Ionising radiation causes the death of the most actively dividing cells, thus leading to depletion of the stem cell pool. Planarians are invertebrate flatworms that are unique in that their stem cells, called neoblasts, constantly replace old, damaged, or dying cells. Amenability to efficient RNAi treatments, the rapid development of clear phenotypes, and sensitivity to ionising radiation, combined with new genomic technologies, make planarians an outstanding tool for the discovery of potential radioprotective agents. In this work, using the well-known antioxidant N-acetylcysteine, planarians are, for the first time, shown to be an excellent model system for the fast and effective screening of novel radioprotective and radio-sensitising substances. In addition, a panel of measurable parameters that can be used for the study of radioprotective effects on this model is suggested.
Keywords: irradiation; model animal; planarians; radioprotection; regeneration.