{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T03:03:12Z","timestamp":1785380592293,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,17]],"date-time":"2026-04-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1776384000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001381","name":"National Research Foundation of Singapore","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["Block grant"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Block grant"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001381","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Cells"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The Fukushima nuclear accident highlighted that evacuation-related psychosocial harm can outweigh direct radiation risks, underscoring the need to define the health impacts of chronic low-dose-rate (LDR) radiation and evidence-based thresholds for intervention. This study investigated the effects of continuous, postnatal LDR gamma irradiation (1.2 mGy\/h, cumulative dose: 5 Gy) in male mice. While no changes in body weight, hippocampal neurogenesis, or major glial and neuronal populations were observed, persistent DNA damage (\u03b3-H2AX foci) in dentate gyrus granule cells occurred in both irradiated male and female mice. Irradiated male mice developed anxiety-like behaviour, a phenotype not observed in a previously published study of female mice subjected to an identical irradiation protocol. Molecular profiling revealed two novel, dysregulated miRNA\/mRNA axes in the hippocampus linking DNA damage to behaviour: a maladaptive miR-466i-5p\/Tfcp2l1 pathway associated with genomic instability, and a potentially adaptive miR-101a-5p\/BMP6 pathway promoting neuronal survival. Venn analysis further identified miR-124b-3p and novel-miR489-3p as conserved exposure biomarkers, altered in both the hippocampus and blood of irradiated animals. Our results show that a high cumulative dose of chronic LDR induces markedly less severe hippocampal pathology than has been reported for equivalent acute doses. These findings support the concept of dose-rate-dependent threshold dose and contribute to the evidence base for developing countermeasures following nuclear incidents or other radiation exposures.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/cells15080711","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,17]],"date-time":"2026-04-17T16:30:36Z","timestamp":1776443436000},"page":"711","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Cellular, Molecular, and Behavioural Sequelae of Early-Life Continuous Low-Dose-Rate Irradiation in Mice"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2462-1787","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Feng Ru","family":"Tang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Radiation Physiology Laboratory, Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore 118415, Singapore"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hong","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Radiation Physiology Laboratory, Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore 118415, Singapore"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-2447-0051","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Salihah","family":"Lau","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Radiation Physiology Laboratory, Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore 118415, Singapore"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-4863-6386","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Amanda","family":"Tan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Radiation Physiology Laboratory, Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore 118415, Singapore"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Tang, F.R. 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Cells, 13.","DOI":"10.3390\/cells13110899"}],"container-title":["Cells"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2073-4409\/15\/8\/711\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,25]],"date-time":"2026-04-25T04:17:50Z","timestamp":1777090670000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2073-4409\/15\/8\/711"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,17]]},"references-count":38,"journal-issue":{"issue":"8","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4]]}},"alternative-id":["cells15080711"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/cells15080711","relation":{},"ISSN":["2073-4409"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2073-4409","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,17]]}}}