Continuous exposure to 900 MHz-GSM modulated EMF alters morphological maturation of neural cells

The effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic field (RF-EMF) exposure on neuronal phenotype maturation have been studied in two different in vitro models: murine SN56 cholinergic cell line and rat primary cortical neurons. The samples were exposed at a dose of 1 W/kg at 900 MHz GSM modulated. The phenotype analysis was carried out at 48 and 72 h (24 and 48 h of SN56 cell line differentiation) or at 24, 72, 120 h (2, 4 and 6 days in vitro for cortical neurons) of exposure, on live and immunolabeled neurons, and included the morphological study of neurite emission, outgrowth and branching. Moreover, cortical neurons were studied to detect alterations in the expression pattern of cytoskeleton regulating factors, e.g. β-thymosin, and of early genes, e.g. c-Fos and c-Jun through real-time PCR on mRNA extracted after 24 h exposure to EMF. We found that RF-EMF exposure reduced the number of neurites generated by both cell systems, and this alteration correlates to increased expression of β-thymosin mRNA.