Effect of electromagnetic field exposure on chemically induced differentiation of friend erythroleukemia cells.
Whether exposure of humans to extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMF) can cause cancer is controversial and therefore needs further research. We used a Friend erythroleukemia cell line that can be chemically induced to differentiate to determine whether ELF-EMF could alter proliferation and differentiation in these cells in a manner similar to that of a chemical tumor promoter. Exposure of this cell line to 60 Hz ELF-EMF resulted in a dose dependent inhibition of differentiation, with maximal inhibition peaking at 40% and 40 mG (4 microT). ELF-EMF at 10 mG (1.0 microT) and 25 mG (2.5 microT) inhibited differentiation at 0 and 20%, respectively. ELF-EMF at 1.0 (100) and 10.0 G (1,000 microT) stimulated cell proliferation 50% above the sham-treated cells. The activity of telomerase, a marker of undifferentiated cells, decreased 100[times] when the cells were induced to differentiate under sham conditions, but when the cells were exposed to 0.5 G (50 microT) there was only a 10[times] decrease. In summary, ELF-EMF can partially block the differentiation of Friend erythroleukemia cells, and this results in a larger population of cells remaining in the undifferentiated, proliferative state, which is similar to the published results of Friend erythroleukemia cells treated with chemical-tumor promoters.
Chen
G
G
Department of Pediatrics and Human Development, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA.
Upham
B L
BL
Sun
W
W
Chang
C C
CC
Rothwell
E J
EJ
Chen
K M
KM
Yamasaki
H
H
Trosko
J E
JE
D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D002455:Cell Division; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005622:Friend murine leukemia virus; D006801:Humans; D004915:Leukemia, Erythroblastic, Acute / Q000473:pathology*; D019098:Telomerase / Q000378:metabolism; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
D019098:Telomerase