Different profiles of the mRNA levels of DNA repair genes in MCF-7 and SH-SY5Y cells after treatment with combination of cisplatin, 50-Hz electromagnetic field and bleomycin

Neurotoxicity is known to be a major dose-limiting adverse effect of cisplatin (CDDP), alone or in combination with other chemicals. DNA repair capacity serve as a neuroprotective factor against CDDP. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of 50-Hz electromagnetic field (EMF) in combination with CDDP and bleomycin (Bleo) on expression of some of DNA repair genes (GADD45A, XRCC1, XRCC4, Ku70, Ku80, DNA-PKcs and LIG4) in MCF-7 (breast cancer) and SH-SY5Y (neuroblastoma) cell lines. MCF-7 and SH-SY5Y cells were pre-treated with CDDP in the presence or absence of EMF and then exposed to different concentration of Bleo. EMF (0.50 mT intensity) was used in the intermittenet pattern of “15 min field on/15 min field off” with 30 min total exposure. Cell viability assay was done and then the transcript levels of the examined genes were measured using quantitative real-time PCR in “CDDP + Bleo” and “CDDP + EMF + Bleo” treatments. Our results indicated that MCF-7 cells treated with “CDDP + EMF + Bleo” showed more susceptibility compared with “CDDP + Bleo” treated ones, while SH-SY5Y susceptibility was not changed between the two treatments. The represented data indicated that MCF-7 and SH-SY5Y cells showed non-random disagreement in DNA repair gene expression in 11 conditions (out of 14 conditions) with each other (χ2 = 4.52, df = 1, P = 0.033). This finding can be promising for sensitizing breast cancer cells while protecting against CDDP induced neuropathy in cancer patients.