title: TP53 tumor suppressor protein in normal human fibroblasts does not respond to 837 MHz microwave exposure.
abstract: The TP53 tumor suppressor protein (formerly known as p53) responds to a wide variety of environmental insults. To evaluate the safety of cellular telephones, TP53 responses in human fibroblast cells were studied after exposure to 837 MHz microwaves. Cells were exposed in a temperature-controlled transverse electromagnetic (TEM) chamber to a specific absorption rate (SAR) of 0.9 or 9.0 W/kg at 837 MHz continuous-wave (CW) microwave irradiation for 2 h. The TP53 protein levels were measured by Western blot at 2, 8, 24 and 48 h after treatment. The TP53 protein levels in microwave-treated cells, sham-treated cells, and untreated cells remained unchanged relative to each other at all times tested (Fisher test and Student-Newman-Keuls test, P > 0.05). No morphological alterations were observed in microwave-treated cells compared to sham-treated cells. We conclude that TP53 protein expression levels in cultured human fibroblast cells do not change significantly during a 48-h period after exposure to 837 MHz continuous microwaves for 2 h at SAR levels of 0.9 or 9.0 W/kg.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Research, City of Hope National Medical Center, Duarte, California 91010, USA.
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: C K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: McDougall
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dasgupta
authors.forename: H H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Momand
mesh_terms: D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology / Q000528:radiation effects; D006801:Humans; D008872:Microwaves; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53