrombocytopenia after ionising radiation exposure are due largely to injury to stem cells and progenitors in the hematopoietic tissue of the bone marrow; and in mice, the spleen. Recovery depends on the ability of the remaining stem cells and progenitors to proliferate and differentiate sufficiently to reconstitute the immune system before it is challenged by potential microorganisms and lethal infections occur. This mini review discusses various approaches to the mobilisation of progenitors and their utility as a bridging therapy for radiation casualties.

Defence Science Journal, 2011, 61(2), pp.118-124, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.61.831

Author Biographies

Vijay K. Singh, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda

Dr Vijay K. Singh received his PhD from Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow. He received his formal training in Immunology and Molecular Biology at NEI and NCI, NIH, USA. Currently he is working at Armed Forces Radiation Biology and also is a faculty in the Department of Radiation Biology, School of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, USA. His current research interests include pathogenic mechanisms of acute radiation-induced injuries of blood-forming tissues, as well as medical countermeasures to those injuries.

Darren S. Brown, Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute, Bethesda

Dr Darren S. Brown obtained his PhD from University of Houston, Houston, Texas, USA. He is a Lieutenant in United States Navy. He has served as an Instructor in the Department of Chemistry, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD, USA, and also at Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute, Bethesda, as an Investigator. He has extensively worked on various radiation countermeasures with primary focus on the mechanism of action of promising radioprotectors and radiation mitigators. He also developed protocol for bridging therapy for radiation casualty using tocopherol succinate.

Pankaj Kumar Singh, Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute, Bethesda

Dr Pankaj Kumar Singh received his PhD in Biotechnology from Jamia Hamdard University, India, for his work on radiation countermeasures of plant origin. He is a Resident Research Associate National Research Council at Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. Currently, he is involved in the development of several promising radiation countermeasures for military and civilian use, where he is elucidating the mode of action of different radiation countermeasures at the molecular level.

Thomas M. Seed, Tech Micro Services, Bethesda, MD

Dr Thomas M. Seed received his formal training in microbiology at the University of Connecticut and the Ohio State University, with extended postdoctoral training in pathology at Case-Western Reserve University. He has served as Associated Chief of Research at the Radiation Effects Research Foundation in Hiroshima, Japan. Dr Seed has directed biomedical research programme at the National American Red Cross's Blood Research Laboratory, at Argonne National Laboratory's Division of Biology and Medicine, US Department of Defense's, Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute, and at Catholic University in Biophysics at the Catholic University in Washington, DC. His research interests include: pathogenic mechanisms of both acute and chronic radiation-induced injuries of bloodforming tissues, as well as medical countermeasures to those injuries.