Gene expression profiles following EMF exposure: Reports and publications

The research involves a collaboration between BBEMG teams:
– ULB-LROT (M. Hinsenkamp, JF. Collard, TTH. Nguyen)
– Sciensano (S. Segers, B. Mertens, R. Anthonissen, E. De Clercq, M. Ledent)

This work is now finsihed. It was carried out as part of Ha Nguyen’s doctoral research. The PhD entitled INVESTIGATION ON THE LONG TERM GENETIC EFFECTS OF EXTREMELY LOW FREQUENCY ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS was successfully defended in the summer of 2023.

Check out the full manuscript and find out more click here

The research involves a collaboration between BBEMG teams:
– ULB-LROT (M. Hinsenkamp, JF. Collard, TTH. Nguyen)
– Sciensano (S. Segers, B. Mertens, L. Verschaeve, A. Maes, R. Anthonissen, E. De Clercq, M. Ledent)
Prior to gene expression analysis, an extensive literature review on studies investigating the effects of EMF exposure on gene expression was performed. The goal was to identify and select a list of promising genes for gene expression analysis on TK6 cells and workers’ blood and buccal samples. Gene expression analysis using a quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RTqPCR) method on TK6 cells exposed to 50 Hz MF for 48 and 96h detected several genes whose expressions were regulated by MF exposure.
In the gene expression analysis on TK6 samples, though we detected changes in the expression of several genes in the MF-exposed cells compared to the unexposed ones, the size of effects was small. Gene expression studies on workers’ blood and buccal samples did not reveal any gene that was regulated by MF exposure.

The research involves a close collaboration between BBEMG teams:
– ULB-LROT (M. Hinsenkamp, JF. Collard, TTH. Nguyen)
– Sciensano (M. Ledent, S. Segers, B. Mertens, L. Verschaeve, A. Maes, R. Anthonissen, J. Van De Maele, E. De Clercq)
– ULiège-ACE (C. Geuzaine, V. Beauvois, M. Spirlet, J. Arban)
In an attempt to investigate the genetic effects of ELF-MF exposure and provide insight into the action mechanism of MF exposure, quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was applied on blood and buccal samples of employees occupationally exposed to ELF-MF. Our goal is to identify genes whose expressions may change following MF exposure.
Gene expression analysis on employees’ blood and buccal samples suggests that occupational exposure to ELF-MF did not alter expression of genes involved in several cellular processes, i.e., cellular responses; cell growth/differentiation; cell cycle regulation, and cell proliferation/cell death. No significant difference was observed when comparing gene expression between two job groups as well as between two groups classified based on MF exposure data.

See Cytogenetic biomonitoring of EMF exposed workers

Nguyen H, Segers S, Ledent M, Anthonissen R, Verschaeve L, Hinsenkamp M, Collard JF, Feipel V, Mertens B.
Effects of long-term exposure to 50 Hz magnetic fields on cell viability, genetic damage, and sensitivity to mutagen-induced damage.
Heliyon. 2023 Feb 27;9(3):e14097. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14097. eCollection 2023 Mar.
PMID: 36923833

Nguyen H, Ledent M, Beauvois V, Anthonissen R, Verschaeve L, Collard JF, Hinsenkamp M, Feipel V, Mertens B.
In vitro 50 Hz magnetic field long-term exposure: Cytogenetic tests on human lymphoblastoid TK6 cells and validation of the test environment.
MethodsX. 2020 Sep 26;7:101071. doi: 10.1016/j.mex.2020.101071. eCollection 2020.
PMID: 33088726

Collard JF, Hinsenkamp M.
Cellular processes involved in human epidermal cells exposed to extremely low frequency electric fields.
Cell Signal. 2015 May;27(5):889-98. doi: 10.1016/j.cellsig.2015.02.007. Epub 2015 Feb 12.
PMID: 25683910

Collard J.-F., Lazar,C., Nowé A., & Hinsenkamp M.
Statistical validation of the acceleration of the differentiation at the expense of the proliferation in human epidermal cells exposed to extremely low frequency electric fields.
Prog Biophys Mol Biol. 2013 Jan;111(1):37-45. doi: 10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2012.12.004. Epub 2012 Dec 19.
PMID: 23257322

Hinsenkamp M.
Effets des champs électromagnétiques sur la différenciation cellulaire et son intérêt en chirurgie orthopédique et traumatologique.
Bulletin et Mémoires de l’Académie Royale de Médecine de Belgique. 166 (7-8-9):307-16, 2011.

Hinsenkamp M, Collard JF.
Bone Morphogenic Protein–mRNA upregulation after exposure to low frequency electric field.
Int Orthop. 2011 Oct;35(10):1577-81. doi: 10.1007/s00264-011-1215-9. Epub 2011 Feb 10.
PMID: 21308375

Collard, J.-F., Mertens, B. & Hinsenkamp, M.
In vitro study of the effects of ELF electric fields on gene expression in human epidermal cells.
Bioelectromagnetics, 2011 Jan;32(1):28-36. doi: 10.1002/bem.20608.
PMID: 20809503

• Gene expression profiles following EMF exposure: objectives
  
• Literature review – Studies on the health effects of ELF magnetic and electric fields

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