Sorbonne Université, CNRS Unit Biological Adaptation and Ageing, Team Repairing Neural Networks, Paris, France.
Sorbonne Université, CNRS Unit Biological Adaptation and Ageing, Photobiology Team, Paris, France.
PLoS Biol. 2018 Oct 2;16(10):e2006229. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2006229. eCollection 2018 Oct.
Exposure to man-made electromagnetic fields (EMFs), which increasingly pollute our environment, have consequences for human health about which there is continuing ignorance and debate. Whereas there is considerable ongoing concern about their harmful effects, magnetic fields are at the same time being applied as therapeutic tools in regenerative medicine, oncology, orthopedics, and neurology. This paradox cannot be resolved until the cellular mechanisms underlying such effects are identified. Here, we show by biochemical and imaging experiments that exposure of mammalian cells to weak pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMFs) stimulates rapid accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), a potentially toxic metabolite with multiple roles in stress response and cellular ageing. Following exposure to PEMF, cell growth is slowed, and ROS-responsive genes are induced. These effects require the presence of cryptochrome, a putative magnetosensor that synthesizes ROS. We conclude that modulation of intracellular ROS via cryptochromes represents a general response to weak EMFs, which can account for either therapeutic or pathological effects depending on exposure. Clinically, our findings provide a rationale to optimize low field magnetic stimulation for novel therapeutic applications while warning against the possibility of harmful synergistic effects with environmental agents that further increase intracellular ROS.
暴露在人为电磁场（EMFs）中，这些电磁场越来越多地污染我们的环境，对人类健康造成了持续的无知和争议。尽管人们对其有害影响非常关注，但磁场同时也被用作再生医学、肿瘤学、骨科和神经病学中的治疗工具。除非确定了这些影响的细胞机制，否则这种悖论就无法解决。在这里，我们通过生化和成像实验表明，哺乳动物细胞暴露于弱脉冲电磁场（PEMFs）中会刺激活性氧（ROS）的快速积累，ROS 是一种潜在的有毒代谢物，在应激反应和细胞衰老中具有多种作用。暴露于 PEMF 后，细胞生长减缓，ROS 反应基因被诱导。这些效应需要隐花色素的存在，隐花色素是一种假设的磁传感器，它合成 ROS。我们得出结论，通过隐花色素调节细胞内 ROS 是对弱 EMF 的一种普遍反应，根据暴露情况，它可以产生治疗或病理效应。在临床上，我们的发现为优化低磁场磁刺激用于新的治疗应用提供了依据，同时警告说，与进一步增加细胞内 ROS 的环境因素可能产生有害协同效应的可能性。
