Impact of the absorption and reflection of signals on the radiation-induced bystander effect
Abstract
The radiation-induced bystander effect (RIBE) implies radiation risks to cells or tissues not directly exposed to radiation. Effects were found to be strong in the low-dose range which humans are exposed to in the environment such as in medical activities and unpredicted accidents. One possible mechanism of RIBE is through signal transmission between irradiated cells and non-irradiated cells. This work modeled signal transmission through a 2D random walk (RW) of signals in a cell-culture medium containing 103 non-irradiated cells. The effect of boundary conditions (reflection vs. absorption) were observed. Results for the reflection case was better suited for experimental data than the absorption case. It showed independence of RIBE with distance from irradiated source.
