Abstract
Effects of a static magnetic field on cell growth and c-fos oncogene expression were investigated. HeLaS3 cells exposed to the magnetic field of 0.18–0.2 T for 1–6 days were not affected in the cell growth. Exposure to the magnetic field did not enhance the effects of X-rays or heat treatment which caused the transient cell growth delay. c-fos mRNA in the HeLaS3 cells was undetectable in untreated cells, but the expression was induced in cells by the magnetic field exposure for 2–24 h. The amounts of the mRNA expression changed time dependently with a peak at a 6-h exposure. c-fos was expressed following the heat treatment at 45°C for 10 and 15 min, and the expression was further enhanced by the treatment of cells with heating followed by 4 h of the magnetic field exposure. Exposure of the cells to a static magnetic field may affect some cellular metabolic events leading to the c-fos gene expression.
The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked advertisement in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.
This work is supported in part by a Grant-in-aid for Scientific Research (02202227) from the Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture of Japan.
