Studying gene expression profile of rat neuron exposed to 1800 MHz radiofrequency electromagnetic fields with cDNA microassay

A widespread use of mobile phone (MP) evokes a growing concern for their possible adverse effects on human, especially the brain. Gene expression is a unique way of characterizing how cells and organism adapt to changes in the external environment, so the aim of this investigation was to determine whether 1800 MHz radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF EMF) can influence the gene expression of neuron. Affymetrix Rat Neurobiology U34 array was applied to investigate the changes of gene expression in rat neuron after exposed to the pulsed RF EMF at a frequency of 1800 MHz modulated by 217 Hz which is commonly used in MP. Among 1200 candidate genes, 24 up-regulted genes and 10 down-regulated genes were identified after 24-h intermittent exposure at an average special absorption rate (SAR) of 2 W/kg, which are associated with multiple cellular functions (cytoskeleton, signal transduction pathway, metabolism, etc.) after functional classification. The results were further confirmed by quantitive real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT PCR). The present results indicated that the gene expression of rat neuron could be altered by exposure to RF EMF under our experimental conditions.