Department of Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, 52989Niğde Ömer Halisdemir University, Niğde, Turkey.
Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Medicine, 52989Niğde Ömer Halisdemir University, Niğde, Turkey.
Toxicol Ind Health. 2021 Apr;37(4):189-197. doi: 10.1177/0748233721996947. Epub 2021 Feb 23.
Neural system development is one of the most important stages of embryogenesis. Perturbations in this crucial process due to genetic and environmental risk factors cause neural tube defects and other central nervous system diseases. We investigated the effects of prenatal exposure to 900-MHz electromagnetic field (EMF) on the spinal cord. Pregnant rats were exposed to 900-MHz EMF for 1 h/day from E13.5 until birth. Six pups from the control and EMF groups were sacrificed at postnatal day 32, and the upper thoracic region of the spine was removed and processed for histological procedures. For histopathological analyses, hematoxylin&eosin staining and, for stereological analyses and the quantitation of motor neurons, cresyl violet staining was performed. H3K27me3 levels were determined via immunofluorescence staining. Histopathological analysis identified structural alterations of ependymal cells, enlarged central canals, as well as degenerated and shrunken motor neurons in the EMF group, while the control group tissues had normal appearances. We also observed enrichment of H3K27me3 in the ependymal cells and the motor neurons in the spinal cord of the control group rats, while the EMF group had low levels of H3K27me3 staining. Our results suggest that the loss of H3K27me3 signals might correlate with reduced neuronal stem cell potential in the EMF group and result in anatomical and structural differences in the spinal cord. This study provided a comprehensive histopathological analysis of the spinal cord after prenatal EMF exposure and offered an H3K27me3-dependent molecular explanation for the detrimental effects of EMF exposure on the spine.
神经系统发育是胚胎发生的最重要阶段之一。由于遗传和环境风险因素的干扰，这个关键过程的紊乱会导致神经管缺陷和其他中枢神经系统疾病。我们研究了产前暴露于 900MHz 电磁场（EMF）对脊髓的影响。从 E13.5 到出生，怀孕的老鼠每天暴露于 900MHz EMF 中 1 小时。来自对照组和 EMF 组的 6 只幼崽在出生后 32 天被处死，取出上胸部脊柱并进行组织学处理。为了进行组织病理学分析，进行了苏木精和伊红染色，为了进行立体学分析和运动神经元的定量，进行了甲苯胺蓝染色。通过免疫荧光染色确定 H3K27me3 水平。组织病理学分析表明，EMF 组的室管膜细胞出现结构改变，中央管扩大，运动神经元退化和萎缩，而对照组组织外观正常。我们还观察到对照组大鼠脊髓中的室管膜细胞和运动神经元中 H3K27me3 的富集，而 EMF 组 H3K27me3 染色水平较低。我们的结果表明，H3K27me3 信号的丢失可能与 EMF 组神经元干细胞潜力降低有关，并导致脊髓的解剖和结构差异。这项研究对产前 EMF 暴露后的脊髓进行了全面的组织病理学分析，并为 EMF 暴露对脊柱的有害影响提供了基于 H3K27me3 的分子解释。
