Identification of a Novel Rat NR2B Subunit Gene Promoter Region Variant and Its Association with Microwave-Induced Neuron Impairment.
Wang LF, Tian DW, Li HJ, Gao YB, Wang CZ, Zhao L, Zuo HY, Dong J, Qiao SM, Zou Y, Xiong L, Zhou HM, Yang YF, Peng RY, Hu XJ. · 2016
View Original AbstractAfter microwave exposure, memory impairment was observed in rats with the TT genotype but not in those with the CC and CT genotypes.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed Wistar rats to microwave radiation at 30 mW/cm2 for 5 minutes per day, 5 days per week, over a period of 2 months. Screening of the GRIN2B promoter region revealed a stable C-to-T variant at nucleotide position −217 that was not induced by microwave exposure. Following microwave exposure, NR2B protein expression decreased, while the Glu contents in the hippocampus and CSF increased, and memory impairment was observed in the TT genotype but not the CC and CT genotypes. In PC12 cells, the effects of the T allele were more pronounced than those of the C allele on transcription factor binding ability, transcriptional activity, NR2B mRNA, and protein expression.
Why This Matters
The study looked for naturally occurring DNA variants in the promoter region of GRIN2B, the gene that encodes the NR2B subunit, in rats exposed to microwave radiation. The C-to-T variant found at position −217 was already present in the rats and was not created by the microwave exposure itself. Memory impairment was observed in the TT genotype but not the CC and CT genotypes after microwave exposure. The researchers suggested that the T allele may play a detrimental role and the C allele a protective role in rat brain function and in PC12 cells exposed to microwave radiation.
Exposure Details
- Power Density
- 30 mW/cm²
- Exposure Duration
- 5 min/day, 5 days/week, over a period of 2 months
Exposure Context
This study used 30 mW/cm² for radio frequency:
- 3,000Mx above the Building Biology guideline of 0.1 μW/m²
- 50Mx 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
In this study, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) sites in the rat GRIN2B promoter region were screened.The associations of these SNPs with microwave-induced rat brain dysfunction and with rat pheochromocytoma-12 (PC12) cell function were investigated.
Wistar rats (n = 160) were exposed to microwave radiation (30 mW/cm2 for 5 min/day, 5 days/week, ove...
Following microwave exposure, NR2B protein expression decreased, while the Glu contents in the hippo...
Show BibTeX
@article{lf_2016_identification_of_a_novel_202,
author = {Wang LF and Tian DW and Li HJ and Gao YB and Wang CZ and Zhao L and Zuo HY and Dong J and Qiao SM and Zou Y and Xiong L and Zhou HM and Yang YF and Peng RY and Hu XJ.},
title = {Identification of a Novel Rat NR2B Subunit Gene Promoter Region Variant and Its Association with Microwave-Induced Neuron Impairment.},
year = {2016},
url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12035-015-9169-3},
}