Effect of thymoquinone on dna damage and apoptotic genes in the kidney cell line applied to ionizing radiation

Along with X and gamma rays which are known as ionizing radiation, alpha and beta particles also cause ionization in the medium they pass through. In this study, it was aimed to determine the DNA damage that may occur as a result of ionizing radiation in the kidney cell line and its effect on apoptotic genes, and to determine the effects of thymoquinone application against this damage by comet assay and qRT- PCR methods. Kidney cells were reproduced in an environment containing 37°C, 5% CO2 and 95% humidity, in DMEM high glucose medium with 10% FBS, 1% L-Glutamine and 1% penicillin/streptomycin. According to the MTT viability test results, the concentration of Thymoquinone that increased cell proliferation the most was 10 µM. As working groups, 5 groups were created: Control, Thymoquinone, Ionized Radiation, Ionized Radiation+Thymoquinone and Thymoquinone+Ionized Radiation. As a result of the study, the toxic dose of Ionizing Radiation was determined as 18 and 10 Gy for the groups at the end of 24 and 72 hours. DNA damage was determined by Comet assay from cells which are incubated for 24 hours and expression levels of target genes were determined by RT-qPCR. According to the statistics between the groups in terms of DNA Damage and Tail Moment measurement values, the RD group was found to be significantly higher than the other groups in both (p<0.05). A significant difference was detected between TQ and RD groups in caspase 3,8,9 at the 24th hour (p<0.05). At the 72nd hour, a significant difference was detected between the control and other groups in terms of caspase 3,8,9. As a result, it was concluded that high dose ionizing radiation application was effective on DNA damage and apoptotic enzymes in the kidney cell line at the end of the 24th and 72nd hours, and that thymoquinone may be effective in reducing the side effects that may occur due to radiation or preventing complications that may occur as a result of the effects.