Morabito Caterina, Steimberg Nathalie, Rovetta Francesca, Boniotti Jennifer, Guarnieri Simone, Mazzoleni Giovanna, Mariggiò Maria A
Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, Unit of Functional Biotechnology and StemTeCh Group, Centro Scienze dell' Invecchiamento e Medicina Traslazionale (CeSI-MeT), "G. d'Annunzio" University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.
Tissue Engineering Unit, Anatomy and Physiopathology Division, Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy.
Biomed Res Int. 2017;2017:2460215. doi: 10.1155/2017/2460215. Epub 2017 May 21.
Extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMFs) can interact with biological systems. Although they are successfully used as therapeutic agents in physiatrics and rehabilitative practice, they might represent environmental pollutants and pose a risk to human health. Due to the lack of evidence of their mechanism of action, the effects of ELF-EMFs on differentiation processes in skeletal muscle were investigated. C2C12 myoblasts were exposed to ELF-EMFs generated by a solenoid. The effects of ELF-EMFs on cell viability and on growth and differentiation rates were studied using colorimetric and vital dye assays, cytomorphology, and molecular analysis of MyoD and myogenin expression, respectively. The establishment of functional gap junctions was investigated analyzing connexin 43 expression levels and measuring cell permeability, using microinjection/dye-transfer assays. The ELF-EMFs did not affect C2C12 myoblast viability or proliferation rate. Conversely, at ELF-EMF intensity in the mT range, the myogenic process was accelerated, through increased expression of MyoD, myogenin, and connexin 43. The increase in gap-junction function suggests promoting cell fusion and myotube differentiation. These data provide the first evidence of the mechanism through which ELF-EMFs may provide therapeutic benefits and can resolve, at least in part, some conditions of muscle dysfunction.
极低频电磁场（ELF-EMFs）可与生物系统相互作用。尽管它们在物理治疗和康复实践中成功用作治疗剂，但它们可能是环境污染物并对人类健康构成风险。由于缺乏其作用机制的证据，因此研究了ELF-EMFs对骨骼肌分化过程的影响。将C2C12成肌细胞暴露于螺线管产生的ELF-EMFs中。分别使用比色法和活性染料测定、细胞形态学以及MyoD和肌细胞生成素表达的分子分析，研究了ELF-EMFs对细胞活力以及生长和分化速率的影响。使用显微注射/染料转移测定法，通过分析连接蛋白43的表达水平并测量细胞通透性，研究了功能性缝隙连接的建立。ELF-EMFs不影响C2C12成肌细胞的活力或增殖速率。相反，在mT范围内的ELF-EMF强度下，通过增加MyoD、肌细胞生成素和连接蛋白43的表达，成肌过程加速。缝隙连接功能的增加表明促进了细胞融合和肌管分化。这些数据首次证明了ELF-EMFs可能提供治疗益处的机制，并且至少可以部分解决一些肌肉功能障碍的情况。
