Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2015 Nov 28;368(2):275-89.
doi: 10.1016/j.canlet.2015.02.019. Epub 2015 Feb 14.

The Nuclear Factor κB pathway: A link to the immune system in the radiation response

Christine E Hellweg  1
Affiliations
Review

The Nuclear Factor κB pathway: A link to the immune system in the radiation response

Christine E Hellweg. Cancer Lett. .

Abstract

Exposure to ionizing radiation modulates immune responses in a complex dose-dependent pattern, with possible anti-inflammatory effects in the low dose range, expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines at moderate doses and immunosuppression after exposure to higher doses due to precursor cell death together with concomitant exacerbated innate immune responses. A central regulator in the immune system is the transcription factor Nuclear Factor κB (NF-κB). NF-κB is involved in the regulation of cellular survival, immune responses and inflammation, resulting in eminent importance in cancerogenesis. After exposure to ionizing radiation, NF-κB activation is initially triggered by ATM which is activated by DNA double strand breaks. Together with the NF-κB essential modulator (NEMO), it serves as a nucleoplasmic shuttle. The pathway converges with the classical NF-κB pathway at IκB kinase (IKK) complex activation. Resulting cytokine expression can activate NF-κB in a positive feed forward loop. Danger signals released from dying cells can activate NF-κB via Toll-like receptors (TLRs). The resulting immune activation can be beneficial or detrimental. In the low dose range, pro- and anticancerogenic effects are possible. In the radiotherapy-relevant dose range, tolerogenic immune responses should be avoided, and an anti-tumor immune response might be supported by TLR agonists activating NF-κB.

Keywords: Bystander effect; Cellular radiation response; Chemokines; Immune system; Linear energy transfer; Nuclear Factor κB.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources

-