～(12)C～(6+) Ion Beam Induced DNA Damage in Human Hepatocyte L02 Cells Detected by Comet Assay

Human hepatocyte L02 cells were irradiated by the carbon ion beam with LET of 30 keV/μm and DNA strand breaks were detected immediately after the irradiation using comet assay. Based on the comet images, all the indexes of comet assay including head DNA%, tail DNA%, comet length, tail length, tail moment and olive tail moment were analyzed with CASP and SPSS 11.5 code. Statistically significant dose-effect relationships could be observed in all the indexes of comet assay and TM increased with increasing the radiation dose. These experimental results suggest that carbon ion beam with intermediate LET value would cause remarkable DNA strand breaks immediately and the damage increases in a dose-dependent manner. This work provides basic data and evidence for the risk assessment of heavy ion radiation to healthy tissue.