title: Semi-quantitative proteomics of mammalian cells upon short-term exposure to non-ionizing electromagnetic fields.
abstract: The potential effects of non-ionizing electromagnetic fields (EMFs), such as those emitted by power-lines (in extremely low frequency range), mobile cellular systems and wireless networking devices (in radio frequency range) on human health have been intensively researched and debated. However, how exposure to these EMFs may lead to biological changes underlying possible health effects is still unclear. To reveal EMF-induced molecular changes, unbiased experiments (without a priori focusing on specific biological processes) with sensitive readouts are required. We present the first proteome-wide semi-quantitative mass spectrometry analysis of human fibroblasts, osteosarcomas and mouse embryonic stem cells exposed to three types of non-ionizing EMFs (ELF 50 Hz, UMTS 2.1 GHz and WiFi 5.8 GHz). We performed controlled in vitro EMF exposures of metabolically labeled mammalian cells followed by reliable statistical analyses of differential protein- and pathway-level regulations using an array of established bioinformatics methods. Our results indicate that less than 1% of the quantitated human or mouse proteome responds to the EMFs by small changes in protein abundance. Further network-based analysis of the differentially regulated proteins did not detect significantly perturbed cellular processes or pathways in human and mouse cells in response to ELF, UMTS or WiFi exposure. In conclusion, our extensive bioinformatics analyses of semi-quantitative mass spectrometry data do not support the notion that the short-time exposures to non-ionizing EMFs have a consistent biologically significant bearing on mammalian cells in culture.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics, Cancer Genomics Netherlands, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.|Netherlands eScience Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Arnold
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1711-7961
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kuzniar
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics, Cancer Genomics Netherlands, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Charlie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Laffeber
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics, Cancer Genomics Netherlands, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Berina
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Eppink
authors.affiliation: Proteomics Center, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Karel
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bezstarosti
authors.affiliation: Proteomics Center, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Dick
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Dekkers
authors.affiliation: Wageningen Livestock Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Henri
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Woelders
authors.affiliation: TNO, The Hague, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A Peter M
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Zwamborn
authors.affiliation: Proteomics Center, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.|Netherlands Proteomics Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jeroen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Demmers
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics, Cancer Genomics Netherlands, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.|Department of Radiation Oncology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Joyce H G
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lebbink
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics, Cancer Genomics Netherlands, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.|Department of Radiation Oncology, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kanaar
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D040421:Cell Phone; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D014176:Protein Biosynthesis / Q000528:radiation effects*; D020543:Proteome / Q000528:radiation effects*; D040901:Proteomics; D059467:Transcriptome / Q000528:radiation effects; D059015:Wireless Technology
chemical_list: D020543:Proteome