Mitochondrial targeted manganese superoxide dismutase is a major antioxidant enzyme, the levels of which modulate the response of cells, tissues and organs to ionizing irradiation. We developed a Tet-regulated MnSOD mouse (MnSOD^tet) to examine the detailed relationship between cellular MnSOD concentration and radioresistance and carried out in vitro studies using bone marrow culture derived stromal cell lines (mesenchymal stem cells). Homozygous MnSOD^tet/tet cells had low levels of MnSOD, reduced viability and proliferation, increased radiosensitivity, elevated overall antioxidant stores, and defects in cell proliferation and DNA strand-break repair. Doxycycline (doxy) treatment of MnSOD^tet/tet cells increased MnSOD levels and radioresistance from ñ of 2.79 ± 1.04 to 8.69 ± 1.09 (P = 0.0060) and normalized other biologic parameters. In contrast, MnSOD^tet/tet cells showed minimal difference in baseline and radiation induced mRNA and protein levels of TGF-β, Nrf2 and NF-κB and radiation induced cell cycle arrest was not dependent upon MnSOD level. These novel MnSOD^tet/tet mouse derived cells should be valuable for elucidating several parameters of the oxidative stress response to ionizing radiation.