iThemba LABS

2 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Cancer Research

PET and MRI Guided Irradiation of a Glioblastoma Rat Model Using a Micro-irradiator

Julie Bolcaen¹, Benedicte Descamps², Tom Boterberg³, Christian Vanhove², Ingeborg Goethals¹

¹Department of Nuclear Medicine, Ghent University Hospital, ²IBiTech-MEDISIP, Department of Electronics and Information Systems, Ghent University, ³Department of Radiation Oncology, Ghent University Hospital

In the past, small animal irradiation was usually performed without the ability to target a well-delineated tumor volume. The goal was to mimic the treatment of human glioblastoma in rats. Using a small animal irradiation platform, we performed MRI-guided 3D conformal irradiation with PET-based sub-volume boosting in a preclinical setting.

Cancer Research

An Automated Microscopic Scoring Method for the γ-H2AX Foci Assay in Human Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes

Shankari Nair¹, Samantha Cairncross², Xanthene Miles¹, Monique Engelbrecht³, Peter du Plessis¹, Julie Bolcaen¹, Randall Fisher¹, Roya Ndimba¹, Charnay Cunningham⁴, Wilner Martínez-López⁵, Christian Schunck⁶, Charlot Vandevoorde¹

¹Radiation Biophysics Division, Nuclear Medicine Department, iThemba LABS, ²Department of Biotechnology, University of the Western Cape, ³Department of Medical Biosciences, University of the Western Cape, ⁴Division of Medical Physiology, Department of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, ⁵Biodosimetry Service, Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas Clemente Estable and Academic Unit on Radiation Protection, Faculty of Medicine, University of the Republic, ⁶MetaSystems Hard & Software GmbH

This protocol presents the slide preparation and automated scoring of the γ-H2AX foci assay on peripheral blood lymphocytes. To illustrate the method and sensitivity of the assay, isolated lymphocytes were irradiated in vitro. This automated method of DNA DSB detection is useful for fast and high-throughput biological dosimetry applications.