Radiation damage to the CNS has davastating clinical consequences and thus the CNS is often the most important dose-limiting organ in clinical radiotherapy.
Cells undergo apoptotic death or death linked to mitosis after ionizing radiation.
We have demonstrated that certain glial cells and endothelial cells in the CNS undergo early apoptosis following radiation. Our other major research area is focused on the role of cytokines and growth factors. Vascular endothelial cells are believed to be another major target cell type involved in CNS radiation injury. We are also interested in the role of oligodendrocyte precursor cells and neural stem cells in radiation-induced CNS damage. The long-term goal is to develop strategies to increase CNS tolerance to radiation through stem cell transplantation.