Figure 2. NAC treatment post-irradiation improves the maintenance of hematopoietic fitness.

A) Mice were irradiated at 5 Gy and then transferred to cages with water +/- 40μM NAC. 8-isoPGF2α levels in plasma were determined as described in Materials and Methods. B) GFP-Tg and Balb/c mice were irradiated with 5 Gy (IR) or left untreated (contr) and transferred into cages with water containing 40μM NAC or plain water (“H₂0”). Six weeks later, BM was isolated, cells were mixed 50:50 in the following groups (from top to bottom in the graph): IR-NAC-GFP:IR-H₂0-Balb/c, contr-NAC-GFP:contr-H₂0-Balb/c, contr-H₂0-GFP:contr-NAC-Balb/c, and IR-H₂0-GFP:IR-NAC-WT (labeled by the GFP-Tg partner). Percentages of GFP⁺ cells in the initial mixes were confirmed by flow cytometry (0 time-point). The mixes were then transplanted into lethally irradiated recipients with 5 mice/group. Peripheral blood was collected at 1, 2, 3 and 4 months post transplantation and analyzed for GFP expression in the MAC1⁺ lineage.