Enhancement of the hydrolysis activity of F0F1-ATPases using 60 Hz magnetic fields.

The effects of extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic fields on membrane F(0)F(1)-ATPase activity have been studied. When the F(0)F(1)-ATPase was exposed to 60 Hz magnetic fields of different magnetic intensities, 0.3 and 0.5 mT magnetic fields enhanced the hydrolysis activity, whereas 0.1 mT exposure caused no significant changes. Even if the F(0)F(1)-ATPase was inhibited by N,N-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, its hydrolysis activity was enhanced by a 0.5 mT 60 Hz magnetic field. Moreover, when the chromatophores which were labeled with F-DHPE were exposed to a 0.5 mT, 60 Hz magnetic field, it was found that the pH of the outer membrane of the chromatophore was unchanged, which suggested that the magnetic fields used in this work did not affect the activity of F0. Taken together, our results show that the effects of magnetic fields on the hydrolysis activity of the membrane F(0)F(1)-ATPases were dependent on magnetic intensity and the threshold intensity is between 0.1 and 0.3 mT, and suggested that the F1 part of F(0)F(1)-ATPase may be an end-point affected by magnetic fields.