Radiation responses of Sf9, a highly radioresistant lepidopteran insect cell line

Abstract

It is clearly shown that lepidopteran cells are highly resistant to the induction of DNA damage and micronuclei, and display very low induction of apoptosis at doses up to 200 Gy. While the lack of micronucleus induction seems to be primarily due to the holocentric nature of their chromosomes, certain unique signalling pathways might be responsible for the low induction of apoptosis. Factors causing protection of Sf9 cellular DNA from radiation-induced damage are presently being investigated.