Effect of electromagnetic field exposure on the transcription of repetitive DNA elements in human cells

2019 · Mixed · Low evidence

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MixedLow evidencePaper 1669

Three human cell lines were exposed to 900 MHz GSM-modulated RF-EMF (SAR 1 W/kg) or sham, and RE-DNA mRNA levels were measured by quantitative real-time PCR. Results differed across the three cell lines; the authors report that RF-EMF exposure can significant…

Study snapshot

Publicationmanual · 2019

Study typein_vitro

Reported directionMixed

Evidence ratingLow

Abstract

Effect of electromagnetic field exposure on the transcription of repetitive DNA elements in human cells Del Re B, Bersani F, Giorgi G. Effect of electromagnetic field exposure on the transcription of repetitive DNA elements in human cells. Electromagn Biol Med. 2019 Sep 21:1-9. doi: 10.1080/15368378.2019.1669634. Abstract Repetitive DNA (RE-DNA) was long thought to be silent and inert; only recent research has shown that it can be transcribed and that transcription alteration can be induced by environmental stress conditions, causing human pathological effects. The aim of this study was to determine whether exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) could affect the transcription of RE-DNA. To this purpose, three different human cell lines (HeLa, BE(2)C and SH-SY5Y) were exposed to 900 MHz GSM-modulated RF-EMF at specific absorption rate of 1 W/kg or to sham. After exposure, mRNA levels of RE-DNA were evaluated through quantitative real- time PCR. The following RE-DNA types were investigated: Long Interspersed nucleotide Element 1, DNA alpha satellite and Human Endogenous Retroviruses-like sequences. When comparing cells exposed to RF-EMF versus control samples, different results were found for the three cell lines evaluated, indicating that RF-EMF exposure can significantly affect RE-DNA transcription and that the effects strongly depend on the cellular context and the tissue type. Further studies are needed to elucidate which molecular mechanisms could be involved. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Machine Enhanced Logic

AI evidence extraction

Structured fields below were generated from the paper’s abstract and metadata to make the evidence easier to inspect. Automated extraction may be incomplete or incorrect; verify important details against the original paper.

Study typein_vitro

Effect directionmixed

PopulationHuman cell lines (HeLa, BE(2)C, SH-SY5Y)

Sample sizeNot supplied

ExposureRF · 900 MHz · 1 W/kg

Evidence strengthLowConfidence: 74% · Peer reviewed: yes

Main findings

Outcomes measured

mRNA levels/transcription of repetitive DNA elements (RE-DNA)
LINE-1 (Long Interspersed Nucleotide Element 1) transcription
DNA alpha satellite transcription
Human Endogenous Retroviruses-like sequences transcription

Limitations

Exposure duration not reported in the abstract
Sample size/replication not reported in the abstract
Direction and magnitude of transcription changes for each cell line/RE-DNA type not detailed in the abstract

View raw extracted JSON

{
  "study_type": "in_vitro",
  "exposure": {
    "band": "RF",
    "source": null,
    "frequency_mhz": 900,
    "sar_wkg": 1,
    "duration": null
  },
  "population": "Human cell lines (HeLa, BE(2)C, SH-SY5Y)",
  "sample_size": null,
  "outcomes": [
    "mRNA levels/transcription of repetitive DNA elements (RE-DNA)",
    "LINE-1 (Long Interspersed Nucleotide Element 1) transcription",
    "DNA alpha satellite transcription",
    "Human Endogenous Retroviruses-like sequences transcription"
  ],
  "main_findings": "Three human cell lines were exposed to 900 MHz GSM-modulated RF-EMF (SAR 1 W/kg) or sham, and RE-DNA mRNA levels were measured by quantitative real-time PCR. Results differed across the three cell lines; the authors report that RF-EMF exposure can significantly affect RE-DNA transcription and that effects depend on cellular context/tissue type.",
  "effect_direction": "mixed",
  "limitations": [
    "Exposure duration not reported in the abstract",
    "Sample size/replication not reported in the abstract",
    "Direction and magnitude of transcription changes for each cell line/RE-DNA type not detailed in the abstract"
  ],
  "evidence_strength": "low",
  "confidence": 0.74,
  "peer_reviewed_likely": "yes",
  "keywords": [
    "radiofrequency electromagnetic fields",
    "RF-EMF",
    "GSM",
    "900 MHz",
    "specific absorption rate",
    "SAR",
    "repetitive DNA",
    "RE-DNA",
    "LINE-1",
    "alpha satellite DNA",
    "HERV-like sequences",
    "qPCR",
    "HeLa",
    "BE(2)C",
    "SH-SY5Y"
  ],
  "suggested_hubs": []
}

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AI-extracted fields are generated from the abstract and metadata and may be incomplete or incorrect. This material is for informational purposes and is not medical advice.

Identifiers and source

DOI: 10.1080/15368378.2019.1669634
PubMed: Not supplied

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