Effect of 60 Hz electromagnetic fields on the activity of hsp70 promoter: an in vivo study

摘要

Exposure to EMFs (electromagnetic fields) results in a number of important biological changes, including modification of genetic expression. We have investigated the effect of 60 Hz sinusoidal EMFs at a magnetic flux density of 80 ??T on the expression of the luciferase gene contained in a plasmid labelled as pEMF (EMF plasmid). This gene construct contains the specific sequences for the induction of hsp70 (heata??shock protein 70) expression by EMFs, as well as the reporter for the luciferase gene. The pEMF vector was electrotransferred into quadriceps muscles of BALB/c mice that were later exposed to EMFs. Increased luciferase expression was observed in mice exposed to EMFs 2 h daily for 7 days compared with controls (P0.05). These data along with other reports in the literature suggest that EMFs can have fara??reaching effects on the genome.