If a dirty bomb were detonated in a major metropolitan area, the radiation could deteriorate a… If a dirty bomb were detonated in a major metropolitan area, the radiation could deteriorate a large number of people’s bodies and even cause death.

In preparation for the worst, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases granted $10 million to Pitt’s School of Medicine to create a new Center for Medical Countermeasures Against Radiation.

Pitt was chosen out of 40 applicants to be one of eight research centers nationwide.

Pitt’s center will focus on how mitochondria – areas in a cell that contain genetic information and enzymes – are affected by radiation.

What is the significance, in relation to radiation, of a tiny thing that is found in a cell, though?

Dr. Joel Greenberger, the principal investigator of the grant and a professor of radiation oncology, said that ionizing radiation ionizes atoms – or, in simpler terms, knocks electrons out of atoms. The ionizing breaks DNA strands. This action is the beginning of a body’s shutdown.

“[DNA] rebuilds and signals are released to the mitochondria, creating cell failure,” Greenberger explained.

After cell failure, tissues begin to fail, then organs and eventually the entire body.

One particular focus is finding a way to keep a substance called cytochrome C in the mitochondria. Cytochrome C is a respiratory substance that provides energy to a cell. If it leaks out, which happens during radiation, it can cause cell death.

Greenberger and his researchers are also focusing on protecting the lungs from radiation. They are using an enzyme known as manganese superoxide dismutase plasmid liposome, which has been shown to protect healthy tissue and even organs in animals that have received radiation therapy.

Dr. Prabir Ray, a co-investigator and professor at the School of Medicine, explained some of the research.

“We have developed lung-specific inducible transgene expression system in mice. Using this system, we are expressing genes in the lung whose protein products have the potential to protect lungs from radiation-induced damage,” Ray said. “Upon exposing these mice to radiation, we would like to study how these proteins signal to protect lung cells from radiation-induced damage.”

Lung-specific inducible transgene expression consists of making a foreign gene active in the lung, which triggers protein to become active in this area. The process makes the researchers able to observe what protective biological process may be initiated in the lung.

The main goal of studying this process is to develop drugs to combat radiation.

“We are hoping to identify the mechanism of protection from radiation-induced damage by these proteins and identify potential targets for drug development,” Ray said.

In the end, Greenberger wants to be able to deliver one or more findings to the federal government that show effectiveness in animals exposed to radiation with low side effects and no development of cancer.

Research for the Center for Medical Countermeasures Against Radiation is being done in the School of Health, the Hillman Cancer Center and the Biomedical Science Towers.