Exposure to 1950-MHz TD-SCDMA Electromagnetic Fields Affects the Apoptosis of Astrocytes via Caspase-3-Dependent Pathway.
Liu YX, Tai JL, Li GQ, Zhang ZW, Xue JH, Liu HS, Zhu H, Cheng JD, Liu YL, Li AM, Zhang Y. · 2012
View Original AbstractExposure to 1950-MHz TD-SCDMA electromagnetic fields damaged mitochondria and induced apoptosis in rat astrocytes, but did not appear to promote tumor formation.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed rat astrocytes and C6 glioma cells to 1950-MHz TD-SCDMA electromagnetic fields for 12, 24, and 48 hours to investigate whether the radiation would alter glial cell biology and act as a tumor-promoting agent. After 48 hours of exposure, mitochondria were damaged and significant apoptosis of astrocytes was induced, with increased expression of bax and a reduced level of bcl-2. Astrocytes did not form tumors in either the control or exposed groups, and exposed C6 glioma cells showed no significant differences in biological features or tumor formation ability compared with unexposed cells.
Why This Matters
The study found that electromagnetic field exposure had differential effects on rat astrocytes and C6 glioma cells. In astrocytes, 48 hours of exposure activated caspase-3, described as a hallmark of apoptosis, alongside changes in the proteins bax and bcl-2. Despite these cellular changes in astrocytes, the researchers noted that their results implied that exposure may not promote tumor formation.
Exposure Details
- SAR
- 5.36 W/kg
- Source/Device
- 1950-MHz TD-SCDMA
- Exposure Duration
- 12, 24 and 48 h
Exposure Context
This study used 5.36 W/kg for SAR (device absorption):
- 13.4x above the Building Biology guideline of 0.4 W/kg
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
This study investigated whether EMF radiation would alter the biology of glial cells and act as a tumor-promoting agent.
We exposed rat astrocytes and C6 glioma cells to 1950-MHz TD-SCDMA for 12, 24 and 48 h respectively,...
A 48 h of exposure damaged the mitochondria and induced significant apoptosis of astrocytes. Moreove...
Show BibTeX
@article{yx_2012_exposure_to_1950mhz_tdscdma_127,
author = {Liu YX and Tai JL and Li GQ and Zhang ZW and Xue JH and Liu HS and Zhu H and Cheng JD and Liu YL and Li AM and Zhang Y. },
title = {Exposure to 1950-MHz TD-SCDMA Electromagnetic Fields Affects the Apoptosis of Astrocytes via Caspase-3-Dependent Pathway.},
year = {2012},
url = {https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0042332},
}