An upper limit for the effect of low frequency magnetic fields on ATP-sensitive potassium channels

ELF magnetic fields tuned to ion parametric resonance conditions do not affect TEA-sensitive voltage-dependent outward K(+) currents in a human neural cell line

Despite the experimental evidence of significant biological effects of extremely low frequency (ELF) magnetic fields (MFs), the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. Among the few mechanisms proposed, of particular interest is the so called "ion parametric resonance (IPR)" hypothesis, frequently referred to as theoretical support for medical applications. We studied the effect of different combinations of static (DC) and alternating (AC) ELF MFs tuned on resonance conditions for potassium (K(+)) on TEA-sensitive voltage-dependent outward K(+) currents in the human neuroblastoma BE(2)C cell line. Currents through the cell membrane were measured by whole-cell patch clamp before, during, and after exposure to MF. No significant changes in K(+) current density were found. This study does not confirm the IPR hypothesis at the level of TEA-sensitive voltage-dependent outward K(+) currents in our experimental conditions. However, this is not a direct disprove of the hypothesis, which should be investigated on other ion channels and at single channel levels also.

Clinical Biophysics: The Promotion of Skeletal Repair by Physical Forces

Skeletal tissues respond to the physical demands of their environment by altering the synthesis and organization of the extracellular matrix. These observations have major implications for how physical environmental demands result in the clinical observations of atrophy and hypertrophy, and how manipulation of the physical environment can be used therapeutically to stimulate repair. Electrical stimulation will be considered as a paradigm of how musculoskeletal tissues respond to physical stimuli. A model of demineralized bone matrix-induced endochondral ossification has been used because it epitomizes the cell biology of endochondral bone formation in a temporally consistent way. We have studied cartilage and bone matrix production, the temporal locus of cell responsiveness, signal dosimetry, and the synthesis of signaling cytokines (TGF-beta) using biochemical, immunohistochemical, and molecular techniques. Exposure to certain electrical environments enhances chondrocyte differentiation reflected as a temporal acceleration and quantitative increase of cartilage extracellular matrix, earlier onset of osteogenesis, and more mature trabecular bone. The cell pool competent to respond resides in the mesenchymal stage. The enhancement in chondrogenesis is associated with an increase in TGF-beta synthesis mediated at least in part by binding of the transcription factor AP-1 and may be modulated specifically by phosphorylation of JNK. The clinical practice of orthopedics has empirically created a variety of biophysical environments in attempts to optimize skeletal repair. We are beginning to understand the biological effects of biophysical stimulation and are now poised to replace empiricism with treatment paradigms based upon physiologic understandings of dose and biologic response.

Stimulation of growth factor synthesis by electric and electromagnetic fields

Biophysical input, including electric and electromagnetic fields, regulate the expression of genes in connective tissue cells for structural extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins resulting in an increase in cartilage and bone production. In in vivo models and clinical situations, this can be manifested as enhanced repair and a gain in mechanical properties of the repairing tissues. The mechanisms by which cell functions are regulated by biophysical input is the subject of this review. Biophysical interactions of electric and electromagnetic fields at the cell membrane are not well understood and require considerable additional study. We review information on transmembrane signaling, channel activation and receptor stimulation or blockade. Understanding physical interactions and transmembrane signaling will most likely be necessary to establish dosing paradigms and improve therapeutic efficacy. Considerable information has been generated on an intermediary mechanism of activity - growth factor stimulation. Electric and electromagnetic fields increase gene expression for, and synthesis of, growth factors and this may function to amplify field effects through autocrine and paracrine signaling. Electric and electromagnetic fields can produce a sustained upregulation of growth factors, which enhance, but do not disorganize endochondral bone formation. Progress in the areas of signal transduction and growth factor synthesis is very rapid and future directions are suggested.

Effect of magnetic field exposure on calcium channel currents using patch clamp technique

Calcium influxes through the membrane of PC-12D cells were measured under exposure to DC biased AC magnetic fields in resonant conditions of the ion cyclotron and the ion parametric resonance hypotheses and compared with influxes in cells without exposure to the magnetic field. After cancellation of the geomagnetic field, the cells were exposed to the horizontal fields generated by a current sheet, a planar sheet of conductor which generated a satisfactorily homogeneous horizontal magnetic field on the stage of a microscope without hindering treatment of a cell under observation. At or near any resonant conditions, no change in calcium influx could be detected under standard patch clamp conditions.

Biological responses to electromagnetic fields

Electrification in developed countries has progressively increased the mean level of extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMFs) to which populations are exposed; these humanmade fields are substantially above the naturally occurring ambient electric and magnetic fields of approximately 10(-4) Vm(-1) and approximately 10(-13) T, respectively. Several epidemiological studies have concluded that ELF-EMFs may be linked to an increased risk of cancer, particularly childhood leukemia. These observations have been reinforced by cellular studies reporting EMF-induced effects on biological systems, most notably on the activity of components of the pathways that regulate cell proliferation. However, the limited number of attempts to directly replicate these experimental findings have been almost uniformly unsuccessful, and no EMF-induced biological response has yet been replicated in independent laboratories. Many of the most well-defined effects have come from gene expression studies; several attempts have been made recently to repeat these key findings. This review analyses these studies and summarizes other reports of major cellular responses to EMFs and the published attempts at replication. The opening sections discuss quantitative aspects of exposure to EMFs and the incidence of cancers that have been correlated with such fields. The concluding section considers the problems that confront research in this area and suggests feasible strategies.

The effects of weak extremely low frequency magnetic fields on calcium/calmodulin interactions

Mechanisms by which weak electromagnetic fields may affect biological systems are of current interest because of their potential health effects. Lednev has proposed an ion parametric resonance hypothesis (Lednev, 1991, Bioelectromagnetics, 12:71-75), which predicts that when the ac, frequency of a combined dc-ac magnetic field equals the cyclotron frequency of calcium, the affinity of calcium for calcium-binding proteins such as calmodulin will be markedly affected. The present study evaluated Lednev's theory using two independent systems, each sensitive to changes in the affinity of calcium for calmodulin. One of the systems used was the calcium/calmodulin-dependent activation of myosin light chain kinase, a system similar to that previously used by Lednev. The other system monitored optical changes in the binding of a fluorescent peptide to the calcium/calmodulin complex. Each system was exposed to a 20.9 microT static field superimposed on a 20.9 microT sinusoidal field over a narrow frequency range centered at 16 Hz, the cyclotron frequency of the unhydrated calcium ion. In contrast to Lednev's predictions, no significant effect of combined dc-ac magnetic fields on calcium/calmodulin interactions was indicated in either experimental system.