Activation of VEGF/Flk-1-ERK Pathway Induced Blood-Brain Barrier Injury After Microwave Exposure.
Wang LF, Li X, Gao YB, Wang SM, Zhao L, Dong J, Yao BW, Xu XP, Chang GM, Zhou HM, Hu XJ, Peng RY. · 2014
View Original AbstractMicrowave radiation at 50 mW/cm² breaks down the blood-brain barrier by activating cellular pathways that damage protective cell connections.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed blood-brain barrier cells to microwave radiation for 5 minutes and found it damaged the protective barrier between blood and brain. The microwaves broke down cellular connections, allowing substances to leak through that normally can't enter brain tissue.
Why This Matters
This study provides crucial mechanistic insight into how microwave radiation damages one of the brain's most important protective systems. The blood-brain barrier acts as a selective filter, keeping harmful substances out of brain tissue while allowing essential nutrients through. The research demonstrates that microwave exposure at 50 mW/cm² disrupts this barrier by activating the VEGF/Flk-1-ERK pathway, essentially forcing open the tight junctions between cells. What makes this particularly concerning is that the exposure level used falls within the range of some wireless devices and radar systems. The study's strength lies in identifying the specific biological mechanism behind the damage and showing that inhibiting the pathway can restore barrier function, providing a clear cause-and-effect relationship between microwave exposure and brain barrier compromise.
Exposure Details
- Power Density
- 50 µW/m²
- Exposure Duration
- 5 min
Exposure Context
This study used 50 µW/m² for radio frequency:
- 5,000Mx above the Building Biology guideline of 0.1 μW/m²
- 83.3Mx above the BioInitiative Report recommendation of 0.0006 μW/cm²
Building Biology guidelines are practitioner-based limits from real-world assessments. BioInitiative Report recommendations are based on peer-reviewed science. Check Your Exposure to compare your own measurements.
Where This Falls on the Concern Scale
Study Details
The aim of this study is to investgate Activation of VEGF/Flk-1-ERK Pathway Induced Blood-Brain Barrier Injury After Microwave Exposure.
An in vitro BBB model composed of the ECV304 cell line and primary rat cerebral astrocytes was expos...
Our results showed that microwave radiation caused intercellular tight junctions to broaden and frac...
Thus, microwave radiation may induce BBB damage by activating the VEGF/Flk-1-ERK pathway, enhancing Tyr phosphorylation of occludin, while partially inhibiting expression and interaction of occludin with ZO-1. Similar articles
Show BibTeX
@article{lf_2014_activation_of_vegfflk1erk_pathway_1425,
author = {Wang LF and Li X and Gao YB and Wang SM and Zhao L and Dong J and Yao BW and Xu XP and Chang GM and Zhou HM and Hu XJ and Peng RY.},
title = {Activation of VEGF/Flk-1-ERK Pathway Induced Blood-Brain Barrier Injury After Microwave Exposure.},
year = {2014},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25195697/},
}