- Heavy ions and X-rays in brain tumor treatment : a comparison
of their biological effects on tissue slice cultures (2009) -
Background: In this interdisciplinary project, the biological
effects of heavy ions are compared to those of X-rays using
tissue slice culture preparations from rodents and humans.
Advantages of this biological model are the conservation of an
organotypic environment and the independency from genetic
immortalization strategies used to generate cell lines. Its open
access allows easy treatment and observation via live-imaging
microscopy. Materials and methods: Rat brains and human brain
tumor tissue are cut into 300 micro m thick tissue slices. These
slices are cultivated using a membrane-based culture system and
kept in an incubator at 37°C until treatment. The slices are
treated with X-rays at the radiation facility of the University
Hospital in Frankfurt at doses of up to 40 Gy. The heavy ion
irradiations were performed at the UNILAC facility at GSI with
different ions of 11.4 A MeV