AUTHOR=Huber Stephan M., Butz Lena , Stegen Benjamin , Klumpp Dominik , Braun Norbert , Ruth Peter , Eckert Franziska TITLE=Ionizing radiation, ion transports, and radioresistance of cancer cells JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physiology VOLUME=4 YEAR=2013 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2013.00212 DOI=10.3389/fphys.2013.00212 ISSN=1664-042X ABSTRACT=

The standard treatment of many tumor entities comprises fractionated radiation therapy which applies ionizing radiation to the tumor-bearing target volume. Ionizing radiation causes double-strand breaks in the DNA backbone that result in cell death if the number of DNA double-strand breaks exceeds the DNA repair capacity of the tumor cell. Ionizing radiation reportedly does not only act on the DNA in the nucleus but also on the plasma membrane. In particular, ionizing radiation-induced modifications of ion channels and transporters have been reported. Importantly, these altered transports seem to contribute to the survival of the irradiated tumor cells. The present review article summarizes our current knowledge on the underlying mechanisms and introduces strategies to radiosensitize tumor cells by targeting plasma membrane ion transports.