Exposure to EMFs (electromagnetic fields) results in a number of important biological changes, including modification of genetic expression. We have investigated the effect of 60 Hz sinusoidal EMFs at a magnetic flux density of 80 μT on the expression of the luciferase gene contained in a plasmid labelled as pEMF (EMF plasmid). This gene construct contains the specific sequences for the induction of hsp70 (heat-shock protein 70) expression by EMFs, as well as the reporter for the luciferase gene. The pEMF vector was electrotransferred into quadriceps muscles of BALB/c mice that were later exposed to EMFs. Increased luciferase expression was observed in mice exposed to EMFs 2 h daily for 7 days compared with controls (P<0.05). These data along with other reports in the literature suggest that EMFs can have far-reaching effects on the genome.
Keywords: 60 Hz electromagnetic fields; EMF, electromagnetic field; ETS, E twenty-six; Hsp70 promoter; MCP-1, monocyte chemotactic protein-1; NF-κB, nuclear factor κB; PEMF, pulsed EMF; RLU, relative light units; gene expression; hsp70, heat-shock protein 70; iNOS, inducible nitric oxide synthase; in vivo; luciferase; muscle; pEMF, EMF plasmid.