title: Differential pro-inflammatory responses of astrocytes and microglia involve STAT3 activation in response to 1800 MHz radiofrequency fields.
abstract: Microglia and astrocytes play important role in maintaining the homeostasis of central nervous system (CNS). Several CNS impacts have been postulated to be associated with radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic fields exposure. Given the important role of inflammation in neural physiopathologic processes, we investigated the pro-inflammatory responses of microglia and astrocytes and the involved mechanism in response to RF fields. Microglial N9 and astroglial C8-D1A cells were exposed to 1800 MHz RF for different time with or without pretreatment with STAT3 inhibitor. Microglia and astrocytes were activated by RF exposure indicated by up-regulated CD11b and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP). However, RF exposure induced differential pro-inflammatory responses in astrocytes and microglia, characterized by different expression and release profiles of IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6, PGE2, nitric oxide (NO), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2). Moreover, the RF exposure activated STAT3 in microglia but not in astrocytes. Furthermore, the STAT3 inhibitor Stattic ameliorated the RF-induced release of pro-inflammatory cytokines in microglia but not in astrocytes. Our results demonstrated that RF exposure differentially induced pro-inflammatory responses in microglia and astrocytes, which involved differential activation of STAT3 in microglia and astrocytes. Our data provide novel insights into the potential mechanisms of the reported CNS impacts associated with mobile phone use and present STAT3 as a promising target to protect humans against increasing RF exposure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Health, Key Lab of Medical Protection for Electromagnetic Radiation, Ministry of Education of China, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Yonghui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Health, Key Lab of Medical Protection for Electromagnetic Radiation, Ministry of Education of China, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Mindi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Health, Key Lab of Medical Protection for Electromagnetic Radiation, Ministry of Education of China, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Shangcheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Health, Key Lab of Medical Protection for Electromagnetic Radiation, Ministry of Education of China, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Health, Key Lab of Medical Protection for Electromagnetic Radiation, Ministry of Education of China, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Chunhai
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Health, Key Lab of Medical Protection for Electromagnetic Radiation, Ministry of Education of China, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Chuan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Health, Key Lab of Medical Protection for Electromagnetic Radiation, Ministry of Education of China, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Huifeng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pi
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Health, Key Lab of Medical Protection for Electromagnetic Radiation, Ministry of Education of China, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Zhengping
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Health, Key Lab of Medical Protection for Electromagnetic Radiation, Ministry of Education of China, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Zhou
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D039481:CD11b Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D002460:Cell Line; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2 / Q000378:metabolism; D016207:Cytokines / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004247:DNA / Q000378:metabolism; D015232:Dinoprostone / Q000096:biosynthesis; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D007249:Inflammation / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D051379:Mice; D017628:Microglia / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000096:biosynthesis; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II / Q000378:metabolism; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011485:Protein Binding; D011846:Radio Waves; D050796:STAT3 Transcription Factor / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D039481:CD11b Antigen; D016207:Cytokines; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein; D050796:STAT3 Transcription Factor; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D004247:DNA; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2; D015232:Dinoprostone