Biophotons in Radiobiology Inhibitors, Communicators and Reactors
Biophotons in Radiobiology Inhibitors, Communicators and Reactors
Biophotons in Radiobiology Inhibitors, Communicators and Reactors
1093/rpd/ncy271
Radiation-induced bystander effects refer to the production of signals from irradiated cells which induce responses in unirra-
diated, or bystander, cells. There has been a recent resurgence of interest in low-energy photon biology. This is due to con-
cerns about health effects, increased use of biophoton imaging techniques, and the fact that biophotons can act as a bystander
signal. This review discusses the history of light signaling in biology and potential mechanisms involved in the generation and
transduction of signaling mechanisms. The role of photons in signaling in the animal and plant kingdoms is also reviewed.
Finally, the potential to harness these mechanisms in radiation protection or therapy is discussed with emphasis on promising
future directions for research.
© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com
C. MOTHERSILL ET AL.
an increased probability for 1O2 generation. Excitation The involvement of UV biophotons in eliciting
and subsequent change in electron spin of one of the optical intercellular communication has been further
electrons in 3O2 results in the production of 1O2(17). supported by subsequent studies. Wainwright and col-
Because the probability for excitation of 3O2 is asso- leagues demonstrated the induction of visible light
ciated with oxidant activity in the mitochondria, a rela- emission by bacteria separated from fungus by a layer
tionship therefore exists between photon emission and of quartz glass(28). However, upon separation of the
2
BIOPHOTONS IN RADIOBIOLOGY: INHIBITORS, COMMUNICATORS AND REACTORS
photon emission signal integrated over all of the MECHANISMS INVOLVED IN THE
wavelengths exhibited fluctuations in strength over ELECTROMAGNETIC BYSTANDER EFFECT
time(35). The time-dependent spectrum over 400 s CAUSED BY IONIZING RADIATION
revealed distinct bursts of light at randomly inter-
The experiments performed by our group strongly
spaced intervals and subsequent analysis of reporter
suggest that the mitochondria are critically import-
egg populations revealed an ability of the biophotons
3
C. MOTHERSILL ET AL.
4
BIOPHOTONS IN RADIOBIOLOGY: INHIBITORS, COMMUNICATORS AND REACTORS
altered profiles. The processes enhance our under- 18. Nakano, M. Low‐level chemiluminescence during lipid
standing of intercellular communication under peroxidations and enzymatic reactions. Luminescence
homeostatic and stress conditions. 4(1), 231–240 (1989).
19. Van Wijk, R. Bio-photons and bio-communication. J.
Sci. Explor. 15(2), 183–197 (2001).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 20. Shen, X., Mei, W. and Xu, X. Activation of neutrophils
5
C. MOTHERSILL ET AL.
38. Rajendran, S., Harrison, S. H., Thomas, R. A. and 47. Le, M., Fernandez-Palomo, C., McNeill, F. E.,
Tucker, J. D. The role of mitochondria in the radiation- Seymour, C. B., Rainbow, A. J. and Mothersill, C. E.
induced bystander effect in human lymphoblastoid cells. Exosomes are released by bystander cells exposed to
Radiat. Res. 175(2), 159–171 (2010). radiation-induced biophoton signals: reconciling the
39. Jain, M. R., Li, M., Chen, W., Liu, T., de Toledo, S. mechanisms mediating the bystander effect. PLoS One
M., Pandey, B. N., Li, H., Rabin, B. M. and Azzam, 12(3), e0173685 (2017).