RESUMEN
AIMS: To evaluate the potential role of key DNA repair proteins in the sensitivity of normal human fibroblasts to ionising radiations. METHODS: Radiosensitivity of six human fibroblast strains established from skin biopsies of women who had undergone conservative breast surgery and received a curative breast conserving radiotherapy was measured by colony-formation assay. The expression level of RAD51, BRCA1 and p53 proteins were studied using western blot analysis. RESULTS: The six fibroblast strains represent a typical spectrum of normal human radiosensitivity with the surviving fraction measured for a dose of 3.5 Gy (SF3.5) ranging from 0.21 to 0.40. We found that these differences in cell survival did not correlate with the expression of RAD51, BRCA1 nor p53 in the tested normal human fibroblast strains. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that measurement of protein expression of the three tested genes (RAD51, BRCA1 and p53) did not reflect sensitivity of normal fibroblasts to IR.